Another Recipe Site

I don't know why I am in to recipes like big time all of the sudden. I am going to claim it is Melissa's fault. :) Here is a site I thought was pretty cool. When you click on the link it takes you to a blog where the recipes are.

http://www.free-recipe-books.com/

Some more DC, Nauvoo Pics

My picture of the Vietnam Memorial.

This is a spot Susan took us to that not too many people know about. This is the grave site of many early saints whose graves Susan discovered in the 70's (I think) and she figured out their temple work had not been done and researched every grave site and did their temple work. This is also the spot where President Hinckley comes to see every time he visits Nauvoo. You have to drive a little ways out and then walk in the woods to get to it. It was very peaceful there and a neat place to experience.

Probably one of my favorite places in Nauvoo is the Woman's Garden. It is just so full of power and inspiration of what it means to be a daughter of God and a realization of how much loving power and influence women have in their homes, community and world. The garden has 30 statues of women and it represents the eternal circle of womanhood and all the phases of it. I am going to post more on this later because it is so beautiful and it meant a lot to me.

This was a play that the missionaries put on in Nauvoo called Rendezvous in Nauvoo. It was SO cute. That was the first thing we did in Nauvoo. These missionaries sing and act and tell the powerful stories of the early Saints. The play was too cute and had a spiritual message that I will never forget.

Here is a little camera trickery with the Washington Monument.
It looks like I am leaning against it. :)

Here is the Nauvoo temple from the view of the visitor's center. It is amazing how the whole town revolves around the temple. I love it! I can't imagine what it was like to just have the markings of the old temple there. It was a beautiful temple inside and out. Absolutely gorgeous.

My first time at the White House. We were there when Tony Blair was there for his last little shin dig with the President as Prime Minister. They had secret service and security everywhere. They were having a party on the lawn on the side. It was pretty cool.

Virginia, DC and Nauvoo Pics

Shipping Cupcakes

My sister Melissa has recently made cupcakes at Evan's 1st Birthday Party that still have people talking! She has promised to make me some and them ship them to me but she didn't know how....until now!! :)

Looky looky at what I found. http://cupacake.com/

Once you put a cupcakes in these containers you can turn them upside down and it still won't move. I can't WAIT to get a box of my sissy's cupcakes in the mail ;) Well at least get the recipe.....

Where dat gap go?

This is a picture of me where you can't tell I have a gap. I only have a few of these pictures and this one you totally can't tell I have one.

Dangers of Hand Sanitizers and Children

http://www.king5.com/health/stories/NW_062207HEK_hand_sanitizers_risk_children_LJ.522f7fd.html

Another Cooking Site

I have gotten a few recipes from this site that I LOVE and I wanted to post it here mostly for my addict sister :)

Creative Homemaking


p.s. I promise that I am actually going to start doing posts with substance very soon :)

Everyday Food

Here is a link to some recipes for my recipe-aholic sister (and everyone else). I love the show Everyday Cooking because usually the recipes they show really do have ingredients you have at the house.

Everyday Food

Dusty's Back!

And as you can see he had fun! I love this picture of him.

He's really in his element :)

Yummy Oatmeal Cookies

This was from a friend at work. She brought them in and they were so good I wanted to share. Nothing fancy but really good. I will try and post a new recipe every now and then!

Oatmeal Cookies

1 c margarine
1 c brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 3/4 c flour
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 c oats (quick oats I guess...)
1 bag chocolate chips

Mix all ingredients together. Drop by tablespoon onto greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 mins at 350 and voila! Makes 4 dozen.

Decide to Decide!

I think that one of my biggest problems as of late is that I am indecisive. I hate being indecisive. It totally stunts your growth. It is a stumbling block for you and most of the time it doesn't need to be. I wouldn't say that I am paralyzed by fear (as it says below) but I definitely need to work on just making decisions more quickly. My focus lately has been making more decisions in a timely manner. It's still a challenge and I am trying to get over it! Below was an email from Dr. Paul here in Utah and I wanted to share it.

Many people are paralyzed by fear when it comes to making decisions. Look at the similarities between these words:

DECISION

INCISION

EXCISION

You will notice a common root to all three - "cision", which means "cut". An "incision" is a cut "into" something, like in surgery. An "excision" occurs when something is cut "out", like having a nasty mole removed. A "decision" is cutting something "off". Any decision cuts you off from the alternatives, which is why many people fear decisions. This concept is even more powerful when you realize that you are always making decisions. Even when you avoid a decision, that is the same thing as accepting the passive decision, which cuts you off from whatever you could have obtained by making an active decision.

Decide to decide!

I never signed up for this!!

I never thought that I would be married to someone who loved nature so much. Growing up I was never much the camping girl. Sure I would go every once in a while but never had this feeling of just HAVING to be there in nature. It has taken me a while to figure out the extent of Dusty's passion. I have since understood that nature, snakes, reptiles, zoos and anything closely related with be a part of my life forever. And I am OK with that. (Note that I say that now and not when I find lizards and snakes in their pockets while doing laundry....)

Everyone who finds out about Dusty's hobby immediately asks questions like "How do they breed?" "Have you ever seen them do it?" People who come over usually get the full educational version of how male snakes actually have two penises. And from that point on in the conversation they are fascinated. The conversation lasts at least an hour of a nonstop Q&A session.

Let me tell you, I know more about snakes than I EVER thought possible. I retain that information too. I can tell you which snakes give live births and which ones lay eggs. I can tell you what is different about the Loma Alta line of Subocs. I can tell you some genetics of the snakes we have. And I can even tell you the Latin names of some reptiles. Oh yeah, I am a herpetologist in training :) (Disclaimer: Herpetology is the study of reptiles...that explanation was mostly for Mike....it's not the study of herpes which is what most people think when they ask Dusty what he studies.)

Why do I tell you all of this? Well, Dusty just left yesterday for his big West Texas trip. He is going on 8 days of camping, snake hunting (no they don't kill them...), he gets to meet his publisher and he gives a presentation to 3 Herp Societies. He is way excited and I know he will do awesome!! I am so happy he is there.

However, we have a lot of snakes to take care of. There are a lot of mouths to feed while he's gone. We have eggs in the incubator that will hatch any day and a snake that will lay more eggs any day. Luckily he has a great friend that is coming over to help him feed them the live mice they require. I'm just not there yet! I might be able to feed them dead ones....we'll see.

Dusty left me a list of things to do while he's gone and if the one snake lays eggs I am responsible to put them in the incubator. I think the only thing that is helping me to overcome this obstacle is knowing that by me putting the eggs in the incubator...it means more money in my pocket :)

OK. I guess I am just doing a little reflecting out loud because it dawned on me how different my life is. Now to the point.....

Dusty is gone. He's miles away in the middle of nowhere. A old neighbor knocks on the door. He speaks very little English and hands me a Coke bottle. Upon further inspection I see a snake in it! Without much conversation he just leaves. What the?! Luckily Dusty was in range with his cell phone when I called. He told me to just give it back and tell him to let it go, but the guy was already gone! Then I was instructed to put it with the other snake the guy brought by a few weeks ago. My biggest fear was taking the lid off of the Coke bottle. Dusty would be ashamed because he would start telling me how stupid and irrational that fear is. (But don't worry honey, I was playing that lecture over in my head and it got me through...)

Anyway. I couldn't just open the bottle and stick it in the cage because the cage was too small and the lid wouldn't fit over it. So I was standing there for about 30 minutes waiting for the snake to come out of the bottle while trying not to have the other snake get out of the cage. Everything worked out in the end but I kept checking the lid to make sure it was fastened good.

I realized how "unique" my marriage is and how cool people think that Dusty is too. Our goal in life should be to do what we love and I can definitely say that Dusty is doing that no matter how many people have told him he's crazy or there's no money in it...he keeps on keeping on with his vision in sight. I know that he will go far in this industry...he knows it like the back of his hand. A passion for something and solid knowledge of the industry is a good combination. So, no matter if I signed up for this or not, this is the lot I have chosen and I am excited to see where this slithery path takes me!

Chance of snow?!

OK. Today I wake up and it's cold (high is in the 50's), rainy and we have a chance of snow! Dusty skipped out just in time. He's in west Texas where it's in the 100's. I don't know who got the better deal.

Rhoads Rolls Baby!!

This is our new version of "Rhodes Rolls". Dusty got up early and cooked me breakfast and made some croissant rolls too....except he forgot to roll them! LOL Maybe he thought you roll them after they bake...

Quote of the Day

"Of all the Republicans to run for president in 2008, the one who's only had one wife is a Mormon."

~Orrin Hatch

Catching up....

Well, it seems I have a lot to blog about, especially my Nauvoo trip. Things have been pretty crazy around the house lately so I am short on time for blogging....but it is coming soon :).......

Happy Birthday, Dusty!!

Today was Dusty's birthday!!! Hooray!!! He turned the big 2-7 :)

I Heart T J

OK. As some of you may know. I do Turbo Jam all of the time. It all started last year while vacationing at my Momma's house and I saw this infomercial (sp?) and I fell in LOVE with this workout. It started with 5 workouts on one DVD and then Dusty just surprised me with 8 more the other day!! I seriously have always wanted to continue to teach dance as well as also become an aerobics instructor. Well, come to find out you can get certified in teaching Turbo Kick which is the same as Turbo Jam. So, Dusty wanted to get me some more videos so I can practice!!

That was so thoughtful of him and I LOVE THEM!!!! I do them all of the time. Melissa and mom...I am going to bring them with me the next time I come home. I think there are 2 more DVDs I don't have that are next on my list! After that I will be good...for a while. :) They really are butt-kickin' DVDs and I love it.

Super Saturday!

So we had our little Super Saturday at Church on...well...Saturday and I used a sewing machine by myself for the first time!! (I didn't have to hook the thread of course but still! You should be proud!) I have included pics of some of the stuff we made. The blue bag is a little tote made out of ribbon and a placemat. Notice the bottom of the bag...that took skill!

The other little thingy is a piece of wook cut, sanded and painted with vinyl added. It is a little picture frame. Some people made them as recipe holders, but all I need right now is another thing on my kitchen counter!! I don't have any space as it is!

Let me know what you think of my mad skills! :)

Going to Nauvoo!

I am leaving tomorrow for a week long trip 1/2 work and 1/2 pleasure. I am flying out to a conferene in Richmond, VA with a couple of friends from work. We are going a day early so we can drive up to DC to go sight-seeing. I have never been to DC and am really excited. I remember in 5th grade one of the teachers always took her students to DC and I wasn't in her class. I was so bummed and thought that I would never have another opportunity to go :) Life was over in 5th grade ....wasn't it for everyone though...seriously!

The conference is for 3 days and then we are heading out to Nauvoo for another 3 days. I am SO EXCITED. I have never been. To top it all off I get to stay in Susan Easton Black's condo with her and her husband and two friends. Susan is going to show us around and we will have lots of time there. We are even going to do a temple session. I am so excited. This will be such a spiritual rejuvination that is long over due. I will try to take lots of pictures but I will make sure to write in my journal a lot!

This week even while on "vacation" I have a lot of stuff going on. I need your prayers that things will work out with my job (if it's meant to be of course!). I pretty much find out on the 18th if we finally get the long awaited funding or if there is another reason that it has been "pushed back". It's my fault for letting it come to this, but it has been a hard road to travel and one I am trying to figure out. If you remember, prayers are welcome!!!

I feel so blessed to be able to go to Nauvoo (for FREE at that!) with good friends and to be in such good company. Susan has written books on Nauvoo and has been responsible for thousands of the early Saints history and temple work preserved and done. This is so exciting and I am humbled I have had so many opportunities and blessing come my way in this life. I just hope I make the most of them.

I will blog again when I can!!!! Bon Voyage!