eats for the week

I used to get paid to do familys' meal preps.
And I always menu plan each week.
So I thought that I would start sharing so that if you're stuck in a rut you can just come here!
If there is a specific recipe I used then it will be linked in the name.
Bon A Petit!

Monday
(Mummy Hot Dogs, Potato Fries, Grapes)

 Tuesday
(Chicken Yakisoba, Grapes) 

 Wenesday
(BLTs and Smoothies)

 Thursday
(Enchiladas-store bought with enchilada sauce, Rice, and Watermelon)

 

Friday
(Pasta, Mexican Corn, and grapes)

goodness

“When the Sun of compassion arises darkness evaporates and the singing birds come from nowhere.”
Amit Ray


>This video that shows how people can come together and solve their problems in a calm and respectful manner. It may not have solved everything but it was a big step forward on BOTH sides of the issue. Applause for creative thinking.

>Or the employee at a store who helped a parent of twins. Such a simple act, but so helpful during a long hard day I'm sure. Gestures of kindness don't always need to be grand, sometimes it's just the little things that you have the ability to do that are the greatest.

>This particular story is very sad and not necessarily a celebration of goodness. But it is a celebration of responsibility. This man chose to take the blame for the death of his son rather than placing the blame on some inanimate object. Which is where a lot of our problems lie in life. We should all be more like him and take more responsibility for our actions.

>This boy is who we talk about in church when we say to become as little children. Another example of such a simple act, and from a child who could otherwise be busy playing video games and Legos.
Such a confidence and kindness is admirable.

another update

Well, time for another sort of update I suppose.
I got a new job have started working at Alta View Hospital!
I work in the surgical units as a Health Unit Coordinator.
I've honestly JUST started so I don't know hardly anything yet.
BUT I do know that some (most) days I start at 5:30 or 6 which stinks.
I'm not about that whole "waking up before Derek" thing.
I much preferred when he was the one who had to wake up early ;)
Derek is still loving his job and hating the commuter life.
But there's give and take with everything I guess.
Now, just finals for Derek and then shortly after he will start Anatomy, which I have designated myself as his tutor for.
Also, The Bachelorette is almost over.
And that pretty much sums up our life!

the senses

On this day in 2016 this is what I'm experiencing:

SIGHT: My cute cute husband playing his video games with the best little concentrated face that there ever was.

SOUND: Listening to fireworks in the distance that celebrate this lovely state and the pioneers that settled it.

TASTE: The lingering taste of chocolate chip cookies given by my sister-in-law's parents as a just because.

TOUCH: My feet are snuggled up right against Derek's side because burrowing them is the only option.

SMELL: Orange in the diffuser and Peppermint on my forehead to combat the faintest but obnoxious headache.

purpose

Who do I want to be?
What do I want to do?
....................................
Who am I?
What am I doing?
I will never be the person that I want to be if I don't start being that person now.
And I will never do the things that I want to do if I don't start now.
I won't date my husband when we have kids if I'm not dating him now.
I won't go to the temple in a few months if I'm not going now.
And if I do by chance wait to do the things I want to do or be the person I want to be, it will be ten times harder.
Essentially, what is my purpose NOW?
What am I doing everyday to fulfill that purpose?
I hope that *most* of the things I'm doing everyday are worth my time.
And that they are helping me fulfill my purpose.
I hope that I can actively enhance how I'm living my life so that I AM living a life of purpose.
My purpose.

weird history: olympics

Image
Have you ever just wanted to pull off the most epic prank that would be recounted for years to come?
Well, one university student in Australia did just that.
The year was 1956 and some restless little boys wanted to make a mockery of an Olympic tradition that was started by the nazis.
(A fun fact in itself)
When the torch was supposed to pass through Sydney, the real runner had happened to be delayed.
So this student played out his plan to perfection and started running with a fake torch that carried burning underwear.
And all of the people cheered and all of the police made a circle around him to escort him to his final destination: the Mayor of Sydney.
And while he ran he wondered how in the WORLD he was gonna wrap up this prank.
Well, he made it all the way to the Mayor before he could figure it out.
So he did the only thing that he could do at that point.
He ran the torch up to the Mayor, handed it to him, melted into the crowd and ran all the way back to school.
The lucky son of a gun disappeared into the crowd before the Mayor realized the sticky, underwear bearing torch was a fraud.
Now THAT'S a prank.
We should all aspire to be this man.

1995

1995:
In 1995 I was two.
So I don't remember much.
But I was living in Logan.
(Right mom?)
BUT in the world......
OJ Simpson was found innocent.
Ebay began (and was practically forgotten 20 years later....)
The DVD is announced (HALLELUJAH! I had tape twisted everywhere.)
Popular movies: Toy Story, Pocahontas, Jumanji, Casper
One of the toys of that year: A Projector Backpack

 I wish I had been older than two so that I could have asked for that!
And these commercials from '95.

clothes

Clothes.
We all wear them.
(Unless you're at one of those special beaches)
And sometimes you hold onto your clothes for YEARS for whatver reason.
And overtime those clothes become a story.
Like my brown heels that I got in 7th (!!!) grade.
And I wore them to school with my bug-eye sunglasses and my jean shorts, flowy top, and fake designer purse.
Because it made me feel like Hillary Duff.
Of all the celebrities back then I guess Hillary was a good one to aspire to be.
And now I wear those shoes and they're vintage-cool and I don't pretend to be Hillary Duff.
Or the rain boots that I actually bought in Africa because I ruined a pair of shoes while traipsing through the muddy streets.
And I wore them with shorts through the slums and got a major rash because sweat, bare legs, and boots don't mix.
There's also my wedding dress that I got to wear on the most beautiful day in September.
That I get to keep in my closet and wear whenever I want.
And nobody will know that I'm wearing my absolute favorite dress.
Only I'll know just how amazing the cream, patterned dress really is.

Be sure to check out this post I wrote about my favorite shoes.

uncut sunday

If everyday is epic then no day is epic.
I can't expect to be amazing by making everyday something to talk about, because what would be left?
My greatness comes from the everyday, mundane tasks that I do and not from the few amazing things.
It comes from how I live my life in times of regularity and monotony.
Reading that book is important.
Watching my favorite Netflix show with my shnookums is important.
Going on a walk to catch some Pokemon is important.
All of these little things that combine to make me who I am; they're worth my time.
I don't need to go on a crazy hike everyday to be considered adventurous.
I can go on a moderate hike once a month and still be adventurous.
My life doesn't need to be filled with "importance" because the mundane is also important.

the grease cup

(This is the chicest picture of a "stove" I could find because I didn't wanna go downstairs to take a picture of mine.)

Fact One: Everyone who cooks bacon or other fatty foods has a grease cup on their stove.
Fact Two: While Derek worked hard earning us money, I took charge of the packing up of the apartment.
I like to do things as efficiently as possible so I was making sure that I optimized every corner of every box.
When I got to the kitchen I had one box that had one tiny corner available before I closed it up.
I looked around for the perfect sized item and my eyes landed on the grease cup.
Perfect!
It was a great plan, except for the fact that I didn’t bother to drain said grease out of said cup.
I just packed it in there real nice and promised myself to not tip the box.
Fact Three: I don’t tape the bottoms of my moving boxes.
When I took this box out to the car, untaped, I realized that this box was going to fall to pieces any second.
I got it to the car as quick as sand and……..it wouldn’t fit in.
I got the box halfway into the backseat before progress was hindered and I couldn’t move the box in any direction or the bottom would give out.
So I sat there, in a squat, in the hot sun, holding the box in that particular position for approximately five minutes hoping Derek would see me out the window.
The only solution would be to slightly tip the box so that I could slowly lower it to the ground but….
THERE WAS A CUP OF GREASE IN THERE!
And any tipping of the box would mean grease everywhere.
So I sat a little longer trying to get the courage to move the box to the ground fast enough to keep the bottom from completely bursting.
I finally did it and right when the box it the ground it BURST open and everything fell out.
(Believe it or not…it was mostly filled with tupperware and a blanket)
I repacked the box into a more stable set of cardboard and drove it all the way to Riverton.
And when I unpacked that box I realized that the cup of grease had not even spilled a drop.
I should be a professional mover.


Here's the link to our 4th of July festivities video: AMERICA
Password: America

the moment

(This is a picture of where we went, but at a different time)

On our way down to Lake Powell a few weeks ago Derek and I had some roadside adventures for ourselves.
Since Lake Powell is his favorite place I thought that I would share my favorite places with him.
And while we were there I decided to leave the camera inthe car.
I wanted to be fully present in the moment in some of my favorite places with the man I love.
For me, using my camera enhances a moment.
It makes me look for things around me that are note-worthy and worth remembering.
But for us, using my camera would not have enhanced the moment.
Since it's not what he enjoys we would have been separate from each other in how we enjoyed the time.
We would have been together, but apart.
So instead of documenting for future scrapbooks and videos I took mental snapshots.
I realized that I don't always need to be connected to gadgets to enjoy a moment.
There are different ways to enjoy life.
And being fully present with people is one of the best ways to do that.

june favorites

Image Via

>People: My favorite people this month (And pretty much every month) are the Bucketlist Family. You can find their YouTube channel linked here. And their blog linked here. They are a Utah family who live a life of travel after he sold an app for 50 million dollars. Except the amazing thing is that they haven't even TOUCHED that money yet. They travel off of the money they got for selling everything and for working with companies in countries they travel to. Find the blog post explaining their finances here.

>Music: Fun. They are an older band (my high school days. So OLD!) But I just discovered them for their full and true self when I started using Derek's old I-Pod. I had only heard the two songs they played on the radio over and over but they have so much good stuff that were just waiting for me to find them. Look them up. My favorite song is All Alone, but they are all RULL good.

>Message: This was a video that I used for an FHE this month, but it has been saved in a playlist for years for a reason. It is the most powerful message of the Book of Mormon I've ever heard. (And the music just makes it that much more powerful, am I right?.) It is linked right here for your viewing pleasure.

>Movie: Home. This is a kid's movie and you can find it on Netflix (I knew this was your first question). Even though it's a kid's movie, it is definitely for the young at heart but old in body as well. I really liked the music and sound, but I also really liked that Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory is one of the characters. And his character is the EXACT same in this movie.

>Food: Fries. But not just any fries, no no. These are the BEST fries. I love making oven fries but my mind was blown when I tried these ones. I had never even thought of using spices other than salt and pepper (I'm so vanilla). Dip em in some fry sauce and you've got yourself a nice lil treat. They are linked right here. Your mouths will thank you.