Fireside.

Today we had a fireside at Brother Woolf's house and it was for all the youth in our ward. Bishop McDonald came also. Brother Woolf spoke about hunters or "mountain men" and how, way back in the day, they fur trapped. They would trap the animals, take the fur, and eat the meat. He talked about the various traps. Snares, cages, holes, etc. Then he brought out a fox trap. He took a pencil and put it in the fox trap, and the pencil completely broke in half. It could've even taken off a finger. He said that there are "traps" that are just as deadly out in the world like drugs, immorality, the wrong crowd of friends, violence, bad movies, and so much more! And then he took a sponge, and on one side he drew a happy face and on the other side he drew a sad face. The sponge was so happy at first, just hopping around, but then his friends started tempting him to have just one cigarette. Then to just see one rated R movie. The sponge moved further and further to the trap, and eventually fell in. The trap got a hold of it. But we talked about repentance and the people who are there to always help pry you out of your mess. He talked about how Satan always disguises his traps like hunters used camouflage with their traps. He said that we needed to wriggle ourselves out before "the mountain man" a.k.a Satan could come and get us. I really thought that it was a good lesson. Also, yesterday I bought a calendar and the movie How to Train Your Dragon! I was more excited about the calendar. I'm such a nerd. Who gets excited about calendars? This gal! Organization makes me happy. That's pretty much all I have for you today!

Recipes, recipes, recipes. =)

Crispy Baked Breakfast Taquitos *these are great to make ahead of time and freeze. You can make a bunch and just pull them out for breakfast!*

Ingredients:
2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
12 large eggs
1/2 C sour cream
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 1/2 C grated pepper-jack cheese
1/4 C chopped roasted red bell peppers
1/4 C sliced green onions
16 6" flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil for easy clean up. Spray with cooking spray or lightly brush oil and set aside.

Heat olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Crack eggs into large mixing bowl. Whisk in 1/2 sour cream, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. When skillet is hot, add egg mixture to the pan. Using a rubber spatula, gently scrape the bottom of pan and fold eggs over to scramble. Remove from heat when slightly undercooked. Add cheese, roasted peppers, green onions, and gently fold to combine.

Warm tortillas in a microwave to ease rolling process. Working with a few tortillas at one time, place a scant 1/4 C egg mixture into the middle of each one and roll into a cylinder. Place rolled tortillas on prepared baking sheet, seam-side down, so they are not touching each other. When all tortillas are rolled and filled, lightly spray tops with cooking spray, or lightly brush olive oil. bake for 15 minutes or until edges are golden brown and crisp.

Strawberry Banana Trifle

Ingredients:

5 oz instant vanilla pudding

3 c cold milk

9" angel food cake (cut in chunks)

4 bananas (sliced)

16 oz fresh strawberries (sliced or cut big)

12 oz whipped topping (thawed)

Mix instant pudding and milk. In trifle, layer half of each: cake chunks, pudding, bananas, strawberries, and whipped topping. Repeat layers. Serve fresh!

Creamy Tarragon Chicken

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts

1 T. olive oil

1 Small onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

4-5 C. of tomatoes 

1 t. tarragon

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 c. Cream 

2-3 T. flour

Sliced mushrooms

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Saute chicken in olive oil until light brown. (I like to pound the chicken to make sure they are nice and tender) Remove from pan. Saute onion and garlic until translucent. Put chicken back in pan and add tomatoes and tarragon. Cover and simmer 30 minutes to an hour. Add mushrooms the last 15 minutes. Lastly, add cream and flour. Whisk until well blended and thickened. Serve over rice.

Hope you enjoy! 

P.S. - here are some more names I like:

Karson

Annie

Lucy

Max 

So much to do!

High school will keep you preoccupied. No doubt. I just can't wait for my sophomore year, though. I can be more organized and whatnot. This year, they didn't even send out a school supplies list, so I pretty much had to guess everything by myself. I have a butt load of English homework to do. I have to write a sonnet (one that is actually decent because I have to share it in front of the class), and work on memorizing my lines for Romeo and Juliet. Next weekend I have to go over to my partner's house to make a video for the project. I wonder how well that will work out, seeing how my mom hates having to find people's houses, and today the van just broke down again. I don't know what's going on with that thing! I keep telling my mom (and I've been telling her from the beginning), that you just need a brand new car. This van that we have was built in 1990, for crying out loud. It's past its prime! It's done! But with the transmission acting all weird, I don't know if anyone would actually take it. All I know is that it is in the shop and my mom is talking to someone on the phone in my room, which is not a good sign because that means it's something that she doesn't want us to hear. Like how poor we are, how we have no money, how are we going to make the house payment, etc. It feels like theres a lot of weight on my shoulders right now. But then I always remember the scripture, "And this too shall pass." So, I guess I wait. At least I finished my biology and math homework and that's two less things I have to do. Man, I just wish I was more organized. No sense in getting new binders and stuff though since it's the end of the school year. Oh well. When we were walking to the bus stop this morning, Adam totally put snow all over Ryan's backpack! Talk about mean. I helped get it off his backpack, but you could tell he was a little mad/embarrassed. Now he knows how I feel all the time! I guess I'll write back to you later. I'm actually on the search for some art projects. Tralalala......

Rainy Days

The past couple of days have been filled with rain. I want spring to get here, minus the rain! I hate cold rain! I hate it when it's cold and then it rains cold rain! But I love it in the summer when it gets too hot and it rains cold rain. That feels amazing. I'm tired of watching raindrops on my bus window. I want the sunshine to stop HIDING! The past couple days have been alright. Accept for today in seminary we were talking about which temple we would want to be married in and without thinking I accidentally said the Italy temple. I was so embarrassed because there is no Italian temple yet! Grr! I have yet to get my English paper finished. And I need to look at scripture masteries. I guess I'll finish math in study hall tomorrow and my spanish homework on the bus. I want sophomore year to be here! And I want the rain to stop! Please, please, pretty, pretty, pretty please!

Blanket Project is a go!

I've been wanting to make a blanket for quite some time now. I'm love making tie blankets. I guess you could call it an obsession. But, I think the only reason I like making them is because it involves no sewing machine, whatsoever! So, today I went to Joann's with my mom and picked out some really cute fabric. The only thing is that my fabric isn't exactly fabric that you use for a tie blanket, so I'm actually going to dig out the old sewing machine that's been hibernating in our cabinet for quite some years now. Yes, yes. Feel free to applaud. I'm going to go start pinning it together and when it's all finished I'll take pictures and post them on here! If i still have fingers left....

Cute names that I like...as of now....

• Bethany (girl)
• Austin (boy)
• Luke (boy)
• Beckham (boy)
• Alyse (girl)
• Paige (girl)
• Logan (boy)
• Olivia (girl)

One of my favorite quotes of all time.

Give me a young woman who loves home and family, who reads and ponders the scriptures daily, who has a burning testimony of the Book of Mormon. Give me a young woman who faithfully attends her Church meetings, who is a seminary graduate, who has earned her Young Womanhood Recognition award and wears it with pride! Give me a young woman who is virtuous and who has maintained her personal purity, who will not settle for less than a temple marriage, and I will give you a young woman who will perform miracles for the Lord now and throughout eternity. - President Ezra Taft Benson

Family Home Evening.

So I figured because it is Sunday, after all, that I should be doing something church related. So I found a really good Family Home Evening lesson. I hope I get to keep all of these lessons to share with a family of my own someday. Oh, by the way, so you know how I said that my names change a lot for my kids? Well, I was wondering what I would name my daughter if I had one. And the name Bethany came to my mind. I thought it over and figured it was okay, but I tried to think of other options. But for some reason, BETHANY just came into my mind. And then I went to my dance and a lady was walking around with her new baby. When I went up to ask if I could hold her, guess what I found out her name was? That's right, audience. You guessed it. Bethany. I'm taking this as a sign? Bethany it is. : )

Anyways, here's the lesson:

Overcoming Challenges 
1. Collect pearls, a ping pong ball, and a jar filled with rice.
2. Gather pencils and paper.
3. Scriptures.
4. Purchase pre-made/refrigerated cookie dough

Opening song: Nephi's Courage

Activity: Pass out paper and pencil and have each family member list 5 things that happened in his/her lifetime. these can be happy, sad, thought-provoking, funny, or serious. Allow anyone who wishes to share their list with the family. Show the pearls: Pearls come from oysters. An oyster is a shell fish that lives in the ocean. They have a very hard shell that protects them, but sometimes a grain of sand can get inside the shell and it causes a lot of pain and discomfort to the oyster. God has given the oyster a way to ease that pain. When a grain of sand gets in there, the oyster oozes out a liquid that coats the grain of sand and then it hardens. The oyster keeps doing this over and over again until the grain of sand no longer causes pain. This is how a pearl is made. Something that started out being painful turned into something very beautiful and valuable. In that same way, we can make something negative turn into something positive by having the right attitude.

Place a ping pong ball inside a jar and discuss challenges we might face in our lives. As each person mentions one, allow them to put a smell scoop of rice in the jar. Continue this until the rice is about 2 inches from the top of the jar. The rice will eventually cover the ball. Then read D&C 63:47. Put a lid on the jar and gently shake it. The ping pong ball will rise to the top. Just as this ball "overcame" the rice, we can overcome the world.

Go back to the list of experiences your family made. Name at least one blessing that came from each experience. (Children may need help identifying what is a blessing). Brainstorm with your kids and husband/wife on ways to turn a negative into a positive.

Write these down on  a piece of paper and hang them up somewhere they will be seen on a daily basis:
1. Be thankful that you don't already have everything you desire. If you did, what would you  have to look forward to?
2. Be thankful when you don't know something. It gives you can opportunity to learn.
3. Be thankful for difficult times. During those times, you grow.
4. Be thankful for your limitations. They give you an opportunity to grow.
5. Be thankful for each new challenge. It will build your strength and character.
6. Be thankful for your mistakes. They will teach you a valuable lesson.
7. Be thankful when you're tired and weary. It means you've made a difference.
8. Be thankful for your troubles. They can become your blessings.

Activity: Think of someone you know who could use a "lift" in spirit. Make cookies using the pre-made cookie dough. Let your children make a card to go with the plate of cookies and deliver them.

Treat: Eat the remaining cookies as a family.

Sports Day and the Dance!

The dance last night was so much fun! It was dressy casual, and it was my first dressy casual dance. : ) I love stake dances. Love them, love them, love them. You know why? Because it is seriously the only place I know of where there is no drama. None. We all push aside our differences and we all have fun! The gym was so pretty last night. There were white and blue lights strung all around the gym and little lanterns hanging off of them. I've never seen a dance so pretty before. Not even my eighth grade dance. Sports day is where you go and play sports and have fun! Taylor Dossett, one of my best friends, was there and we played in the volleyball tournament and ping pong. I think Elizabeth Hampll is the best girl at volleyball. She's been playing for about 5 years and she's just as good as any professional volleyball player. Also, Taylor's been playing for about 4 years and she's awesome, too. They are the only reasons that we won! haha and they get so into it. You can tell they really love what they do. Anyways, back to the dance. The very first guy I slow danced with was him. Yes, that guy that I've liked for forever! And he wanted to dance with me! And we were just laughing and being ourselves. It seemed so natural. We danced to Daughters by John Mayer, which is one of my favorite songs! I kind of held his hand without knowing it though haha because I was trying to find a spot for us to dance (there's a lot of people), and I was holding his hand and dragging him with me. As soon as I realized I was holding his hand I dropped it! It was kind of awkward haha. But we danced and had fun. That's all that really matters. And then he texted me after the dance we talked for a while. Yay!
Here are some pictures from the dance:

On the left is Taylor, I'm in the middle, and on my right is Klea Dust. I love Klea! She's so funny and she makes me laugh and she even told me at the dance that she trusts me and that we're very close. I wouldn't want to do anything to ruin that! In the background you can see some of the pretty lights!

This is Conner! He's such a stud! He's one of my best friends too! He's such a gentlemen. Whenever everyone was sitting down, I walked over and stood by them and one of my friends was like, "Do you want to sit?" I just said, "No, I'm fine." But then Conner kindly gives up his seat and goes to find another one. He's such a sweetheart and he's so funny! : ) I hope we stay close friends! P.S. - all of the girls have the biggest crush on him hahaha.

Overall, it was a good night and I'm glad I have no school tomorrow! Go Presidents Day! WOO!

Valentine's Day and Swing Choir.

So I'm not a huge Valentine's Day fan, which if you read one of my last posts you should already know. But it went pretty great! I got cards and candy from my friends and my other friend, Nikki Denbow, gave me a cookie! So I was pretty happy. Not going to lie. Not to mention that for the past couple days, the weather has been fantastic! It's not longer 30 degrees out. : ) It's nice. It's at least in the 50's, maybe? I don't know, but it's warm and there's an amazing blue sky! On from Valentine's Day: I had my Swing Choir tryouts today! Oh my goodness, at first my friend was going to drop out of it and not do the routine at all with me because she was so nervous. But she calmed down a little bit. When we went to sing our song ("A Whole New World" from Aladdin), she messed up because her voice was so shaky. It sounded like she was going to cry! And I accidentally sang one part wrong from not thinking about it. But our monologue and dance went great and Mrs. Stamps just laughed when we messed up. She's so nice! She reminds me of Mrs. Potts from Beauty and the Beast. I reallllyyyyyyyy hope I make Mixed Choir with the boys and the girls. If I make Treble Choir, I guess that's better than nothing, but I really want Mixed Choir. I'm praying that I'll make it. We didn't do horrible, but I'm not sure if we did that great. I have faith in us though! To anyone who's reading, pray for us and hope we make it! I went to piano again today for the first time in 3 weeks. Cami and I always have plans so we hardly have time for piano. And today, I didn't even do piano. It was just all voice lessons. Sister McClain gave me really good songs to practice though. I got Tomorrow from Annie, A Change In Me from Beauty and the Beast (Broadway), and Walk With Him. Now I just need a binder to keep all of my songs in. And I also need a calculator for math.
Other than that, life is peachy keen jelly bean! Stay strapped in for the ride.
Bye!

Fun Ways to Spell.

I know that when I was little, I loved to read, write, and spell. They were my favorite. My nephew Liam is already so good at saying some of his letters and he's not even 2 yet. By the way, you know how I said I change the names I  like a lot for my kids? Well, I was thinking about my friend Annie, because she has a cute little niece named Airlia. Isn't that so pretty? I love it. Airlia and Evelyn are names I really like as of now. Anyways, to prepare for teaching my nephew how to spell (because I know that most of it will be my teaching and some of it will be my sister, Jennifer's), I was blog surfing one day and came across some pretty cool ways to spell and have fun with the letters of the alphabet (aside from watching Sesame Street). : )

Flash Cards: My mom did this to me when I was little and I loved it. Nonetheless, I am a flash card fan - not to endlessly flip them in front of a kid's face - but to use in games and activities.

Stairsteps: Write the words as if they are stairs, adding one letter at a time. S, Sp, Spe, Spel, Spell.

Tic-Tac-Toe: Make a larger-sized board. Have each player use an 'X' or an 'O' but in order to mark on the board, they have to spell a word correctly.

Word Scramble: Scramble up the letters of each word and have the kids put them in the correct order.

Water Paint: Use water and a paintbrush to water paint the spelling words. On a hot, sunny day, words disappear quickly -- so the speller has to move fast!

Spelling Word Hunt: Look for the words in other spelling lists, the newspaper, books, and magazines.

Word Train: Use the letters to have your child create a 'word train' by using the first and last letter of the first word to begin the second word and so on: cat/tap/pan.

Happy Face Valentines.

Flower and Happy Face Valentines - These are pretty simple and easy to make. They just require cutting out shapes ahead of time and picking up inexpensive lollipops.

Make very simple patterns that include both the Flower Valentine and the Happy Face Valentine. 

Here's the bigger version:

The Flower Valentine has three parts: a pinwheel, a small circle, petals, and leaves. The Happy Face Valentine has a small circle and a large circle. You can use construction paper for this. After you're done cutting, use a sharp knife or pencil so they are ready for assembly. Pretty much you cut, tape everything together, and then stick in the lollipops. Simple, eh?

Church stuff that makes me happy. : )

<---- I want me a Mormon boy! lol : )







I love coloring pages. : )

Family Home Evening.

So one thing that my family is really bad at is Family Home Evening. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's where you sit together with your family, have a lesson prepared, and learn more about the gospel. My family is really bad at doing that. We do it sometimes, but not as often as we should. When I move into my own home and have my own family, my goal is to have family home evening once a week. I'm not going to promise that it will be on Mondays, like advised, but in my home I just want to have family home evening. I want to have it before we all go to bed and after we eat dinner. So since I prepared my lesson for this week already, I was looking for lessons that I can keep to remember when I'm older so when I have my own family I can refer back to this and have some good lessons! Here are some really good ones that I found.

Preparation:
1- Gather items to make banana splits (bananas, chocolate sauce, ice cream, ect)
2- Scriptures

Song:
Nephi's Courage

Lesson:
Turn to 1 Nephi 17-18

Tell the story of Nephi building the boat; One day the Lord told Nephi to build a boat to carry him and his family to the promised land. Nephi didn't know how to make a boat, but he made tools and trusted in the Lord that he would be able to do it. Also the coloring page is just to keep them entertained while they listen to the story. If my kids are anything like me then they listen ten times better when they're actually productive and doing something. After you're done telling the story, ask your children the following questions:
1- Why did Nephi build the boat?
2- How did Nephi build the boat?
3- What did Laman and Lemuel say to Nephi when they say him building the boat?
4- What happened when they tried to throw Nephi into the sea?
5- Does the Lord protect those who are doing good for him?
6- What did Laman and Lemuel do to Nephi on the ship?
7- What happened when they untied him?
Explain that Heavenly Father blesses us when we do what we're supposed to do, even if it seems hard.
Activity: Coloring Page
Treat: Make banana split "boats." 


Here's another one:
Preparation:
1- A bag of marshmellows, large ones
2- Scriptures

Opening Song:
I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus

Scripture:
Ether 1:33

Lesson:
(As you read this story or tell in your own words, tell your kids to start stacking the marshmallows on top of one another like a tower. Eventually, the tower will fall).


Jared and his brother lived in a place called Babel. Many people who did not worship Heavenly Father and did things that were bad lived there as well. Those people decided that they wanted to get to heaven and the best way for them to do this was to build a tower. The people began to build this tower one brick at a time. As they built the tower, it made the Lord very angry. The Lord changed the language of every person who worked on the tower. This way they could not understand each other or finish the tower. The tower eventually fell apart because it wasn't finished. Jared and his brother were good and obeyed the teachings of the Lord. Because of this the Lord spared Jared and his brother and did not change their language. 


1- Why was the tower built?
2- How did the Lord feel about this?
3- What happened to those who built the tower?

Heavenly Father blesses his children when we do what we are supposed to and obey him. In order to get to heaven and see Him again, we must obey him.

Treat:
Marshmallow Taffy
1- Wash your hands.
2- Get 2-3 large marshmallows. Small ones work also, but you need to use more and they are harder to work with.
3- Put the marshmallows into your hand and begin to rip them up and push them together.
4- Keep working them in motions that mix and mash at the same time.
5- Keep working it until it is smooth and free of any little lumps from the marshmallows original form.
6- After your mixture is smooth, you can eat it right of your hand.
I'll probably do more posts on more cool lessons when I find them. There are many, but this post is getting too long. If you've read this far, bravo. : )

Pretty cool stuff, man.

So my mom has this really cool recipe book. Accept it's not really a recipe book. Well, it is a recipe book but it has some pretty other cool stuff in it, like stories and how to make emergency baby formula and other stuff for little kids. I was looking through it and thought I would share some cool stuff I found.

Children's Soap Bubbles:
2/3 C. Water
1/3 C. liquid dish soap
3/4 Tsp. Glycerin
Food Coloring


In a bowl, stir together the water, detergent, and glycerin. Add the food coloring drop by drop to obtain desired color. Pour mixture into an empty commercial bubbles bottle to use along with the accompanying plastic hoop. Haha.

Homemade Playdough:
1 C. flour
2 tsp. cream of tartar
1 C. Water
1/2 C. salt
1 T. oil
Food coloring


Cook all ingredients slowly, stirring until it forms a ball. Cool, and knead until lumps are gone.

Corn Starch Fingerpaints:
2 C. Water
1/4 C. corn starch
Food coloring


Bring water to a boil. Add a small amount of water to the corn starch and blend together to make a paste. Gradually add paste to the boiled water. Stir well. Bring to a boil, remove from heat, and add food coloring. Cool and play. Use butcher paper. You can also paint with pudding. It's fun and you can lick your fingers.

Fun days.

Tonight I just got back from my friend Bailey's house. We had fun! We went to Taco Bell today and with her mom to Sam's. And then almost all of yesterday we practiced for Swing Choir because she wants to try out with me, so I'm excited for that. Today we took a lot of pictures. Like 92? I think it was 91. I love her camera, which is ten times better than mine and she only go tit for $40! I'm so jealous. Her cousin Emily came over today. Bailey doesn't really like Emily because Emily tries to steal all of her friends and acts like she's Bailey's best friend. Bailey said even when they were little, Emily was so jealous because Bailey was prettier. Emily is super popular and pretty and has a gazillion friends. She has the power to ruin your social life within 20 seconds. She's pretty nice, but she talks about people behind their backs (or so I've heard). I try not to associate myself with people like that. When she came over she just kind of talked with us for a little bit and then she left. Bailey and I finally mastered our dance today to Firework by Katy Perry and we mastered our song, A Whole New World in Aladdin, and we found Peter Pan monologue. : ) It's going pretty well. I just hope we do well on Tuesday. I watched Forrest Gump yesterday with Bailey for her first time. Silly girl! I have a pretty stressful presentation for English coming up soon though and our group still has no clue what we're doing. Sigh. But anyways, here's one of the photos I took of Bailey today (it's a candid shot):

I feel so proud of myself! I can actually say I took this photo, and it's amazing. Look at those eyelashes of hers! I would seriously die for eyelashes like that. I love how she didn't even know I was taking this. : ) Camera ninja!

One of me. Not so pretty, I know. But I like the duck. : ) I was trying to balance him on my head. Look at that concentration. Don't ask me why we were playing around in her bathroom. I think she was putting mascara and eyeliner on, which takes Bailey around a half hour (no joke). And I think this was me entertaining myself while she was busy grooming herself.

I'm a loser. 

Anyways, that sums up the past couple days! Nothing special. : )

Things do turn around.

So this day didn't turn out so horrible after all! I went to Sister Christensen's house (my Young Women's leader) and me and the rest of the mia maids, Annie, Beth, and Rachel all went to help paint Sister Christensen's daughter's bedroom. Claire is so ready for a new room and she wants it painted pink (Claire is only 8). We primed it today and we're going to have to go back to paint it pink. Also, the mia maids are going to Sister Christensen's house on the 25 of this month to have a game/movie night and we're going to spend the night and crash in her living room. : ) Her house is seriously the coziest, cleanest house I've ever been in. It has such an impact on you after you leave a house like that. It makes you think about how you want your future home to be. I want mine to be exactly like hers! It's so cute and cozy. The fireplace was going and there was cookies and milk and the carpet is so soft. : ) I was so sad when we had to leave because I seriously wanted to stay there for forever. I can see why Claire often says, "Mommy, I love our house! It's so clean and pretty." I love that house too. We learned how to paint rooms, prime rooms, fill in holes in the wall, and everything. I'm pretty sure I can take on any room I have to paint now! But anyways, this helped my night so much. The Spirit lingers in their house, and you can feel it. Also, I was hesitant about skating on the ice, but Adam (he's like my brother), took my arm and we were skating on the ice! It was so fun! I hope I can keep this positive attitude all week and just be myself. Things really do turn around! Treat life nice and it treats you nice back. : )

Breathe.

Well. This morning sucked monkey butt. No joke. It's like this morning was just not my morning. I won't get into details why. But being the type of person I am, I get frustrated at very little things. If I  mess up something, I get frustrated with myself. Sometimes people say things to me that make me frustrated. I am impatient. I worry and stress over the littlest things. I just need to fix my priorities right now. I think I just need to breathe and not let people get to me. I'm going to focus more on being me. The right things will fall into place if I don't try so hard. So as of now, I'm going to focus on church, school, my friends, and on being me. And wherever that leads me, well, I hope it's somewhere good. : )

Sick Days and the Superbowl (Go Packers!)

I've been sick for the past few days. : ( I woke up early on Saturday (like 7:55 in the morning), and found out that my throat hurt really bad. I figured it would go away soon, so I ate a cough drop and went back to sleep. I woke up about 4 hours later. No luck. Sore throat was still there. My mom checked my throat and said it's red but she doesn't see any real damage. She said it'll most likely be gone by Tuesday or Wednesday. My adenoids aren't swollen either. And I think I got sick because this girl sat next to me on the bus and she was coughing and her throat was really bad too, and she coughed right on me. It was an accident, but still. Gross! My throat is doing a teensy bit better, but still. : ( Sore throats are really bad. I think the cold and sore throats are the worst! Nonetheless, I went to church today. It was fun! Last night I went to Dots, a store by Wal-Mart, and got a really cute shirt, a nice pair of jeans, and a dress. And a couple necklaces. But then I was dragged around Wal-Mart for about 2 or 3 hours. I was dying to go home because my throat hurt and I hadn't had any medication for it yet. But last night I gargled with salt water, I gargled Listerine, took Nyquil, and had chlorosceptic spray sprayed down my throat. As if that wasn't enough, I've been going through cough drops like crazy. I've only had a little bit of luck! Ugh. I hate being sick. But on the upside, the Superbowl is tonight! Yay! I am a Packers fan. : ) To be honest, I hate  really don't like the Steelers. They play dirty a lot and their coach is so strict and mean, which has an impact on the team. But the Packers on the other hand is owned by their community, and their community helps clean the stadium and always supports their team! There are people who are standing in their stadium during the winter time with no shirts on and Packer colors painted on their stomachs! Talk about dedication, huh? I really hope the Packers win tonight. They deserve it. : ) GO PACKERS!

I'm so excited!

I get to choose my classes for sophomore year on Monday!! Time just flew by! I can't believe that in 3 months I'm going to be a sophomore in high school. I cannot believe it. They say time in high school only goes by faster but I honestly can't believe how fast it's gone by already. I know I'm going to take Concert Choir and Swing Choir, but I have to audition for them so I'm going to talk to Mrs. Stamps on Monday before school starts. The class I'm most excited for is Home Economics Child Development and Care, which is technically learning how to take care of kids. : ) I love it! I'm so excited for it. It teaches you different parenting techniques and styles and teaches you how a child develops from an infant to an adult and safety precautions and stuff. Also, for my second elective I want to take Foods, which is learning how to cook. I'm so excited! I pray more than anything that I make Swing choir. Cherise said that it's so funny because people who can't dance that well make it in anyways and that it's easy if you pay attention. Oh and for my kids, the names change a lot. Like, a lot. I mean seriously, I say I like this name one day but then the next I'll find another that I like better. I'm starting to like more common names, but I still like names that are different and unique. Some names I have middle names for that I like and for some names I haven't picked out middle names. As of now I like:

• Cole Maddox [boy]
• Miranda  
• Olivia [girl]
• Kamden Brent [boy]
• Aubree Skye [girl]
• Chelsea Elise [girl]
• Claire [girl]
• Caleb [boy]
• Ethan Daniel [boy]
• Audrey Caroline [girl]

I know, I know. I have a lot more girl names than boy names but they will come to me in time ; ) My favorites are:

Kamden Brent

Miranda Paige

Cole Maddox

Chelsea Elise

Ethan Daniel

Olivia Grace  

: D Hope you like. But then again, if you don't, I don't really care ; D

Can't wait for this class to start! and Swing choir! Cross your fingers I'll make it!

Watch this. Seriously.

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1651042832752

My friend Jenny wrote this song a while ago but it's so beautiful. She has some real talent. She made up the piano part, the words, everything. This video is worth sharing. Sorry for the darkness in the video, but we made this in her basement and with the video camera I couldn't get really good light. Oh well. Good song. What are you doing reading this? I told you to go watch it!

Valentine's Day and other such ramblings.

This is my friend, Emily Furlow. She made this picture on facebook and tagged everyone that she loved in it. Well, most of her friends anyways. And guess what? I WAS TAGGED. So here's a quick shout out to you, Emily: I am so glad I met you because you make my life so much sunnier! You seriously are one the brightest, smartest, most positive people I've ever met. And you're so funny! You have me laughing all the time. I cannot stress enough how jealous I am of your singing voice. You should be going pro, girl. Like NOW. I love you! Now, let's talk about Valentine's Day. Personally, I hate it. I think it is the most pathetic holiday to ever grace this universe. But I do think it is something special when you have someone to share it with. To me, your friends' giving you hand made Valentine cards isn't enough. People always say, "You don't need a girlfriend/boyfriend for Valentine's Day." But helloooo, that's the whole point! It wasn't made for friends, it was made for couples. And I think that when you find that really special someone, that Valentine's Day can be something really special. But I can't start dating until I'm 16, so it might be a while before I actually start appreciating the holiday. Until then, I guess I'll have to grit my teeth and go with it. But seriously? Even when you do have that someone special, Valentine's Day is pretty pathetic. Why would you need ONE day to show someone how much you love them? You should do that every day. Man. I'm just a chatterbox, aren't I? But, to do my fair share of Valentine's day, I'm going to post some pictures of my 2 close friends whom I love very much and hope I never ever lose.

Jenny Lynn Rea. I love you so much. More than you will ever comprehend. You are a constant inspiration to everyone around you and I look up to you so much that it's not even funny. You are my role model. This was you on the night of our 8th grade dance. You were the only girl who was able to come in ALL black and still look beautiful! I wish I was as smart as you are. You and your IQ of like 1785783! I like how I call you and we rant about how stupid boys are and how we are going to throw them down wells and blow up the universe and such. : ) You are awesome at anything you do. You try and you never give up until you're the best. For example, you and the piano. I don't know how to explain it, but it's as if you and the piano are the same thing whenever you play. You don't even have to think about it, you're fingers just do whatever they want. You always have an amazing singing voice and unbelievable capabilities to write songs (in fact, I'm getting ready to post the video of you singing the song you wrote that one time when we were in your basement and I recorded it on the camera and we had to start over like 5 times! Still fun, though. I'm glad I could be of help). I love your laugh. It's seriously so contagious, which is why I like making you laugh. I hope you still remember me when you're famous. And I know that even when we're 80, we're still going to be best friends.

Oh, you make me smile. : )

Bailey Marie Farrar. Where to start with you! We have so many memories that it's hilarious. I totally miss having Literature with you. : ( But I love that you live seriously like 5 minutes away from me. That makes up for it. You are so funny and I love how you always try to be unique and different. You like standing out and even though you don't know where you're going right now, I know it'll be somewhere great. Can I just say that I'm totally jealous of your eyes? They are such an awesome color of blue! And it has green in it. And as much as you want brown eyes, please never want to change because I love you! Also, I love how you hate cheerleaders but you went out for the cheer team just to make fun of the cheerleaders. And you MADE IT. Your cartwheels and handstands are pretty amazing, what can I say? You're very good at math. I wish I was, even though you wish you had my English ability. I love going to football games with you and Jenny and I love it when Jenny brings her ukulele. I like how you and I are kind of the different ones in our group and how much we laugh when we're together. I'm jealous of your handwriting. I wish I had it. And I wish I had your drawing capabilities. Like Jenny, you have a very contagious laugh, and that's why I love making you laugh. We are so much alike it's freaky. We literally think we were twins but separated. Like how we both cried for three months straight when we were born but we would both stop crying when our moms took us outside! I love the night we spend at your Aunt Liz's house, dancing to jazz music under the stars and watching your family be crazy and having our alone time. I miss you, Bailey Boo! : ( But I will see you soon, and I love you!

Bailey and Jenny behind the scenes of the play Alice in Wonderland at our school!

Bailey and I at the park.

Bailey, Jenny, and I at the zoo for an art club field trip. I seriously hate this picture because of my face in it (also this was taken a long time ago), but I love this picture because it shows how happy we are being together. We literally would not leave each other's sides. And no, we are not afraid to hold hands in public!

This picture makes me laugh. I love you guys. : )

ALSO:

I want to take this time and brag about Jenny's photography skills. Here are a few of the pictures she took while we were in Chicago.

This was at Navy Pier, which I LOVED!

And last but not least, this is a blurry picture but this is a picture of all of our friends feet as we were standing on the highest story of the Sears tower --- 140 stories! My feet are the white tennis shoes with neon green laces hahaha. The view was amazing, and we were standing in a glass box so it felt as if were flying or just standing in mid-air. It was scary for Bailey at first, because she hates heights, but even she had to admit that it looked pretty cool! I loved it. Seriously, the view was so beautiful. And I loved spending time with my friends. : )

Art, art, and...you guessed it...more art.

1. In the center of a 9" x 12" sheet of paper, have the kids draw a 6" circle, using a cardboard template. Below that the neck and shoulders can be drawn, but only using straight lines and angles.
2. The face may be drawn in pencil, but again, only using very simple lines. Trace all with a dark crayon, pressing firmly.
3. Cut up various sheets of tissue paper, in about 3" squares. With a cup of water and a paint brush, the students are to dampen the white paper and place up pieces of tissue on top, like a grid-like format. Once the paper is covered, the tissue may be picked up and thrown away. The tissue paper will have bled to the paper in irregular shapes.

Man, I can't wait until my nephew gets older. : )

Also, I found an Easter project, because Easter will be here before we know it!

Potato Print Chicks:

Use regular old potatoes to stamp yellow chick shapes. After they've dried, add in details with a fine-tipped Sharpie. Challenge the kids to make each chick different by adding different details and expressions for each one. 

Peppermint Playdough.

Ingredients:

2 cup water

food coloring

2 T. vegetable oil

1 c. salt

4 t. cream of tartar

4 t. peppermint extract

2 cups flour

Combine all ingredients in large pan on stove. Over medium heat, stir until most of the lumps disappear and the mixture thickens up to a dough-like consistency. On countertop, knead like bread dough. Dough will be hot-- let mom knead it to the right consistency, separate into a few different dough-balls and let cool for about 10 minutes before letting the kids handle it. Store in an air-tight container.

I could play with playdough for hours. : )

Chores.

So, I know everyone has a different view on chores. Some people don't even think their kids should have chores at all. And I've switched back and forth between ideas, and I even want to try this in our house when I get the chance. And I'll probably use this method with my kids. My friend is trying it with her kids, who hate chores with a fiery passion, and she said it is actually working! I'm happy for her. Here's what you do:



You put the first initial of your kids' name down the side and the days of the week across the top of whatever your using. I plan on using a board like this one. Each hook has a few chores for each day. Each chore is worth 25 cents. Once the chore is finished and you've checked that the kid has actually done the chore, then they move the card to the end of the hook. And then, each Saturday, you add up their chores. The kids get paid, take out their tithing, then put their money in a piggy bank and their tithing money in an envelope to take on Sunday. It's a pretty good system, and I think it's pretty fair! I'm sure there are different ways, but this is just how I plan on doing it. I guess you could say I'm way prepared for when my kids' have to do their chores! It's just that I kind of wished that growing up, I would've had an organized way of doing things. And if you're anything like me, you hate it when things aren't organized. It messes up my entire system and will eat away at me for days. I guess you can call me a little bit OCD when it comes to clean rooms, clean houses, and what not. I can only let a room get so messy. Also, this can go in my Young Women's journal for preparing for a future home. Yay!

Goal setting.

Lately, our Bishop talked about how important it is to set goals, and more importantly, strive to accomplish our goals. He talked about how statistics show that when you actually write your goals down somewhere where you are sure to see them, then you will accomplish them. So here are my long term goals and short term goals (and keep in mind, this is only what I've got so far. I'm sure my list will add as I grow throughout the year).

Short term goals:

1. Keep with homework.

2. Get A's and B's. No C's.

3. Keep memorizing my scripture masteries (so far, I'm the best in the class!).

4. Read my scriptures more often.

5. Finish my Personal Progress and get my medallion before my birthday. My goal is somewhere towards the middle of April.

6. Go to EFY, Youth Conference, and Girls Camp.

7. Get an Ipod with Itunes cards so I can put a lot of songs on it for my birthday.

8. Take a photography class.

9. Take a child care taking class.

Long term goals:

1. Get my driver's license.

2. Graduate from high school with a GPA of something close to 4.0.

3. Go on dates!

4. Go to BYU Utah (but if not there, then BYU Idaho).

5. Minor in music.

6. Marry a returned missionary in the temple.

7. Become a music teacher like Sister McClain, where she teaches kids how to play piano and gives voice lessons.

8. Let Photography become my hobby.

9. Have a family and raise them in a fun, peaceful, gospel-centered home.

10. Go on a mission with my husband when we're older.

11. Travel.

12. Become a grandmother.

I hope that all of these come true and I will try my hardest to work at them! Like I said, there will probably be more later throughout the year, but as of now, this is what I have. I guess this makes up for my non-existent New Years Revolution. ; ) 

The Art Bug.

So I literally am probably the biggest little kid you will ever meet! I love art projects and I love finding new ones. I like to record them down somewhere so maybe I can do them with my nephew, Liam, when he's old enough and maybe my own future kids. Anyways, I found these cool monsters to make (and I always call my nephew 'Liam Monster.' I think this project will be perfect for him when he's about 3!) and here's how you make them.First you have to make the paper, which should look like this:

Use small Styrofoam cups to mix about a tablespoon of water, a teaspoon acrylic paint and a big squirt of dish washing soap. If the bubbles aren't producing well, add a tiny bit more water and more drops of soap. Colors not dark enough? Add more paint. Just mess around with it until you get what you want.

Mix all those together with a straw. And then, using the straw, blow into the mixture.

Remember how Mom would get mad at you for blowing bubbles into your milk? This is your revenge.

Once the bubbles reach the top edge of the cup, gently place heavy cardstock or watercolor paper on the bubbles. The bubbles will POP --- leaving an imprint on your paper!  Keep blowing bubbles and letting them pop all over your paper. This is messy. your face will look like rainbow loveliness when you are done. And either do this project outside or lay down a newspaper or dropcloths before you begin. It's quite cool when you're finished!

After you make the paper, cut random shapes out of the bubble paper and add details with fine-line Sharpies.

They should look a little something like this! : ) I hope you enjoy making these with your families. That's my plan! Little kids love this project. It gives them a chance to use their imagination AND get messy in the process. Enjoy.

New Recipes!

So lately I've really liked cooking. Two times a week (normally on Tuesdays and Thursdays), my Mom has me go to this website called allrecipes.com and choose any two recipes that I want to cook for that week. And then on Saturdays we go get the ingredients. Well, I just found 14 amazing recipes that can last me for a few weeks and they are easy and simple! Just wanted to share. : )

1. Chili's Enchilada Soup with Pioneer Woman's Pico de Gallo and Tortilla chips.

2. Bow Tie Lemon Chicken; Salad

3. Pigs in Blankets, Macaroni and Cheese, Honeydew

4. Mini Turkey Meatloaves, Mashed potatoes, Broccoli
5. Beef and Veggie Stir Fry on Rice
6. Bacon and Eggs, Bananas, Orange Juice
7. Whole Wheat Pancakes

8. Chicken Pesto Lasagna, Green Beans
9. Ramen Noodle Soup
10. Broccoli Rice Casserole (meatless), Clementines
11. Tortellini and Vegetable Soup
12. Hamburgers and Hashbrowns
13. Sub Sandwiches, Oranges
14. White Chicken Pizza

Find these recipes at either Food.com or Allrecipes.com! I really do enjoy cooking and it's teaching me how to prepare meals for my own future family someday!