Danielle & Clayton

Disney Princesses

2012-01-26T08:56:00.000-07:00

K guys. So I've seen this picture with everyone liking it on facebook lately...like all over the place. There's a caption under the picture that says something like, "What messages are your kids getting from this?" It makes me TERRIBLY SAD, for those people who agree with this!

The main thing I think when I see people saying, "so true", or "this is so sad"...is...I grew up LOVING these movies, and I feel like I'm a fairly confident, strong, independent female. I got a college degree, passed the CPA exam, am working for a CPA firm, grown many talents, and have accomplished a LOT in my short life so far. When I watched these movies growing up, in no way did I think I had to be pretty, had to abandon my family or my talents, had to have a man to protect me, or any of that!

The main problem in my opinion, is LACK OF PARENTING. If your kids are honestly learning their life values from a cartoon? THAT is sad! My whole life I was taught that anything on TV or in Movies was just that. TV or Movies. NOT real life. My parents taught me the difference between stories and reality. You know what else they taught me? That I am beautiful, that I am smart, that its important to work hard. They taught me that appearance and showing off your body isn't what gets you places, and isn't what brings happiness. They taught me that being a good person, being kind to others, working hard, and staying close to the Lord, is what brings happiness. I was taught that just because someone is different, or maybe not as good looking as a disney princess, doesn't mean they are any less! Never was I encouraged to be a disney princess or act like one.

That being said, are we completely ignoring the qualities that some of these disney princesses possess? Kindness, purity, humility, rising above mean people (beauty), or how about not judging someone by their rags or wealth (Aladdin)? Yes, I have ALWAYS thought Ariel's outfit is stupid. But like...are we forgetting values like, "Whistle while you work"? There are a lot of good values in these movies that are being ignored.

Here's the bottom line. There are FAR worse cartoons and tv shows that children can watch with blatantly bad messages. If you are leaving your teaching up to disney movies, then yes. You are certainly in trouble! But if you raise your children to be confident, and teach them to actually know what value is, you wont have to worry about them thinking appearance or prince charming is all there is in life. I know that is NOT what I took from those movies growing up, and I plan on sharing these movies with my kids, and grandkids, and any child in my home! Just as I plan on actually PARENTING and teaching my kids...spending quality time with them so they know what's right and wrong.

Now, toddlers and tiaras on the other hand :) Clay and I watched an episode last night...I decided that show is kind of like a car crash. As horrifying as it is, I just could not. look. away. Sickening.

This is basically my life.

2012-01-19T22:13:00.004-07:00

Had another Zumba allergic reaction. BOOOOH. I'm gonna try a different class next week. Hopefully I'm not juts allergic to exercising? Just kidding...I think that school is moldy or something.

Made a mint chocolate cookie (the two best combos in the universe are: chocolate and mint, and chocolate and peanut butter), and it is made with 100% quinoa flour, and coconut sugar (obviously other ingredients too...but those were the main oddities). Yum. I love love love them.

REVENGE! I know I mentioned this before but seriously- I just can't get enough! I'm so mad that I don't get to see what happens next for like 2 WHOLE WEEKS! Actors shouldn't be allowed to vacation. Seriously- I know that Emily loves Jack, but she totally loves Daniel too. I love them both- and don't even know which team to PICK! Were you completely ENRAGED at Victoria when she implied that David Clarke raped her?!?!?! GAH! I hate her! But love her! Cause she's so crazy and wicked and I just love characters like that (when played as well as her). Oh and don't get my started on the ache I feel for her when she has those David Clarke flashbacks. And then outrage! When I think about the betrayal!

Don't trust that smile...

When the heck is this all going to blow up?! Emily is slowly losing control of these situations and its got me hangin on the EDGE OF MY SEAT! Oh man. If you haven't seen Revenge, do yourself a favor and get a free trial of huluplus and just watch it for a week. There's only like...13 episodes. It could definitely be done :)

Oddly, I'm actually staying ontop of my homework, and not going too crazy. I say that cause a few times I have really gone crazy. Like, I think I just have the worst life in the world. Then I remember that all it is....is homework and work and life and I just need to keep a fresh perspective. I'm a woman and my emotions are crazy. That's okay.

Bachelor...dare I say it? I actually kind of like Courtney the model. I know she's kinda weird, but she reminds me of Michelle and I kinda love Michelle. Also, she seems to have some good chemistry going with Ben, and she's just funny. Obviously Kacie B and Emily are good ones. But I don't understand why everyone loves that one divorced girl so much. I mean, she seems fine and all, but she also seems SUPER dramatic at times...like the Shawntel deal (which by the way, was so ridiculous on so many counts I just can't even...). Anyway- Courtney is just so much more interesting and funny. Did you hear Emily is the next bachelorette? SNORE. Oh well, I thought Ashley would be boring or annoying- but I liked her. Except for the way she talked.

Lastly...EW ON NEWT. Newt Gingrich is so dispicable. I know we are supposed to forgive and forget but he smells TOO MUCH like Bill Clinton to me. If you're wondering what I'm talking about, just google "Newt Gingrich Open Marriage". Yeah...he asked his wife to have an open marriage...and admitted to having an affair for 7 years (with the woman he is now married to- his 3rd wife), and that SHE was fine with whatever he wanted and that she shouldn't want him all to herself. His first wife got cancer, and he left her. His second wife got MS and he left her. OH and when he was proposing the idea of an "open marriage" to his second wife, it was at the same time that he was speaking on family values and going against Clinton for the Monica Lewinsky thing. My dear. Supposedly he's repented and changed. But it's one of those things where it's okay to forgive, but it's also okay not to trust. Hello? I just don't like him. He's gross and a wimp.

Alright. Enough of my wisdom :) Have a good night!

Getting ready for V-day?

2012-01-14T23:31:00.001-07:00

Are you getting excited to put Valentines decorations up? Try a print from my shop :)

This one has been in the shop for a while. It's VERY valentines-y.

This one is brand new! If you can't tell, it comes from the famous Elvis Presley song, "Can't help falling inlove". I LOVE this song. But I must admit that my FAVORITE version is Ingrid Michaelson...just play this

LOVE!

The great thing about that print is it doesn't have to be valentines day to put it up (although it goes really well with the holiday), and it'd actually be really romantic to put in a bedroom or something. Also, I am flexible with different background color options, if you aren't into purple.

Anywho...those prints are both in my shop for $15. OR- a favorite thing to do among many is to buy the digital file for only $4 bucks! Print it at costco or sams club, and have it hangin on your wall within a few hours.

So far...

2012-01-12T22:13:00.003-07:00

I've had some major meltdowns.

Major cry sessions.

A dirty kitchen.

REALLY dirty bathroom.

A whole lot of, 'tomorrow will be better' thoughts.

Completed homework.

Successful zumba session tonight with no extra bumpy things growing on my face.

Successful gluten/sugar free chocolate cookie.

Major breakthrough when I realized that for sure, I basically could omit or reduce a lot of the salt in recipes when I use coconut sugar cause everything I use coconut sugar in tastes really salty.

I'm ready for the weekend...

Did you know we had to find new insurance? I tell you. I hate dealing with insurance and meds and everything. I just can't wait for the day when I DON'T have to worry about these things. Walgreens doesn't fill for blue cross. What? That's only like...one of the top two insurances in the world I think. Transfer...blah blah blah.

Sometimes...I look at blogs and I just feel so crappy about myself. I feel like I just need to be better at everything and like...what's wrong with me?!?! Then at church when everyone looks perfect and acts perfect and everyone is best friends...I feel like...what's wrong with me?!! Everyone has perfect pictures and perfect friends and perfect husbands and perfect houses and everything. I go to tell Clay all this and he basically says..."I think that you are just a woman. I don't understand why you all worry about these things." Seriously...I think that's the truth. Why must we worry and bring ourselves down SO MUCH?! Why do I give myself such a hard time? Why can't I choose to be happy? The fact is...I can. I can choose to love ME, and be ME and see that just cause someone can take a really pretty picture of something and describe it or their life in a really pretty way, doesn't make my life any less. It doesn't discount my successes, my goals, my things. Isn't it crazy how quickly we can go from a high to a low? That's something else Clay said, "I don't have these emotional highs and lows like you...alllll the tiiime." Seriously like...last week or something? I was talking about how my attitude was great! Well, it went down in a hurry. But I'm ready for it to go back up.

Good news. My bumpy thing did in fact, go away. I did have a kinda puffy eye the next day.

In other news...I am obsessed with the show Revenge. It's basically exactly like it says. A girl is getting revenge on everyone who betrayed her father which then KILLED him. It's so crazy and kinda horrible cause like...obviously its about revenge, not forgiveness...but I just love it. And I'm okay with that.

Lastly, Ben the bachelor is kinda boring. Which annoys me.

Alright. Till next time!

I look like an alien....again...

2012-01-09T21:21:00.000-07:00

Allergies aren't fair.

Did you know this is my second allergic reaction in less than a week? First I tried some dip at work, ONE BITE- then by the time I got home from work my stomach had hives, my throat was swelling, and I was wheezing.

Benadryl saved me.

Next I'm at Zumba. This isn't the first time this has happened. I'm telling you THAT MIDDLE SCHOOL MUST HAVE POLLEN OR HAY ALL OVER THE DAMN WALLS. Ugh. Sneezing every 10 seconds or so, and eyes beginning to form special bumps with tears running down my eyes (see above picture).

Took some benadryl. Hopefully it saves me again.

What would I do without that most precious pink pill?

Seriously- Allergies? Why? It's just not fair. I don't think I will ever learn life lessons about why we must have allergies. I sort of have appreication for things I've learned from Lyme. Sort of. A lot of times I think, "I'd be fine being healthy and less wise". But you know...I have learned a lot of things from this disease. But allergies?! Nope. Nada.

Ugh.

My crazy life...

2012-01-07T10:24:00.000-07:00

Well, don't be surprised if you don't here from me as much...my life is kind of crazy right now. When I think about all of it, I think I may just be really insane. Oh well!

Right now I am........taking 12 college credits online. Two business classes, a nutrition class, and a family finances class. The danged requirements to actually become a CPA not only requires the CPA exam to be passed, but requires you to have 150 college credits...I graduated with only 132. I already took 6 credits last semester. Anyway...this is the last of em, and hopefully it all goes well.

No big deal right? Well...not really considering I'm working FULL TIME in TAX SEASON! GAH. Everyone says, "you can break it up Danielle...don't wear yourself too thin" blah balh. But I'm so sick of dragging this on. I just want to finish and be done. So if I'm busy for 4 months and then never have to worry about it again, I'm fine with that.

Not to mention I am still fighting Lyme Disease, fighting sugar/gluten cravings, and taking care of a hubby.

Oh well.

However, you just might hear more from me because of all this. You know...I love to procrastinate and do anything that isn't homework. So I just might end up writing more blogs! Who knows :)

Today is the day I take down my Christmas decorations. It makes me kinda sad. Oh well...V-day is coming up and I have some new decor for that!

Time to make some cinnamon rolls (gluten/sugar free of course), and have my morning date with Clay.

Oh by the way- we watched the new Planet of the Apes movie...."Rise of the Planet of the Apes" and HOLY SMOKES we loved it! Really really really loved. It was super cool and good and sweet and awesome.

Oh yeah- one more thing...my stupid stomach is deciding to hate my antibiotics. Yes. I'm eating lots of yogurt, and taking them with food. Oh well. I am going to get some kefir which is supposed to work wonders for the stomach.

Okay. Cya!

2012 will be our year

2011-12-31T12:25:00.001-07:00

Wintery Ocean. It was rainy all but one day while we were there, but it was still so pretty! I love the ocean.

So I'm super excited for the new year to start. Here's why...this year, I'm going to do the following (hopefully):

Get in remission with Lyme Disease

Get pregnant

Only eat gluten and sugar on birthday, easter, 4th of july, clay's birthday, thanksgiving, and christmas (except for after I get pregnant, no gluten/sugar until the baby is out)

Exercise lots!

Cook more

Grow a garden (just a small one)

Get a 3 month supply of food storage in my basement

Be a CPA!

Well, I know that looks like a lot...but really it's not. The first four are all kind of connected with my 2012 word "HEALTHY". Remember my 2011 word was "ATTITUDE"? Well I really think I stuck true to that cause I'm at the end of the year and my attitude is great!

Clay's main resolution is to work out. I am so happy for that! My big change in feeling better started when I was able and determined to work out. He got this awesome weight bench for Christmas and a bunch of weights, so it'll be awesome.

The other thing I want to do more in 2012 is be more aware of others and just...love more and reach out more. I feel like it's been so hard this past year to do that just cause I've been trying so hard to get better. This year, I will try and be more focused on others.

I always pile on a lot for the new year, but I just can't help it. It's my clean slate start and something in me gets all revved up when the new year starts.

I really am so excited for this year! Clay and I just KNOW it will be a good one.

My mom's Christmas Tree! So beautiful.

Christmas was great! Great presents, great company, so much fun and relaxation. LOVED it. Now today we get to go to Clay's parents and have a super fun time with them playing games, having a late Christmas (yay!) and eating some goods probably. I'm excited. Not to mention I haven't seen my sweet Dante yet! We got home at 2 am, so he just stayed at their house till we go over there today. Clay's still snoozin.

Clay in his new hat and shirt! We were on our way to the aquarium. Something funny about Clay- never been to the Swamp exhibit before, and he was teaching us all about each of the animals/fishy things. He knew the most random things.

To end, 2011 has been a great year too. I'm so happy! Clay and I had a HELL of a 6 months there at the beginning. My word. Sometimes I forget how it was so poopy...but it was! We were both so tired, sick, and depressed. We wondered if we were ever going to get better. It was a rough uphill battle that we didn't understand fully. Our doctor told us to keep going, our family told us to keep going, and we have had so many people praying for us. We kept going...and some sort of change happened a few months ago. All of a sudden, we felt better. We were happier. We realized...holy smokes, this is working! I realized that I was super unhealthy and had just gotten used to it and forgotten what healthy actually felt like...cause once I felt better, I couldn't believe how good I felt! Clay too. We both have just made so many improvements we can't help but be grateful and happy. Clay actually said, "I can't wait to start my new pills"...which basically has NEVER been an attitude of his. Thank you, thank you, and thank you...for praying for us, boosting us up, and sending good things to us. We have had family members just surprise us with packages and family fasts and help in so many ways, I just don't know what we would've done without all of you. I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you. Even you strangers that have popped in here every so often.

Life is good. Sooooooooo good.

One last thing- I got to snuggle my sister's new baby a LOT this week. I think my heart has grown 3 sizes, just like the Grinch.

2011-12-26T10:50:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas!

I have been eating way too many sweets. My grandma made basically enough for a candy store and said, "there's not too much of anything"....the amount of candy and sweets she brought fills an entire countertop. Plus some in the fridge (cheesecake...heavenly cheesecake).

Dante's with his grandparents and aunt. That picture above is their doing :) He looks really happy about those antlers huh?

Anyway, GREAT Christmas. Just you wait till you see the most gorgeous shoes I've ever seen in my life that Clay surprised me with! I keep putting them on my feet just to look at them.

The ocean is beautiful, and my newest niece is beautiful too. Madison Danielle is just the sweetest thing...I keep saying, "I just love her"...or "She is so perfect". So inlove.

Alrighty...time to make a shake and get some sort of nutrition in this body of mine.

Oh- PS...our doc appt went really well. We are right on track, and Clay got the okay to go back to church! YES! It's been over a year since he's been.

Hope everyone is having a happy time :) Already thinking about my new years resolutions.

Sugar Free Gluten Free CINNAMIN ROLLS

2011-12-17T12:00:00.001-07:00

Made these this morning...pretty tasty. For anyone interested, I replaced the flour the recipe called for with 1/2 my gluten free blend, and 1/2 sweet rice flour. Also, I used coconut sugar for the rolls, and agave for the filling and frosting. I'll post the recipe once it's perfected (which it ALMOST is!), it's just slightly more grainy than the average person would want. I totally ate two of these already...so they are really quite good! But yeah, my whole goal here with these recipes is to make them so basically EVERYONE would enjoy them. Not just gluten/sugar free peeps like me. But seriously- if you want to step in a good direction when making normal cinnamon rolls...replace the sugar with coconut sugar, and make the frosting with agave! So much healthier than normal sugar and powdered sugar. And it tastes JUST as good. 1/3 cup agave + 2 tbs cinnamon for the filling.....1/2 block cream cheese + dash of vanilla + agave to taste for the frosting. I'm NOT even lying. The flavor/taste is JUST as good as any cinnamon roll I've ever had. I'm just perfecting the bread consistency to be less grainy :)

Need a quick present for someone you just haven't been able to figure out anything for? Look at last post.

Need a last minute Christmas Gift?

2011-12-17T00:14:00.003-07:00

My co-worker is doing this as a gift for some of her good friends/neighbors. She got them each a frame, and printed each of these prints, and is putting them all one behind another in the frame for each person to have so they can rotate throughout the year! SUCH a fun gift. You can get them printed in 16x20, 11x14, 8x10, or even smaller if you really want! I print them as 16x20's for myself, and my coworker printed them as 11x14's for her friends.

Does this sound like something you want to do? Go to my etsy shop, and buy the digital files, and print each one for about 5 bucks at Costco or Sam's Club (or Walmart...wherever). You could have the present printed, put together, wrapped and under your tree by TONIGHT! So easy. If that's too much of a hassle and you want ME to print it, I can do that too...you just need to order the prints SOON cause if I ship past Tuesday there's no way you'll get it by Christmas.

Want to see one of the prints in an actual house setting?
My sister Lizzie has all of my prints and just switches them out in that same frame.

Woohoo! Just thought I'd throw it out there incase anyone was in a bind for gifts. Also, I have some other stuff on there that if you order, I can get shipped out on Monday or Tuesday and priority mail gets there 2-3 days later. Merry Christmas!

Gluten Free, Sugar Free Brownies

2011-12-15T12:30:00.000-07:00

Say what?

Yeah...I have made MANY batches of brownies that were NAST-AY. These ones actually were GOOD!

Brownie Recipe

3/4 cup butter
1 3/8 cup cocoa
1 1/8 cup coconut sugar

Melt butter, and stir in cocoa and coconut sugar. Set aside.

3/4 cup of gluten free blend (see my favorite blend here)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and xanthan gum. Set aside.

1 cup coconut sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Mix coconut sugar, eggs, and vanilla for 4 minutes. Add chocolate mixture and mix until combined. Slowly add flour mixture until combined.

Grease 8" square pan and pour batter in. Cook for 30-35 minutes in 350 degree oven. Let cool 15 minutes before serving.

The mint frosting was kinda crazy. I just kinda made it up randomly and ended up putting way too much agave. So then I tried adding a bunch of stuff and didn't keep track...so I'll have to try that again sometime to come up with a solid recipe. It basically consisted of butter, milk, agave, cream cheese, and some corn starch! :)

WARNING- These brownies are RICH. That's why I decided to put some mint frosting with it to lighten it up a bit. I had a small square and was like...WOAH. But they are pretty tasty! I am thinking I am gonna try and tweak this a bit to not be so so so rich. But, it is pretty darn good as is. BY FAR the BEST gluten free/sugar free brownie I've ever tasted. Clay even said this was the best textured brownie I've ever made- which says A LOT for gluten free/sugar free. Seriously, thats the mondo problem normally...is the texture is nast.

A note on my gluten free blend. These brownies? Though they don't include much flour...the flour that is in them contains lots of whole grains like sorghum, millet, amaranth, and buckwheat. These all have lots of nutritious values that say...white flour that you normally make brownies with doesn't! Also, coconut sugar has lots of health benefits. It is rich in potassium, magnesium, zinc, and iron...as well as many b vitamins. So basically what I'm saying is...its pretty easy to convince yourself that these brownies are actually healthy ;)

If you don't want to go through the deal of all those flours...you could probably substitute in wheat flour. Don't know for sure though, as I haven't tried it. YUM!

A note on living sugar free

2011-12-14T22:11:00.002-07:00

Okay guys. I am going to go a little silly here. But I just can't keep it in.

I have been sugar free and gluten free for almost 3 weeks now. And seriously? I just feel SO GOOD. My body feels clean, I have more energy, and here's the big one...I am HAPPIER.

I have heard people say that when they go off of sugar, they are happier. I have even read of people struggling with depression that went off of sugar...and suddenly they weren't depressed anymore (coming from a family with major depression type histories, I know this isn't the case for everyone. And I'm NOT advocating dropping sugar and then dropping meds. Consult your doc please.) Anyway...the point is. I just have been feeling REALLY happy lately. And the one common thing I can think of lately since I've been feeling happier is that I haven't had any sugar or gluten! I seriously believe in this. Sugar is POISON to your body. It's the truth. Your body is ROBBED of nutrition in order to digest it! Your body is also ROBBED of energy when you consume it. And I think the reason it can wear people down emotionally is...when we eat sugar, we get this short term boost. But it DOESN'T LAST. After your immediate emotional reaction, your body is overwhelmed with the sugar that is stealing nutrients...and then you lose energy and just feel bad.

I know, I know. Half of you are going to say, "Moderation in all things!" but...seriously? That is such a cop-out. I really admire you if you can seriously have like a couple cookies once a week or something. But I really think most of us can't do that in life. Anywho...I've kinda decided that I am only gonna partake of sugar/gluten on the holidays. I just feel too good to not do it!

Good news- I made gluten free, sugar free brownies tonight. With a mint frosting. And the crazy part...they are GOOD! I'll be posting the recipe tomorrow with some pics.

Tonight I did it again. I made dinner, cleaned the kitchen, made BROWNIES, cleaned the kitchen, worked on Christmas presents, and even ran an errand. Life is so good!

The best way to spread Christmas cheer....

2011-12-12T19:06:00.002-07:00

Is dressing festive as the holiday draws near :)

I've been a bit obsessed with dressing all Christmasy lately. I love it! It makes me happy.

Well, I am so proud of myself. I worked, came home, made dinner, and...DID THE DISHES. All of that! Seriously, I'm celebrating. Not too long ago...I really couldn't handle that! I'm not exaggerating. Life is good.

Well, there are 6 presents under our tree!!! None of them are for me yet...(hint hint...my love). But I do have to say- its been so fun getting everyone's presents put together and stuff! I love gifting. However, I kinda go crazy like a psycho woman with gifts as well. I think of the perfect gift, LOVE IT, and then all of a sudden when its finished and everything...I have these majorly anxious feelings that the person will either HATE IT or already have something like it or think its stupid or whatever.

I have been off of sugar and gluten for over 2 weeks now! THAT is cause for celebration! I've gotta say... I feel good. My body feels clean inside. I like it.

That's all for now. Till next time :)

OH- PS...I read "Divergent"...and I really really liked it a LOT! It's so funny cause my sister Lizzie read it at the same time and she kinda hated it. But anyway- it's basically a dystopian theme that is really popular right now...society is supposedly perfect...even though its pretty messed up...rebels...some love...blah blah. I know I'm not selling it very well, but seriously- its a pretty good book!

I slept 12 hours

2011-12-09T11:46:00.003-07:00

When was the last time that happened??!! I have no idea. Seriously. I am not much of a sleeper-inner. This morning it just felt so good. So I let myself just stay in bed till I felt ready, and it turned out that was at 11:30!!! I don't even feel like I've wasted my day. Cause I feel so good. I think I needed to catch up or something. But, on today's to-do list...I have plenty of things. I just don't know what I want to do...I kind of decided I don't want to pressure myself to get TONS done. It's too stressful and disappointing when I don't get everything done! Here's what I NEED to do:

Dishes
Our bathroom
Chocolate pie
School work

Yep, Chocolate pie is on my need list. Did you know I haven't had sugar or gluten since November 27th? I am holding strong. The goal is set until Christmas Eve. However, I'm even starting to doubt that I even want to cheat then. Just cause I am feeling so great without that stuff in my body. I know that I definitely want some rolls though! We'll see. But I have a chocolate pie recipe that I'm going to make today that will be sure to blow your mind. Sugar free, and gluten free...and yummy? Yes. Yes. and Yes.

Oh, and before any of you say things like, "Wow that is really impressive if you can get all that done" or something...remember I don't have babies...its just me and Dante.

Well, I better get my shake- which by the way I added a HUGE amount of spinach to yesterday and it still tasted lovely. I just love that. Adding healthy deals to your food that you don't even notice a change in taste.

I will end on this note: I am so thankful for my body. I'm so thankful that I am not in worse shape than I am! Zumba was last night and I just love that place (besides the fact that I appear to be allergic to the middle school it's at...I always leave sneezing, with sometimes a swollen eye). There is a routine they do to the song "I'm a survivor" by Destiny's Child...and my friend always jokes, "it's your song!" cause I told her it's how I get my aggression out. The reason I said that is basically most of the song we are punching it out and crunching our abs and stuff. Anyway, now...its not so much aggression, but this will sound so cheesy...as I'm punching the air to pieces, with the words, "I'm a survivor, I'm not goin give up, I'm not goin stop, I'm goin work harder, I'm a survivor, I'm gonna make it, I will survive, Keep on survivin" I kinda get this mindset like...look at what I'm doing with my body? I am beating this Lyme down, and I will survive! I told you it was cheesy. But seriously, it boosts my spirits every time. I just am intensely reminding myself that I can survive anything, including this danged Lyme Disease, and I'm working hard, and I will continue to work hard till it's out of my life. Yay for Zumba. And yay for my body, being capable and all.

Alright, time to get crackin on that list :)

Saweet and Annoying things...

2011-12-08T14:00:00.000-07:00

I got a poinsettia at work and they put this bow on it...and the poinsettia was pink. No no. Not attractive.

So guess what? Clay went to the chiropractor because he threw out his back when playing football during thanksgiving...and HOLY SMOKES. His lower back and hips are MESSED UP! It's so crazy cause it makes us so happy. Here's why...this past year both of us have made major improvements with our health since being treated for Lyme Disease...however, Clay's joint pain just seems to stick around no matter what! We started thinking that he would kinda just have that his whole life...it was permanent damage or something. Well, all of a sudden this is all making sense because HELLO? His lower spine is twisted, AND curved, and his hips are tilted...as in not straight like normal...plus a bunch of other junk. So it kind of makes sense why his hips hurt ALL THE DAY LONG DAY. And haven't gotten better. Of course the Lyme probably contributed to it just cause you know...when your body is taxed and you aren't functioning well anyway, other things are bound to slack off too...like his back. I dunno. Anyway- we are so freaking happy because he is going to go to the chiropractor and get adjusted over and over and over until its good as new. Can you believe it?! And this is bound to just make the Lyme treatment go better too, since his body wont be working so hard to make up for his bad alignment.

So I have this new dream and I'm totally motivated. I for REALS want to make a cookbook that is ONLY sugar free/gluten free treats. TREATS ONLY. There are lots of cookbooks out there that are gluten/sugar free but they are mostly meals. I saw one gluten/sugar free TREAT cookbook out there but I read that there aren't really any pictures that go with the recipes...which basically is not okay. So...this is my new dream. I think I could do it. I am crazy, because I'm really picky and gluten/sugar free treats are tough. But seriously? You probably don't realize this...but this could save so many people. I've been on Lyme forums and SO many people struggle like me with the diet...cause they love treats so much! And there are SO many gluten-free treat recipes...and there are SO many sugar-free recipes...but both? Not so common...especially yummy tasting ones. This would seriously help lots of people. Also, it'd help me! That's how I really was thinking about it originally cause I just feel like I am kinda stuck with this diet for life if I don't want Lyme babies. Which you know...I don't! So it's time to get some super sweet recipes that make it not so hard. We'll see how it goes. I just may end up compiling some recipes for myself...but I really would love to have a legit cookbook out of it. OH- and I plan on having pictures for every single recipe.

Did you know I'm taking online classes right now? They are so annoying. It's like...I have to do these random assignments that help my life in no way...I'm so annoyed.

That's pretty much it. So excited for the weekend. Hoping to get all my Christmas gifts done. We'll see....

New layout

2011-12-05T21:51:00.002-07:00

After a ton of begging, clay redid my blog for me and I LOVE it! So pleased. Thank you my love. You are a genius of a man.

Got back to Zumba tonight. Boy do I feel good :)

New Skirt

2011-12-05T20:05:00.003-07:00

So I found this sweet red velvet dress from a thrift store for a couple bucks....and immediately had a vision of this:

This is what it looked like at first:

PAHAHAH- Clay and I laugh our heads off everytime we see these pictures...depicting me as a giant.

Now it looks like this!

Inlove! I love it so much. One of my favorite skirts now. All I did was cut off how long I wanted it (just kept the hem it came with), and then I used a waist band from a pattern I had. Then I gathered the skirt part and attached it to the waist band! YES! So festive! You may not be able to tell, but I am wearing olive green tights in those pictures. I felt so Christmasy and happy.

One of my fav breakfasts

2011-12-03T10:26:00.004-07:00

Blueberry Smoothie

This is so easy, so healthy, so tasty!

Blueberries
Plain Greek Yogurt
Agave

That's it. Of course you could make it even more healthy by adding random stuff...but I have found that simple is key for me. 3 ingredients. Easy enough to make myself do it and not feel like its a big deal.

Yum.

PS- Have you not hopped on the agave band wagon? Well...a word to the wise. It has been researched and found that xagave brand, is superior to all others. There are a lot of agave brands that are processed so much it's basically no different than corn syrup...no bueno. Xagave (you can get this at Winco!), is the actual healthy version. If you don't know anything about agave, it's basically a really great alternative to sugar. Natural and guilt-free like. And I'm allowed to have it! The little Lyme buggers don't eat it like they eat sugar :)

PSS- Did you know about Greek Yogurt? How it's like...super high in protein? The first time you try it, it might be a little strange. It's got a different taste than regular yogurt. But now I think I may even prefer it.

Deck the halls!

2011-12-02T14:45:00.005-07:00

Well, my house is FINALLY decorated. I've never waited this long before! Seriously...I've just had the worst of luck lately. Lets start with a month ago...I had a week long HORRID cold. Quickly after that I THREW OUT MY BACK. A week later, STREP THROAT! I am just getting over that. Anywho, I am happy cause I put some spicy scent in the scentsy thing, decorated, and am finally done. I forgot how many decorations I have. And I bought more last year after Christmas! I seriously have never been more happy with my tree. I think its so gorgeous. I love Christmas decor!

Of course, I was in my Santa apron the whole time :)

Want to make one for yourself? Buy the pattern here. It's soooo easy to follow, and so festive!

I am pretty much inlove with garlands. I finally got lights on all of them this year. (They are basically in every location possible upstairs)

Interested in a Christmas Word Art Print?! I just made a new one.

Buy the digital file for $4, or I could send you an actual print for $15. Go here, if you are interested.

Well, I have so much to do. But I just couldn't do anything until I was all decorated. While sick and wishing I was dead (not kidding...I had like 103 degree temp and I just kept saying, 'this isn't fair')...I watched lots of ABC Family Christmas movies on netflix! There are a couple that were kinda silly. But I really loved 'Mrs. Miracle', 'Holiday in Handcuffs', and...this one wasn't ABC Family, but Santa Claus 2 was pretty cute. I don't think I've ever seen that one all the way through. One to skip would be 'Christmas Cupid', and maybe even 'Snowglobe'...that one was pretty silly :)

Till next time, have a good weekend!

I'm such an old lady...

2011-11-22T15:26:00.003-07:00

So, somehow I threw my back out...or something? All I know is my back has been in pain for a while now (but this isn't very unusual for me), and last night at Zumba, all of a sudden BAM- I felt like if I moved wrong I would BREAK MY BACK! Yeesh. So anyway...went to the chiro this morning and he adjusted like...EVERY PART OF MY SPINE. No joke. I usually only have to adjust upper and neck. This time he adjusted tail bone, lower back, upper back, and neck! Talk about craziness. It's better but I've been icing/heating it off and on as well as doing these super sweet stretches that would be really embarrassing in public.

While I was icing/heating... I watched Miracle on 34th street! 1994 version. With cute Matilda. I don't know her real name...anyway- it just put such warm fuzzies in my heart! I'm so excited for Christmas time.

"What else did you ask for Susan?"..." A baby brother...cya!"

Well, we are going to Cali soon and I can't WAIT! Hopefully my back recovers quickly.

Alright, till next time. Happy Thanksgiving!!!!!!!!!

Thanksgiving print in the shop

2011-11-13T13:10:00.004-07:00

This new thanksgiving print is in the shop! You can buy the digital file for $4, or a 16x20 print for $15. I'll be adding more stuff this next week to the shop. Stuff that would be great for Christmas presents! Yippee! So be sure to keep checking in.

My new favorite outfit

2011-11-13T12:27:00.005-07:00

Yippee! I got this dress at a thrift store a while back for like 3 bucks. I never wore it cause I wanted to alter the chest area to fit more properly:) Pretty soon it became apparent that I'd never do that...at least not for a while. SO I just decided to wear it today and I love it! You see that waist with the buttons?! Inlove... I just had to share. Clay just updated me that I look like a 90 year old woman. Oh well. Ill probably eventually shorten it and take the chest in so it looks less 90 year old:)

I'm pretty much inlove with those shoes I'm wearing. Got them from Kohls a while back when I had like...2 or 3 coupons? I don't know all I know is I got them for cheap. I wear them all the time now.

Yesterday Clay and I raked and raked and raked our leaves. Paul came to help and we still raked and raked and then put the leaves in the truck which took a while! Deary me, it wasn't fun. But, at least our lawn wont be soggy/nasty in spring time. It's so chilly these days, its going to snow and stay anytime now.

In the spirit of Thanksgiving, I am thankful for these things:

family
friends
dog
house
agave
iphone
music
decorations
talents
fashion
crisp air (but not cold)
brain
internet
church
book of mormon
zumba

Obviously there's lots more and obviously that is not in order of most thankful :) But you know, those things are kinda big in my head right now I suppose.

Welp, I'm off. Have a happy Sunday!

Back in the game

2011-11-10T22:00:00.002-07:00

Well, I think I'm finally getting better from my danged cold! I feel like I've been such a loner and pathetic person for the past week. Actually, like...month...ha! Cause for a while I was just so focused on the exam and studying, then quickly after I took the exam I got this horrid cold and have been bummin around for like a week. FINALLY, I am feeling better. Still got a snot nose...but I can deal with that.

It's funny how when you don't work out consistently, you don't miss it. But when you DO work out consistently, you miss it! I have been itching to get back to Zumba... and Clay even told me today, "maybe you shouldn't go...your still not completely better", but I just felt like I needed it. BOY do I feel good. I'm so glad I went. Zumba for me is good physically AND emotionally.

I'm so excited to go to California in a couple weeks! I talk about it daily. It's just gonna be great. And then a month later we'll go to Oregon! What a happy holiday season. I'm trying so hard to resist the temptation to decorate for Christmas early. I just am so excited. I LOVE christmas decorations. Thanksgiving decor is boring :(

I have so many sewing projects its out of control. Not to mention some of the christmas presents I have to make. I have a couple I'm really excited about! Yippee!

Have any of you been watching the news lately? Seriously, I think I realized this week why I love celebrity gossip/news so much...its not DEVASTATING like real world news. This is of course, in regard to the Penn State scandal. I seriously think that if a man molests a child his penis should be cut off. I know that's graphic...but seriously. It's just one of those things I can't comprehend. Also, did you know that over 90% of pedophiles who are released from jail get arrested again for another offense? In my opinion, the other ten percent probably just don't get caught. This is when I think our justice system is messed up. These are the people that deserve LIFE in prison...without a penis :)

Can I tell you how happy I am to be done with the CPA exam? I'm still amazed that I even passed. And so grateful.

I'm probably going to have to get my wisdom teeth removed...which basically sucks. I keep thinking...are we ever going to have a phase in life where we aren't paying all our money to doctors? Of course after we are done with Lyme Disease, we will start paying baby doctors...so you know, it probably will never end!

Well, to end on a happier note...tonight I made a yummy soup and ate it with Clay at the kitchen table, cleaned the entire kitchen, and went to Zumba. To me, that is such a productive day! I am very pleased.

OH YEAH- last thing...Clay and I have been watching Wonder Years before we go to sleep, and it is so fun. We both laugh so much. I love that show. If you want to giggle a lot, or SMILE a lot...watch that show on netflix. When we are watching, I'll realize I am smiling really big, and I look at Clay and so is he :) Just cause the characters are all so sweet, and so funny, its hard not to smile!

Alrighty- that's all for now!

Passed

2011-11-03T14:46:00.003-06:00

I PASSED THE CPA EXAM! I'M DONE! I'm sick at home right now, and so when I saw my score I was in my living room by myself jumping in circles screaming. No joke. Now I need to lay down to recover from that spout of exertion:) I'm so relieved, happy, and proud of myself! YAY!

Happy happy things

2011-10-28T11:28:00.007-06:00

So this is a super yummy breakfast.

Sweet Brown Rice

2 cups sweet brown rice
3 1/2 cups water
pinch of salt
2 heaped spoonfuls of coconut oil
1/4 cup agave

I make this in my electric pressure cooker. If you don't have one- its so worth it. Get it! Put rice, water, and salt in pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure 12 minutes. Let it naturally release pressure for about 10 minutes. Open and add coconut oil and agave. Top with fruit/berries. YUM! This is soooo healthy and tasty. It's a chef brad recipe.

Lately it's been chilly, and so I put on my super comfy fleece pajama top, and these long johns from back when I first came to Idaho! Then I put my super attractive fuzzy socks ontop of those...and I'm just so snuggly I love it.

A couple halloween decorations I made that I never shared.

Candy Corn garland

Fabric Pumpkins....don't mind that there's no stem on top!!! One of those things I always meant to get to...never did. Oh well, maybe next year.

And then there's Dante :) Right now he's cuddled up next to my computer chair as close as he can get. Little cutie.

This is random, but I saw it on my camera and realized I never posted it. My dad has never been much of a dog person, but when him and my mom came to visit, him and Dante had quite the bonding time :) My dad was always petting him and saying, "Danielle, I think he likes this". It was fun. These aren't the best pics...but Dante would seriously always be going to dad to get some loves. It was cute.
This one looks funny, but Dad learned that Dante really likes to be scratched under his chin....and Dante will often get really relaxed and yawn when you do that.

Lastly, I got a fortune that said, "You will soon get something special because of your charm." I love these kinds of fortunes! And seriously...my fortunes almost always come true.

New Hair and stuff

2011-10-27T21:59:00.007-06:00

So, I died my hair! Well actually, my sister-in-law Makayla died my hair! She is in beauty school, which is really great for me :) This is definitely NOT the best picture...since it was taken with my iphone front-camera, in my office. Whateva, it'll do.
It's basically black- and pretty shocking at first, but I LOVE IT! I really do! I think it's beautiful, fun, and awesome.

Have I told you how much fun my Zumba class is? Well, I'm gonna mention it again. It's fun cause you know...it's Zumba. But it's also fun cause the two sisters that teach it are awesome. They decided to have a Zumba Halloween Party, and told everyone to dress up. So I made myself this little tutu, which I plan on wearing to work on Monday with a witch hat and witch tights. The girls and I decided to be witches!
Here are the basic instructions of how to make this. Buy black elastic the same length as around your waist. You want it to be a bit tighter than your waist. Buy 10 yards of tulle. (It's 1.49/yd at Joanns and its not on sale right now...so if you use your 50% coupon, this all turns out to be less than 10 bucks). Cut tulle into 4" strips. I kept the width of the fabric (which was about 54" or something). Take the strips and make a slipknot around the elastic. I took two strips at a time to do this. And that's it! The strips don't have to be perfect, cause it's so puffy and all over the place, no one will notice:) Hope these instructions made sense. I thought about making a tutorial...but I just didn't have time. I made it in about an hour. It was really quick!

Nothing much else is going on. Just work...and stuff. My sister and one of my best friends both had the cutest baby girls this past week! It sure helps my baby hunger issues :) Thats okay though, seriously I am just so happy for both of them. It makes me SO EXCITED to have my own babies and makes me so motivated to get better and able to have kids. My goal is that this time next year I'll be pregnant. Yep! I said it.

Did I tell you that I am the young womens secretary? Happened last month I think. The asked me to play the piano for their Sacrament Meeting performance and I'm scared out of my wits. Oh well.

Well, I think that's it! Tomorrow I don't work, meaning I'm going to sleep in, meaning HEAVEN. Till next time...

Combining of blogs

2011-10-19T19:34:00.003-06:00

So...like I've mentioned...I am sick of updating 3 blogs. Hello? I'm a busy woman.

So I combined them. It's still a work in process...but I have transferred everything from my other two blogs to this blog- and linked tutorials and recipes there on the side. I'll be working on it day to day to get to my liking...but for now it's kinda silly looking in some spots. That's okay though.

Took my exam today. I'm hoping that's the last CPA exam I'll EVER TAKE! I'll find out in a few weeks if I passed. There was a guy there taking the same test as me and it was his second time taking it, AND he said he has taken all the other ones twice and hasn't passed yet. Yikes.

I have NO idea how I did, so don't even bother asking.

Alrighty. I'm off.

Tag

2011-10-19T16:00:00.003-06:00

So, my sissy Amy is sick of the lack of posts in the blogsphere...so she made this tag up and is expecting me to do it :) So here we go!

words you always mis-spell typing: i OFTEN do something like this- "i didn't wan tit"...it's pretty embarrassing :)

words you don't know how to spell: honestly...i'm an exceptional speller :)

Things that really annoy you: people who think they know it all. But they really annoy me when they tell me something and I know for a FACT what they said was incorrect. Ew.

What's that meal you can always eat over and over again? chicken fried rice from "Mings"

Do you brush your teeth at night? No. I also haven't been to the dentist in over 5 years...

Dumbest movie ever: Ummmm tie between Dumb and DumberER (the second one...horrid), and Remember Me (remember my post on it here?)

What's a song that you would be embarrassed to admit you really like? You and I by Lady Gaga. It isn't a song that most people would be embarrassed about...but I seriously have bashed Lady Gaga so much- even on this blog! It's kind of embarrassing that I really really REALY like that song.

Are you capable of eating an entire bag of candy in one sitting and not feeling THAT sick? yeah...Clay always says I have a second stomach for sweets. I can be SO FULL from going out to eat, and as soon as we get home be ready for a treat.

Do you love sea food? EW NO! I've never loved sea food in my WHOLE life- but somehow my entire family continues to marvel at it anytime I remind them of it when I visit home.

When you fix meat, are you anal about what you've touched, and sanitize alot? Not too much. I mean, I just keep track of where everything goes. And I clean that. But like...I'm not to obsessive about it :-/

Do you put your leftovers in the fridge after dinner in fear of it spoiling or can you wait? I can wait...but I do it pretty soon after. I'm not like, the type that lets it sit overnight...

Do you use a sponge or rag to wipe your counters? Rag. Sponges are gross.

What's your favorite Holiday? Christmas. I seriously think of it basically everyday by the time July rolls around.

What's your favorite pie? Apple. I could eat an entire pie myself. I love it so much.

What's your favorite candy bar? Cadbury Milk Chocolate Bar

When you pick something up at the store and change your mind, do you put it away? Usually not. But a lot of times I'll just give it to the cashier and say I don't want it.

Do you like raisins in your Cinnamon rolls? This is one of those things I have NO idea how it came about. Like...why would ANYONE consider putting raisins in your Cinnamon Rolls? The two just don't belong together.

Do you shower every day? Yes- I don't always wash my hair though.

Are your dreams scary? Yeah. Every once in a while I will have a TERRIFYING dream. Like...TERRIFYING. Where I'm scared to shut my eyes. But I RARELY even remember my dreams so it's not that bad.

Do you like scary movies? Do I like Satan? No.

Do you like roller coasters? LOVE THEM

Do you have a fear of needles? NEVER did until this whole Lyme business. My veins have suddenly decided to hide from the world and so I have to be poked a TRILLION times before they can get a vein. Don't like that. So...drawing blood is a DEFINITE fear these days...shots not so much (I give myself a shot twice a week)

What's your guilty pleasure TV show? Ummm...a better question would be which tv show isn't a guilty pleasure? Deary me. Definitely bachelor pad...sometimes grey's anatomy when I'm in the mood.

What is something you're really stuck up about? Treats...mashed potatoes...

When you're at a restaurant, can you ask questions about the food? yeah simple ones...

Are you a lake or a river person? Lake

Are you a good swimmer? No. In fact, I am pretty sure one of my scary nightmares was that I was stuck at sea or something and had weights on my arms and legs and couldn't swim fast enough to get away from whatever bad guy was chasing me. I probably had that dream cause I basically only doggy paddle.

Do you like to camp? BOOOOO! I hate uncomfortable sleeping, I hate ticks, I hate spiders, I hate being cold, I hate eating dinner out of foil cause i always seem to end up eating foil, but I love fires and I love smores. Not enough to be worth it for all of the other stuff though.

Do you like rodents? This made me laugh cause like...does anyone like rodents? I am of the opinion that the only reason they exist is to try and test us on earth :) AND cause mice are really good for doing research on.

Are you afraid of spiders? Yes. Just ask my mom- when she was visiting I opened the window and in the window pain there was a HUMONGO spider and i hurried and slammed the window shut and back up towards the door squeeling. I HATE all insects and spiders and snakes. Another trial in my life.

If you could be an amazing singer or dancer, which would you be? Dancer. My goal is to someday look as cool as my Zumba instructors :)

Happy things

2011-10-14T22:43:00.002-06:00

1. Just got back from Seattle and don't have to go back till basically Christmas- SWEET! We are continually on the up, and she is pleased with our progress and I'm just very happy! Before we know it we'll be rid of this BEAST of a disease.

2. I take my LAST section of the CPA exam this Weds the 19th! Send good energies and prayers my way! If it goes as planned, I will be DONE with the exam and I will be smiling and saying, "WOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" for like a week straight.

3. We are having some friends come visit us soon and it will be FUN!

4. We are going to Lizzie's for thanksgiving, and my parents for Christmas- and those two things are enough to keep me excited through the first half of winter! Yay!

5. I've been doing Zumba, and it's been GREAT! I know I keep mentioning it, but it's really been great for me.

6. I am just very blessed! I'm so grateful that I have so many great support systems in my life and that when I look at the big picture...it's all really okay.

That's all for now! Tomorrow I'm getting the new iphone. I'm pretty excited since my phone has been SUCKING it up the past few months. AND cause the new iphone pretty much rocks, from what I hear...online:)

Peace out.

Smells like Christmas

2011-10-06T21:56:00.005-06:00

This morning about 10am, it started snowing. It stopped for about...an hour or so around 6. And then hasn't stopped since!

It's okay though. Clay turned on the heater before he left for work so the house was toasty warm when I came home for lunch. I switched my ballet slippers for boots, got out my coat, and mentally planned to make yummy soup.

Then I made soup after work and it didn't turn out as well as I'd imagined. But it was still aight. I know I've said this before, but...this year I plan on embracing winter :) We'll see how that goes.

Clay didn't work till midnight tonight! YIPPEE! He's getting some much needed sleep right now though. He's been working hell hours. I can say that cause it's true. Poor guy. He's worn out.

Did Zumba tonight and we learned the "thriller" dance! It was super fun. I've gotta say- Zumba is awesome! I get such a good workout and such a good high from it.

Pretty excited for these next two weeks to pass. I take my last exam in less than two weeks. I better pass! I'm sick of this studying business.

Well...that's all for now I suppose. Sorry if my posts are lacking in the next couple weeks cause of the whole studying thing I just mentioned. BOOOO. It will all be worth it, right? Right.

Are you ready for Halloween?

2011-10-01T12:00:00.000-06:00

I almost am:) I've got some fun things though!

Do you need a spooky apron to wear while cooking your spooky dinners? I have the answer for you.

The Skeleton Apron! I know I did it a bit backwards with introducing the Santa Apron before the Skeleton Apron, but you know...I'm human. If you want to make it yourself, go to my etsy shop (featured on the right side there), and purchase for 8 buckaroo's.

Here's another thing I made:
A cute little halloween words sign. I happen to love it! If you're interested in having one of these in your house too, I'm selling the digital file. Meaning, you can buy that and pay $4 instead of spending hours and hours trying to figure out the right fonts and such, and go print it at your local print shop. There are different colors available too!

You can't have halloween without fake spiderwebs!

Made these little blocks years ago.

Here is my painting. The box shelves are a work in progress.

Well, I hope you all have a good conference weekend!

Well, that's embarrassing...

2011-09-29T22:07:00.006-06:00

So I have been having horrendous allergies. HORRENDOUS! I tell you. The worst.

I have been taking Zyrtec. Let me tell you what- NOT WORKING!

So I go to Zumba tonight, and my eyes are pouring out waterfalls basically throughout the entire thing. So I'm rubbing and wiping, but nothing feels unusual.

I get home and look in the mirror and BAM! I look like an alien! Not joking! My nose/eye area is SWOLLEN and I am DEFORMED looking. Oh my. How embarrassing! I'm just glad that I complained about my allergies to my friends. That way they probably made the connection but were kind enough to just pretend I looked normal.

Wanna know something else that is embarrassing? This note:
Yep, stickin to our door when I got home from work.

You'd think I'd be embarrassed for myself. But no. I'm not. The fact is, we are on great terms with our neighbors to the right. Neighbors to the left, not so much. We wave, they pretend they didn't see us. They park their truck in-front of our mailbox, things like that. Whatever, we don't really care...there's just no actual relationship there...no problem. But the point is, our backyard DOESN'T stink (Clay even just went outside and smelled it), and we "pick up" Dante's poop in a perfectly proper and timely basis, EVERY week. If they HAPPENED to be outside when Dante actually let poop freshly fall to the earth, then yeah...they may have smelt it. But this is life in suburbia. People have dogs, who poop in the privacy of their OWN BACKYARD! It's not in the front! My goodness. Do they expect me to follow my dog outside every time he goes out there with a baggie in hand? No thanks. And I love how they tried to keep anonymous when it's very clear who it is. Especially when looking at the spelling errors. Sorry. But it's true...our other neighbors wouldn't misspell those words. I decided we probably shouldn't pick up the "po" for a few days. I know, I still live in junior high world.

But...Clay is at a whole other level. He said, "If they say one more word about this I am going to take this note, wrap it around Dante's poop, and put it on their doorstep. And then I'm going to put 'NO TRESPASSING' signs all along our fence ONLY facing their house".

And as he let Dante outside, he said, "Go poop Dante!"

I seem to talk a lot about dog poop these days. I'll try to keep it at a minimum from here on out.

One last thing- they have dogs on all 3 corners of their yard. Meaning...they might be smelling someone elses dogs poop! Especially since the neighbors behind us completely neglect their dogs...leaving them outside for HOURS and HOURS. They bark incessantly.

New Goals

2011-09-28T20:03:00.002-06:00

It doesn't have to be January to make new goals, so I am stepping up and making some new goals...and I HOPE you'll join me. Here is what I am doing:

1. Zumba twice a week (1 hour long sessions)

2. Walking Dante everyday I'm not doing Zumba

3. No sugar until Thanksgiving

4. Drink at least 64 oz water a day. I think. Basically drink at least one of my big water bottles a day, which I think is 64 oz...cause it's ginormo.

5. Eat lots of vegetables and fruit. Lots and lots and lots.

Yep! I am going to be so healthy. Here's the deal- I know I shouldn't be having sugar anyway...but this whole cheat day business is no good. It makes it so I crave it still and cave multiple times a week. This is NOT okay. AND, I know I swore off sugar a while ago! But I caved and said, oh I'll keep my cheat days. Cheat days turned into multiple days. Anywho, I feel like I am much better at reward systems. So, if I stay off of sugar until Thanksgiving, I will feel ZERO guilt during Thanksgiving, and eat as much sweets as I want! I know some people are against this method, but a light at the end of the tunnel is much better than bitter darkness that has no end :) And I'm thinking I will probably do the same thing after Thanksgiving- no sweets till Christmas. We'll see.

Zumba! My friend invited me to Zumba and I went on Monday and it was this intense hour long deal and I totally did it and felt great! No joint pain...I mean, I was definitely WINDED...but that's cause I'm out of shape. So I'm gonna go with her twice a week and it'll be great.

So here's the deal. I have found it's a LOT easier to do something hard...when someone else is doing it with you. So who's with me? You don't have to do ZUMBA, but I'd say some sort of exercise each day (whether it be walking or weights or dancing)...except on Sunday's, more fruit and veggies, more water, and most of all NO SUGAR till thanksgiving! If you want to choose one- I suggest the sugar one. Seriously, it'd be so great if a lot of us were doing this! We'd all be so much healthier...and you KNOW how hard it is to get through the halloween season with candy everywhere. If we make this commitment, it will be SO much easier. This may not work for you guys, but I decided everytime I see candy or sweets, I will think the word "bugs" in my head. Cause it'll remind me of the bugs in my body feeding off of the sugar. For you, maybe it'll be "death" or something. hahaa.

Well! Wish me luck! I'm really hoping and praying I can stick to this cause I think it'll really help me get better faster. Woohoo!!!!

Santa Pattern for sale!

2011-09-23T08:43:00.004-06:00

So I'm doing something I've never done before, and I'm selling a pattern that I made:) Go check it out on my etsy shop. It's super fun and cute and anyone with beginners sewing skills could do it! The pattern has step by step instructions, with color pictures to go with them! The pattern is $8. Enjoy!

Passed!

2011-09-22T09:14:00.002-06:00

Yipee!!! I passed Regulation, the third exam I took. I officially only have ONE test left to pass! YIPPEEEEEE! I am planning on taking the exam October 19th. And I definitely WILL take the exam that day cause it's the last day I can without having to reapply and spend a bunch more money and stuff. I think I'll be ready.

I honestly was pretty surprised when I found out just cause this morning I woke up and had a bad feeling. I just felt like it wasn't going to be good. Well, it was for me- but my co-worker and friend took the same exam about a week before me and she had me call in to get her score, and she didn't pass. UGH. It was the hardest! I think my bad feeling this morning had to do with her. I just feel so awful. It's hard to be too happy about passing when my friend didn't. It's such a hard exam...

My last exam is on Auditing, which happens to be the subject I learned least about in school. My review course is SUPER good though- like super super good. I feel like I'm learning a LOT. So hopefully it is good enough for the exam!

I honestly haven't posted for a while just cause I have been so nervous about the exam and whether or not I passed. But, I have a super awesome thing coming up that I'm excited about. And nervous about. I'm going to take a stab at selling a new kind of product in my shop, and it may totally flop, but you know...I'm just gonna go for it!

I'm so stinking excited for the holidays. I already have my Christmas tickets booked and Christmas presents are being worked on, and I'm just so excited! It makes me want to decorate more for Halloween and Thanksgiving just cause...I mean...I'm so excited for Christmas if I DON'T decorate for those ones, I might go psycho and decorate way too early.

I have decided to stop getting the IV's. I really wish I could, but my body just isn't fit for it. The last time I went they had trouble again and after they couldn't get my veins I just decided I should be done. Clay has wanted me to stop for ages. But I just wanted to keep trying. I still have sensitive bruises from last time which was over 2 weeks ago...and I just think it's not worth it- especially when I can get better without them. Maybe just a titch slower. I'm grateful I went and was able to do the IV's as much as I could, cause they definitely helped...but I think my body is telling me I need to stop! Clay will keep going, but I'm just not going to be able to. It's too bad, but I choose to look at the silver lining which is: I get to sleep in on Saturday's and have more time to get things done, and we will spend less money!

Well, I hope you are all enjoying the beginning of fall. I'm trying to focus on the great weather currently, instead of fearing the weather to come! :)

Hush Hush

2011-09-15T10:03:00.004-06:00

Okay- this book was crazy intense! I haven't read a book like this in a long time. It kinda reminded me of twilight ONLY because there is a lot of mystery...you know- how like in the first twilight Bella is so confused because Edward is so different, and she knows something's up...but quite can't put her finger on it until SHE KNOWS. This book is a lot like that!

The basic premise is...Nora becomes biology partners with Patch. (Okay...this is sounding even more like twilight now...they start as biology partners? Hello...familiar) He seems kinda dark, and dangerous. She doesn't like him at all...except there's something about him that is just really hott and awesome and she wants him. He seems to show up everywhere and could he be stalking her?! Could he be trying to...KILL her? Or maybe he just wants her too? Who knows?

This book is a MAJOR page turner. I read it in like two days. And there are a few twists at the end that I really didn't expect! It IS a little on the dark side...sometimes I was like, 'hold up, what?! That's freaky!'...so I do feel the need to caution those who may be feint at heart. AND I do gotta say, sometimes Nora, the main girl...was so FOOLISH. I'd be like- what are you thinking? Don't you know some bad guy could be over there about to kill you? Yeesh. Overall, pretty stinking good book and I'm super excited for Crescendo, the next one to be available at the library!

Beastly

2011-09-15T09:59:00.003-06:00

Beastly is a book that is basically a modern day Beauty and the Beast. It's set in New York, and starts out feeling REALLY immature. As in, the characters are from high school and the main character, who turns into a beast, is a super horrible person. At the beginning I thought, 'egh...I dunno if I'll like this...he's so freaking annoying'. But THEN, he changes...and it all starts becoming good. It's a really easy, fun read- and I would totally recommend it! It's really sweet and I liked it a lot. OH- and it was definitely better than the movie! And I even liked the movie! (But I love cheese-ball moves...really I like them more than quality acting movies a lot of the time)

God is good

2011-09-11T20:57:00.002-06:00

Church was wonderful today. A couple spoke on the Atonement, and the woman who spoke said that she knew it wasn't a mistake or coincidence that they were asked to speak on the atonement on September 11th. At first, I thought- I don't get it...how do the two connect? But of course, I just am not quite as spiritual as some and forgot that the Atonement is really in everything. I'm pretty sure her talk was prepared specifically for me. She talked about how we all go through tragedies and crisis in our life. Each of us have moments where something happens that will change us the rest of our life. In that moment, we have a choice. We can move down and further away from Christ and become bitter, angry, sad, and heavy. Or, we can move closer to Christ and become healed. Whether that means literally healed from an illness, or problem, or whether it means gaining strength and understanding to bear something. She reminded us that though we may feel alone and like no one in the world understands, there is one person who will ALWAYS completely understand. He does not turn away anyone who searches for Him. One thing I loved is she said that the chinese character for the word "crisis" is the same chinese character for the word "opportunity". In every single thing that happens to us in this life, comes an opportunity. An opportunity to come closer to Christ and become a better person, or an opportunity to become a worse person.

I went to the Temple with Patty on Friday, and I'm SO GRATEFUL I did. It's amazing the peace that can come when within the walls of the temple. My sister has told me numerous times that after her painful divorce, going to the temple once a week is what healed her. I'm so blessed to have a temple so close.

Clay and I were listening to NPR yesterday on our way home from Pocatello, and there were a bunch of interviews of people who lost family members on 9/11. It was so interesting...because I was surprised that a lot of them seemed quite bitter about the media attention the anniversary was getting. One interview in particular stood out to me. She said that she struggled with the tagline "Never Forget", because all she wanted to do was forget that horrible day, when she lost her husband. Of course, I will never understand the pain or struggling anyone in that position would be in...but I couldn't stop thinking why I never will forget, and don't want to forget that day. Every year, I think of the day I was 13 years old, at the beginning of 8th grade, and came downstairs to read scriptures with my family...to see the news on. I think of how I was watching the news when the second plane hit and I was horrified. I think of how I went to school that morning and asked my "best friend" if she saw the news. I told her what happened and that thousands of people were dying and she said, "Yeah...my parents aren't that into politics" and I was sickened as she continued to laugh and joke around with other kids. Every year, I am grateful that we haven't been attacked again. Every year, I am grateful that I live in such a country that I am safe, and not worrying about being attacked or killed on a daily basis, as many people in other countries are. Every year, I am grateful that I am free and that I'm an American. Every year, I remember that I need to be kinder to strangers and a better citizen. Every year, I am reminded that things can change in an instant...and I should keep perspective on what's important. No...I will never forget. And I don't WANT to forget.

I know a lot of this is probably boring. I don't always read blogs that have just tons of "personal insight" or whatever...but I just have all this stored up in my brain and want to remember it. Cause I know I'm human and will forget or lose perspective and will need to regain it sometime. Hopefully re-reading this sometime will help me when I'm struggling.

Life is hard, but good. It really is all about perspective, balance, and love. ha! If only it were so simple :)

Matched

2011-09-08T22:31:00.002-06:00

Okay okay. I know I said it was super boring, but right after I said that...the story picked up quite a bit! I still stand by my stance that the first HALF of the book was very...dull. This is what the story is about:

Cassia lives in a future world where everything is...."perfect". Society has found ways to live without disease, and "match" people perfectly so that they are happiest with their mate, along with bearing the most optimal children. But what if you are matched with someone, but find yourself falling inlove with someone else?

My final opinion on the book:

Beginning- boring, because everything is perfect and dull.
Middle to end- REALLY good! I really enjoyed the last half. And I am SUPER excited for the second book! It comes out in November, I believe.

Next book: Beastly.

Books

2011-09-07T22:05:00.004-06:00

So I finished Graceling a few days ago. I've heard from lotsa people that it's really good! This is basically what it's about:

In a time of kings, lords, lady's, swords, and bow and arrows...there are certain people born with a "grace". If you have a grace, it basically means you are better than everyone else at this thing. The main character's grace is KILLING. This isn't normal at ALL! There are people who are graced with painting, swimming, sword fighting, cooking, etc. Anyway, it's a book that is filled with action, mystery, and romance.

I really really liked it and I read it within a few days. It was quite the page turner! BUT- there was one major theme that was pretty annoying. The author CLEARLY doesn't believe in marriage. BUT...it's definitely not enough to make me not enjoy the book!

It was really interesting because there were times I couldn't STAND the heroine, Katsa. Then there were other times when I just thought she was awesome.

If you're looking for a fun interesting read, I recommend this book! I think there may be a second one, but I'm not positive.

Now I am reading "Matched". Has anyone read this book? I'm half-way through and it is BORING as heck! But since I've invested my time to read HALF of the book...I want to finish it. But seriously I have no desire to ever pick it up. Does it stay so boring? Yikes.

After Matched, I'm reading "Beastly". I saw the movie about a month ago and I really liked the movie...so I'm excited to read the book and get the detailed story :)

Any good books I should put on my library list? Keep in mind I'm not interested in non-fiction, and I have to be entertained and it has to be a gripping story that keeps me wanting more. I read for entertainment. As of right now anyway.

Gluten-Free Waffles

2011-09-01T18:40:00.000-06:00

Makes 3 big waffles. Mine are probably a 6" diameter or something like that.

1 1/2 cups of my favorite gluten-free blend

2 tsp baking powder

4 dashes salt

3 tsp agave

3 eggs (separate egg whites)

3 tbs coconut oil (or butter)

1 1/2 cups coconut milk (or any kind of milk)

Mix dry ingredients in one bowl. Mix liquids in a separate bowl, keeping egg whites by themselves. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together until all dry ingredients are moistened. Don't mix too much! Blend egg whites until stiff. Fold into batter.

YUM!

Just a few lil tidbits!

2011-09-01T17:55:00.002-06:00

UGH- my painting is taking FOREVER to dry! I painted it Saturday and it is STILL not dry. Clay warned me it'd take a week probably...but deary me I am anxious to get that up on my wall!

I just cleaned out my fridge. I feel so much better. It was stinky :)

I got a book from the library called "Graceling" which has been recommended to me by multiple people...excited to get into it.

Do any of you do pandora? I did a long time ago, and got annoyed of my favorite songs not playing. haha. Well, Clay does it a lot and so I decided to take another stab at it. I love it! Right now I have it on "She & Him" station...have you listened to them? Again, I wasn't too into them at first...but all of a sudden I love them. They are pretty folksy soulful kinda. Anyway- this station is amazing. I highly recommend it! :) But I mean, if you're in the dancing kind of mood- this isn't the right station.

I kinda have come to the realization lately that I expect too much of myself. I know it can often be the opposite...but me oh my I can make some high expectations of myself. Therefore, I am constantly disappointing myself. It's really hard for me to be a full-time worker, and be a really great homemaker and wife. I beat myself up about it inside my head a LOT. So anyway- when I'm at work, I'll make this big ol list full of things that I want to get done that night. And for some reason, I think I can totally get it done. Then I get one or two things done and am exhausted and then feel like a pathetic person for not getting my list done. This is not right. I think at this point in my life...I should not expect so much out of myself! Obviously, its good to have goals and work hard...but there comes a point where you've just gone too far! This will be really hard for me but I'm just going to make small goals that can be accomplished easily...until I start understanding more of what I can handle and what is good for me.

This week I go back to try the IV's again. I'm nervous. I hope so bad it works and my veins are healthy and strong enough for it. I have been mucho tired this week. It's finally getting to me not having those things. Which worries me...thinking my improvement has all been temporary. I don't know. We'll see I guess.

Well, that's all for now. I better eat and clean the kitchen! My goals for today were: clean out fridge, clean kitchen. It's only 6:00 so I'm pretty excited that I only have one thing left to do and then I can read or sew or something :)

I did the unspeakable...

2011-08-30T18:25:00.003-06:00

Today I did something I vowed I'd NEVER do in MY LIFE.

I scooped poop. (queue face of HORROR)

Here's the deal...Clay didn't feel that great this last weekend...so he didn't scoop poop or mow the lawn...something he usually does once a week. Well....it's been longer than that- quite a bit since the lawn has been mowed, and therefore a long time since the poop has been scooped. Clay is SWAMPED at work this week...as in...16 hour days type swamped. It's poopy. In so many ways.

He asked me today, to please scoop the poop...so his dad could come mow our lawn (I don't know how to work our riding lawn mower). I told him no. He said he would rather do it, but he doesn't have time and it needs to be done before its way too long and out of control (the lawn). I told him, can't we wait and see if you have time tomorrow? He says no. So...begrudgingly, I obliged.

I'm pretty sure that after what I did today, I can no longer be called a lady. It really was as horrifying as I thought! I can't decide which was my favorite kind of poop to scoop. The kind that was cemented to the grass...looking like an artifact that came from another century, or the nice fresh kind that still had flies feasting on it. Who am I kidding? They were both lovely.

I told Clay he better be thinking of something to make this up to me.

Really, I just hope I can recover from this.

So I want a picture taken of me...so what?

2011-08-29T19:57:00.004-06:00

It took an arm and a leg to get Clay to take this picture of me. Seriously- he says I have him take pictures of me ALL THE TIME! What? Then why are there barely any on the blog? I'm sick of taking pictures of others and never getting any of myself! Yeah, that sounds self centered...but I don't care.
So I painted this big canvas I got Clay for Christmas one year. He painted it, and hated it so he said it was okay for me to paint over it. I primed it with Kilz and then went at it! I've never really painted with oils before. It was pretty fun! I did it in one day (I'm not very patient), its kinda crazy- but I love it. It's going right where my head is basically- by our table we have this great blank wall! I'm going to put that big canvas along with some other treasures. Super excited. Just waiting for it to dry and then I can hang it, take pictures and then show it off to you guys! Yipee!

Last weekend I decorated above our piano and I LOVE IT! I love the pictures Lizzie took of us and I just love how it turned out.
After I have everything "done" (if that happens ever) I will take pictures of everything.

Well, that's all for now. Hope everyone is enjoying their last bit of summer. I wish it would never end :( I might be excited for fall, if that meant winter wouldn't come! Oh- I have some really really fun holiday crafty stuff up my sleeve. I'm super excited about them! Till next time...

Oh yeah- if you are looking for something to pray about (does that ever happen? I'm pretty sure everyone has a LOT to pray about) or send good energy waves towards...I really am lacking in motivation to study. This is my LAST test (hopefully- still haven't gotten my score from the last one) and I just really need to get my buns in gear!

Saturday is a Special Day

2011-08-20T09:58:00.002-06:00

First, I thought I'd share this quote:

"We knew before we were born that we were coming to the earth for bodies and experience and that we would have joys and sorrows, ease and pain, comforts and hardships, health and sickness, successes and disappointments, and we knew also that after a period of life we would die. We accepted all these eventualities with a glad heart, eager to accept both the favorable and unfavorable. We eagerly accepted the chance to come earthward even though it might be for only a day or a year. Perhaps we were not so much concerned whether we should die of disease, of accident, or of senility. We were willing to take life as it came and as we might organize and control it, and this without murmur, complaint, or unreasonable demands"
--Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, 106

You know that scripture program I told you about? Where it e-mails you your scripture reading each day? Well, when you push completed, it takes you to a page that tells you how much of your goal is completed and has a quote underneath...it's always random. Anyway, today I was totally beGRUDGING this scripture reading and didn't want to, but did it anyway and probably got NOTHING out of the scriptures, but I read this quote...and I'm pretty sure it's just what I needed today.

Remember how I went 6 months without treats? No exceptions, no cheat days, none? Well...I was laying in bed this morning pondering and feeling sorry for myself for a number of things I don't even want to go into- but I kinda was thinking...GOSH. I'm just going to do that again. No treats. But this time the time zone is like...a lot longer probably. And the great thing, back then...I didn't know much about agave or honey or anything. But now, there are a few things I can do to help me out that involve some agave treats. So by no treats, I mean- sugar treats. In fact, I'm pretty much swearing off sugar as much as I can help it. There may be a few foods that have a smidgen of sugar that I can't help or whatever, but I'm going to try and avoid that as much as possible. My timeline basically involves having babies. Our doctor pretty much said she thinks in a year we'd probably be ready...and the fact is- I want both our bodies to be as healthy as possible, especially mine. Sugar feeds Lyme. Therefore, I'm done with it. I can't even explain the relief that flooded through my body when I typed that. I might have a LITTLE something on holidays, but I mean...probably not. I just thought about it and I want a baby SO BADLY. Way more than I want a brownie. And if you haven't caught on by now, this Lyme thing is kinda an un-curable deal...I will basically be done with it and better, but there are probably always going to be a few little bugs lying dormant throughout my body, waiting for me to feed it and become weak. Clay and I have decided that we ARE going to have children, so why risk feeding the lyme and therefore allowing my baby to get it? Anywho...I'm excited. Clay and I have not sworn off gluten for life. We think sugar is the important one. But don't get me wrong- we are still limiting that gluten monster a lot! The thing with this whole diet restriction thing I've realized is it's way harder if you find a billion ways to try and get around it or whatever...it's SO much easier when you just accept, adjust, and move on. That's what I'm doing.

So I've FINALLY printed a few of the pictures that Lizzie took of us back in November. I'm in the process of hanging them around the house. So excited about it. Our house is finally starting to feel homey. Why has it taken me so long to just put things on the walls? I'm just going for it. I've been so obsessed with furniture and what not, but it really does all come together once there's some wall decor.

The weather has been so nice. We've taken Dante for a walk everyday for at least a week. It's been so nice. The walk has been almost two miles (I looked it up- Clay didn't even think it was a mile...turns out it's almost two!). So it's really good for us. I don't want summer to ever end.

I made the elk meat the other day for spaghetti for the first time. It tasted just great! It made me happy cause I know it's so much healthier than meat from the grocery store.

Well, it's about time I get my bum in gear and start getting things done today. There's lots of things. Have a good weekend!

Piano

2011-08-17T17:59:00.004-06:00

Of course I'm all insecure about it now that I'm showing you guys.

Here's the before:
As you may see, it was painted a poop brown color with some sort of shading as well. It just wasn't quite right. (This was the day we got it back in November of last year)

We (I) tried to paint strip it...but it turned out even uglier and it was just a mess and way too hard.
And then I spray painted it and here is the after!

We love it. Some parts turned out a little more "dirty" than I had planned....but whatever. It WAS perfect before that dumb mishap with the clear gloss (yellow splotch gloss) happened....but then after it wasn't as good as I had it before...so anyway. Bottom line...its about a bazillion times better than before!

Guess what? I went to a new thrift store in town and I. LOVE. IT. Holy smokes it's great! The clothes are SUPER SUPER cheap and so is the jewelry and books and basically all of it. I am so excited about it!

Happy Birthday to Clay!

2011-08-15T22:09:00.004-06:00

Welp, Clay is 26!

He got lots of goodies. We went to eat at Johnny Carinos (italian) and I made the lovely Fudge Truffle Cheesecake (YUUUUUM).

We played the game "Would you rather" it's so fun. It's a card game and we LOVE IT! It's a good one for getting to know you or like...just to have some giggles.

Harmoni and Derek...her "friend"? Dunno...but we liked him :)

Makayla and CJ (boyfriend)

Patty and Paul, husband and wife :)

We had our Seattle appointment last week, and it went well. We think that Clay will be back to church by December hopefully, and we will probably be ready to try and have kids in about a year. Talking about it and thinking about it over the past few days have made me have more comfort in the fact that it IS possible for me to have a baby without giving it Lyme, and I have a lot more control if I choose to. So, that's good. I have been very anxious and insecure about that the past few months.

Clay went hunting! He got an elk and came home and said he felt stiff but not pain. WOAH- hold up. That is huge. THEN- the next day after he slept for 14 hours, when he got home from work he asked me to go on a walk. WHAT?! If he were to do that LAST year, he would've been bed ridden for days! Huge huge huge. This is great! So happy.

My piano is FINALLY back in my house. We had 4 men in the house today, so we took advantage of the situation and had em bring in the piano! I paid them with cheesecake :) I will take a picture tomorrow when there is more light.

Well, that's all for now. Till next time!

My 30 Day Experiment

2011-08-04T20:45:00.003-06:00

So, up there is my face...

These pictures were taken about 10 minutes ago. I have no makeup on, it is completely clean. And....there's obviously a problem here.

I get these ginormous zits, that HURT, and are not very pretty! They don't go away for like...a month. No exaggeration. So I was reading online and it looks like a TON of people swear by honey masks. They simply coat their face in honey for 30 minutes to an hour. Well, then a TON of people also swear by Aspirin Masks. Where you dissolve aspirin in warm water, to make a mask. They suggest that people with sensitive skin (me) only do this 1-2 times a week. So I decided for 30 days, I'm going to do a honey mask 6 days of the week, and 1 day of the week I will do an Aspirin Mask. And maybe, just MAYBE, my face wont look and feel so darn bad. I know that some people have worse acne, and I feel so bad for those people. So, if you're one of them- maybe try it with me! Anyway...I really hope this helps. I read that it doesn't prevent acne, but it manages it quite well...as in- it will bring a white head to the surface quicker, it will make the zits not so ginormous, decrease inflammation, etc. So those things could greatly help.

I am currently sitting with honey slathered all over my face and part of my neck! It actually feels pretty stingy...which I wasn't expecting. So hopefully that's good. I surely don't want to go to work tomorrow with a irritated face.

So I took my test a week ago. I don't find out my score until the end of September (LAME!). I felt...okay. I mean, I didn't feel like "Oh no! I don't know anything!" but I also didn't feel like, "YES! I know EVERYTHING!". So...who knows. I felt about the same as the other tests...so hopefully that means I passed!

I painted my piano....and boy is that a story. So I spent ALL day Friday, half the day Saturday...and the piano looked LOVELY. I loved it. So to finish it up, I decided to spray on clear gloss paint to help protect it. The can said, "Fast drying, non-yellowing" and I'm pretty sure it should've said, "Don't use it if you don't want yellow splotches!" Cause guess what?!?! I sprayed it all over and what do I see after I look back at it? YELLOW SPLOTCHES ALL OVER MY BEAUTIFUL WHITE PIANO I JUST SPENT TWO DAYS ON. Oh my heck. I was pretty depressed for a minute. But then I just decided, well...I guess I'll just get another can of white spray paint and spray over it...then re-glaze it. GEEZ. But I'm happy to report that finally, TODAY- it is all done and put together just waiting to be brought inside again! Yipee! I will post a pic after it's inside.

I haven't been studying for my next section yet cause it's scheduled for October 19th...so I figured I could use a tiny break. It's been so nice! But probably next week I'll need to start it back up again.

What else what else. I'm just so happy because Clay and I both are feeling lots better lately. I finally feel like it's all working and we are going to get better. Such a comfort!

Well...I suppose that's all. OH- Bachelorette...I was so pleased with the outcome. I hope they make it. The odds are definitely not in their favor...but you never know! Till next time.

The President and Bachelorette

2011-07-25T21:29:00.002-06:00

You know, there are few things in this life that truly truly anger me...but having the President cut into my time with the Bachelorette is definitely one of them.

Just kidding...kinda. If you wanna know what I thought of the President's speech, scroll down to my last fatty paragraph. Warning- I'm kinda a tax dork.

Anyway- did anyone else think Ryan was a complete fool? I just couldn't get over the fact that he didn't even go on ONE complete date and somehow thought she'd be more into him than these three guys that she's met their families and is seriously falling for? He's crazyspice. I just hope so bad he's not the next bachelor.

I swear I have never seen a season where the top two are so close. As far as like...connection with Ashley goes. But, my heart is with JP. So is Ashley's. I just hope she realizes it. I feel really bad for Ben, but at least he's like this big changed man or whatever. But EW- who in the HECK told him to wear that horrific white v-neck shirt? I have nothing against white shirts. I have nothing against v-neck shirts...but that v-neck was way too wide, and that shirt was way to meshy looking...it was just EW.

I think the highlight of the whole episode was the bachelor pad previews. Favorite part of previews "I hope she falls 3000 feet to her death" or something like that. Yikes! This is going to be one crazy season! Finally some entertainment. I swear this season with Ashley has been kinda....booooring.

I'm sorry, but President Obama's speech just sounded like a campaign speech to me. He had all these one liners that made NO SENSE. Absolute nonsense! "Everyone under 250,000 income will have no change in taxes" and then less than a minute later "Only millionares, and billionares, the rich will have increase in tax" hello? Are you forgetting about a large portion of Americans and employers and business owners who fit in the 250K-1M range? You know...the people who employ millions and the people who will probably affect the economy most? Yes, lets raise their taxes...the people who actually hire people, so that they have less disposable income, less money to pay employees, therefore...upping the unemployment. Then I loved how he put in there, "And I want to keep that payroll tax cut for you at home"...well, guess what? That wont help a thing! Nope! Because that payroll tax cut isn't saving employers any money. That money just goes to employees pockets, and the employers are paying the same amount. If they are really trying to help the unemployment rate, maybe give the employers a tax cut on THEIR share of payroll taxes. What I love is he said lots of things that would probably not make sense to the average person who doesn't understand taxes and the way it works. But it has never made more sense to me before- that he is talking politics, and he is talking campaign. NONE of his strategy technically made sense. It sounded good, sure...with the compromise talk and what not- but it's not really compromise. It's exactly what the House Rep said- he wants us to pay more so he can spend more. I know I'm opening a can of worms here and people may disagree with me, but seriously- I am annoyed. It's just common sense. Why is it such a bad idea to make cuts only anyway? Lets think about it...the majority- this is the truth- way beyond majority of Americans pay ZERO income tax. The beyond minority of America, the people over 250K pay around 50% income tax on their income. This isn't an exaggeration. Yeah, 50% isn't in the tax schedules, but when you add self employment tax, alternative minimum tax, state income tax, many people are paying 50% tax. When there are SO MANY that not only pay ZERO tax, they get these huge refunds each year! 5k-8k without paying a dime. And it has been my observation, that the majority of these people understand the system, and play it. Yeah, there's a rare person that works hard and gets these breaks or whatever...but I'm telling you, it's rare. And I think my favorite quote of the speech was, "It's not right for a President of a company to be in a lower tax bracket than his secretary" What? I'm sorry Mr. President, but when has that ever happened? Like I said, one liners that have power to sway people who don't know any better I guess. Not that I blame them...its just that I DO know better and it's annoying. Anywho...

Time to study. Woohoo!

PS- One thing I like about Michelle Bauchman is that she was educated in Tax Law. A president who actually understands taxes and the effects they have on the economy? Might be a nice change.

Shirt redo, and other stuff

2011-07-23T20:48:00.005-06:00

So, since my last post, I've turned one of Clay's t-shirts into one for myself:
It was easy peasy. Here are the simplified steps:

1. Turn shirt inside out and lay on table

2. Take your favorite t-shirt (mine was my eclipse edward t-shirt) and turn it inside out. Lay it ontop of the big shirt as flat as you can, and line up the shoulders and neck.

3. Cut around the shirt and when you get to the sleeves, just cut at a general good angle...ha sorry I don't have better instructions on that part. I left a little extra on the sides just for good measure because the surger cuts off a bit when sewing.

4. Pin the sides and sleeves with shirt still inside out.
5. Surge or zig-zag from bottom of shirt to edge of sleeve.
6. I re-enforced the armpits and the edge of the sleeves with my sewing machine, since those are hard parts to get on the surger and because they get a lot of action when wearing the shirt (meaning, more likely to get a hole or something).

And you're done! Woohoo!

Well, other things I've done since my last post:

Signed up with readthescriptures.com. My sister Megan mentioned them a LONG time ago and I was thinking the other day I should look into it. I'M SO EXCITED ABOUT IT! I am the type of person that is basically life dependent on the internet and technology. The first thing I do in the morning is check my email and blogs. I know, kinda pathetic/wrong... but, whatever. It's my life. So I've been having a real hard time getting scripture time in because it just wasn't a priority, even though I wanted it to be. So I signed up with this, told it I wanted to read the Book of Mormon in one year, and it sends me 18 verses a day to my email to read. At the bottom of the email it has a button to push "Completed" and then it brings you to your page and tells you what percentage of your goal is done. I LOVE THIS. It is right in my inbox each morning, and therefore a reminder and it's just so easy. 18 verses might sound like a small amount to some of you, but I am thrilled! I think it's just right for me. I am a firm believer in consistency, not quantity. I once read one verse a day of the book of mormon, and I think it was the biggest testimony builder of scripture study of my life. It made it so I read consistently, and then gradually I added more verses. Anyway, if you are struggling with scripture reading I HIGHLY recommend this website. Oh, and if you're not mormon, but are in need of spiritual enlightenment, have no fear! This site also includes the Old and New Testament, King James Version. So you could do that too. But I guess I should probably also say to you that I highly recommend reading the Book of Mormon too. This book truly has done wonders for my life. It's pretty miraculous the changes I see in my life when I'm simply reading the book everyday consistently. It just makes life easier.

Anywho, I made another pillow for my couch! Two down, two to go. Super excited.

Today when we were getting IV's at the West Clinic, there was a lady that just found out she had Lyme Disease yesterday. She was getting her IV and the doctor came and gave her a bunch of papers talking about Lyme Disease and stuff. So anyway, she kinda just burst into tears and later kinda led on that she had read on the paper that it can be transmitted to spouses from eachother. My heart aches for her! She was so overwhelmed. She had just found out about everything and was still learning and oh dear. I just remember the first time we went to our Doctor in Seattle and learned so much and how horrible this disease is...and I don't think I realized it at the time, but looking back...I'm pretty sure it kinda took my spirit away for a bit! It's pretty depressing and hopeless at times. I was pretty proud of Clay cause he was sitting next to her and he was talking to her and giving her lots of hope, and telling her that she will get symptom free and that there IS hope and all these nice things. Later I was sitting next to her (hah it sounds like we play musical chairs or something- but it's just too hard to explain...but it's nothing fishy) and we got to talking and she gave me her card with her email address and I told her I'd email her so that she can ask any questions or anything. I just feel so bad for people when they find out they have Lyme Disease! I'm happy that they finally got a diagnosis and that they will get treated, but it's never a good thing.

One thing that is great is I have been feeling great! I mean...at least right now I do. I suppose every once in a while I have a bad day. But it's weird. I think I forgot what it's like to have energy, cause just tonight- I was walking through winco and I just felt so much more energy than normal and I had a sort-of flashback to high school and thought- oh yeah...this is what it's supposed to feel like. I don't know, it's so weird. Until today, I kinda feel like I forgot that is what it could be like...because I haven't felt that way in a while. It made me so happy! Cause I feel like in the past month I have made SO MUCH improvement. I think the combination of the IV's, the antibiotic treatment, eating healthy- all of it is finally pushing me in the right direction. WOOHOO!

Welp, I take my exam next week. I am actually FINALLY feeling pretty good. Today I took 3 practice tests that included all of the subjects on the test (cause until today I'd just been focusing on individual subjects until I master them), and so it was kinda exactly like I'd be taking the exam...anyway- I passed all three! That made me REAL happy. I still need lots of practice but I think 3 days will be just enough. I told Clay I need something kinda like a reward after I take my exam and told him that I wanted to spray paint our piano next weekend, after the exam. He looked at me kinda funny, but agreed to it! So I'm really excited. Our piano has been painted before by some idiot because it is BUTT UGLY. And by butt ugly, I mean poop ugly. Cause they painted it the color of poop. NO exaggeration. Seriously. Poop Piano. So I am going to paint over it WHITE and then put antiquing gloss on it and it'll just be marvelous. You'll see.

I found out that my Sunbeam teaching partner got released and I will get a new one next week or something....which pretty much depresses me because she basically ROCKS at that calling. My patience wears thin so quickly with those hooligans. According to her though, I'm the best partner she's had. And she's been in sunbeams for 5 years, so I'd say that's a big compliment! She said she's had partners before where she's feared they were going to hit the children they got so impatient with them! They never did of course, but they just had such a hard time. If you don't know what sunbeams are, they are the 3-4 year olds...who for some crazy reason are expected to sit quietly in primary for 45 minutes while there's a lesson where they just talk to them, and then singing time where they are constantly learning new songs that are so long. I tell ya, I remember primary differently when I was a kid. I swear all we did was sing fun songs like Popcorn popping, Give said the little stream, and only songs we knew. I dunno. Anyway- then after that we are expected to give them another lesson. 3-4 year olds. What?! I try and remember what my mom always tells me, that little kids have a talent of doing things and looking like they aren't paying attention, but really they are absorbing quite a bit of the info you are giving them. It's hard to truly believe that is happening sometimes! Oh well.

Alright- well that's all for now. Life is pretty good. Pray for me that I will pass the exam this week. Please :-)

The latest

2011-07-21T18:09:00.002-06:00

The other day I made fresh squeezed clementine/orange juice and it was FANTASTIC! I decided I pretty much want to do that every single day of my life from here on out. We'll see how that goes.

I'm soaking in the rays. As much as I can anyway. Meaning...I pretty much don't use air conditioning and roll my window down cause believe it or not, I love feeling hot! It makes me happy. And anytime I might for a milisecond think, "wow, it's sure getting hot" I immediately have flashbacks of snow and cold bones and I'm instantly happy because I don't feel that way!

I take my next exam a week from today- so please keep me in your prayers! I seriously need it. I am lacking motivation. I'm still studying everyday, but it's so hard for me for some reason...and I just really hope I pass. I'm pretty nervous about it.

I am in the process of making new pillows for my couch. Meaning, I've made one about a week ago and haven't really continued on to the other 3 pillows. I'm only using fabric that I currently have in my stash...so you know, it's not going to be primal, but it will be a HECKA lot better than the current situation. You'll see. Eventually.

I feel like I'm constantly reminded about how I don't truly know how much someone's been through till I talk to them. Or something. I guess I'm reminded that I never have a right to judge someone, cause you never know what they've been through. Someone I visit taught this week was telling us about how when she was 18, her mom died of cancer and she had 5 younger brothers/sisters and had to take care of them. Then later she had breast cancer herself, and her sister wouldn't go with her to the treatments cause it reminded her of her mom, AND- she worked during chemo! I was shocked and she just said, "You do what you have to- that's all" and then it somehow also came up about how her little brother died when he was 10 or something. It was so crazy. It just seemed like this lady had been through so much in her life. You'd never know though! And the weird thing is, it's not like she was just going on to get attention...these conversations just randomly came up. Cause she was the opposite of feeling bad for herself.

Which is opposite of me! Sometimes. Especially times like now when I don't want to study but have to. I feel pretty sorry for myself.

I never did say- but I FREAKING LOVED HARRY POTTER! Oh my. I blubbered my way through most of it. I seriously SERIOUSLY loved it. The whole scene with the snape flashbacks....oh my. He deserves an oscar, I swear. So...so...good. I felt like all the emotional parts, they were spot on. Which are the most important parts for me. There were some differences here and there from the book, but not enough to make me upset! If you haven't seen it- go see it! You wont regret it.

Well, time to study. I have tomorrow off, which is fantastic. But you know...that just means more studying and cleaning. WAHOO! Oh and by the way- when I got my IV's on Saturday it was successful! I just went as slowly as I could (put the drip very very slow) and no blowing veins. I WAS the longest person there basically...poor Clay only takes 1 hour to get his (the same iv's as me) and I take over 4 hours. Oh well. My veins are just puny and his are quite big.

CYA!

Per Clay's request...

2011-07-15T14:36:00.003-06:00

Clay tells me I need to blog because he's sick of my other post. There's just not much to say.

We are going to see the movie tonight at 7:30. I'm so.freaking.excited. This has been the LONGEST day of my life. I also decided we need to get snocones after the movie. I asked Clay and he said yes. Cause seriously? It's the middle of July and I haven't had a snocone! If you haven't had a snocone at those sno shack hut things...boy you are missing out. I'm not talking about the snow cones you get in grade school that are just HARD CHUNKS of ice with a pool of flavor at the bottom...I'm talking shaved ice...smooth, with cream and flavor througout. Yum. Red raspberry and cream here I come.

We have been trying to juice veggies and fruit lately. We started thinking it'd be like 2 of our meals a day or something...but holy COW- my body basically yelled at me for making it feel like death! I know that's just me trying to get rid of crap, cause that's what happens when you go on a juicing diet...but when you're trying to go to work, and live a life...it's quite hard. For my lil body anyway. So we are just trying to add a juice here and there. I think it will help, cause we put WAY more fruits in veggies in there than we would normally eat in one sitting. And it just takes a minute to drink it up!

What else what else. I dunno. I've been finding myself in a bit of a rut lately. Emotionally. I just wish so bad I lived closer to my family. But even then things wouldn't be that much different I suppose. I guess I wish that I lived by my family, and had a baby, and was staying home full time. That is what I wish most of all. Oh well!

OH YEAH- one thing that's been great! I made this homemade raw nutella stuff. Except I didn't exactly make it raw, like the recipe. But it is TASTY TASTY! http://www.sunfood.com/pages/recipe-chocolate-hazelnut-butter there's the link if you want to try it. It's very health foody though so like, you may not love it if you eat normal chocolate chip cookies everyday. But for me, it's kinda a saving grace! I ate so much this past week. So yummy. And yes, there's a lot of agave, but also 2 cups of hazelnuts! That's some good stuff.

Tomorrow we are going to get our IV's and I just hope my veins don't explode. That's been happening. Clay wants me to stop going, but I can't help it- they make me feel so much better! Even with my veins exploding and me crying cause it hurts. I'm gonna talk to the docs about that though cause I don't think they realize its happened so much. AND who knows maybe I could get a port or picc line or something. Anywho...

I suppose that's all I can think of! I'll probably post again about the movie after I see it. I love Harry Potter. Will there ever be a series like it again? I really hope so. Cause it's so fun! I love anticipating new books and counting down days, and dressing up and making predictions and obsessing over an imaginary world. Seriously- it's some of the most fun I've ever had! But...it's really quite doubtful it will happen again. I love Twilight, I love Hunger Games, I love other series- but none of them come CLOSE to my undying love for Harry Potter. I'm pretty sure everyone whose read them feels the same way. Anyway- have a great time watching the movie those of you who are tonight! I know I will!

My favorite book

2011-07-06T12:34:00.000-06:00

So my sister Amy gave me this book a while back. I honestly can't remember when it was?! Obviously before I was married...cause it's dedicated to Danielle Arnold. Who knows.. But I LOVE IT! With all my heart. I look at it a lot more than she probably realizes. But anyway, I took it to church the other day cause the lesson was on brothers and sisters and being nice and stuff like that. There are a few pictures of Amy and I as children, and so I showed them and told them about how we were nice to each other and stuff. So I had this great idea to share it with all of you! AND, incase of some tragic event where I lose it or it gets destroyed...this way I will have it forever. Cause it's really the best. A lot of the content is inside jokey kinda, so don't feel bad if you don't get it:)

Note: Clay is really embarrassed of this picture of me. He doesn't understand it and thinks it's weird and stupid. It was hilarious when I was a Junior in high school...at least to me! :)

Seriously- the best. Love it. Hope you enjoyed it! Some of the pictures are kinda embarrassing! teehehe...but they are fond memories :)

Blondes beware, you are at risk for being a terrorist target.

2011-07-01T13:45:00.004-06:00

Or so my friend at the post office says.

Let me set the scene...

I'm at the post office and get out of my truck. You know how when you are a girl and you're wearing a tight shirt with an undershirt you kinda have to pull it down whenever you get up from sitting? Well, that's what I did. All of a sudden I hear behind me,

"You're never going to be able to cover that up"

What?

"You've got the same thing as me and my son. There's no covering it now. And you chose it."

Huh?

"You might want to consider changing that hair style"

Oh. My hair....huh?

"My son and I were at the fair and there was a helicopter filming from above for the news station and our heads were so shiny it you could point us out from thousands. We were even shinier than the hubcaps. And yeah, it was funny. But on the news that night they were very serious because if you think about it, if that were a terrorist, we would be the first ones they'd go after. And so you might want to reconsider that hair style. And they thought we had wigs on. But we didn't, I said, 'this is real! this is my hair!' and they just were so surprised because you could pinpoint us from up in the sky and that's pretty scary if you think about it"

Yeah, it's real scary here in Idaho. That's my number one fear that I'll get sniped by a terrorist in a helicopter in Idaho...since Idaho is such a target. But...all I could think to say was, "That's interesting"

"And I mean, I can't do anything about mine. It's natural the way it is and I can't change it. I mean you should be grateful you can look like a woman and so you should really think about your hair style because walking around you never know if a terrorist will be flying above you."

Wait what? What about me looking like a woman? Again, all I could think to say was, "That's interesting"

Now I have to interject this story and tell you that we are now in the post office standing in line. I can only imagine the expression on my face...but anyway, we are still standing in line and no one has moved and she then says,

"Alright well you have a good day then, Goodbye"

We are still standing in line, the same spot. Both of us. And she just said goodbye to me. The best word to describe this is...awkward. And slightly scary, I might add. I'm not gonna lie, I basically sped walked back to my truck after my transaction was done because I could see her transaction was finishing up too...and this lady was kinda scaring me!

But, you know...I'm a blessed woman. I got away and drove off with no more interactions with her. All I could keep thinking was, "This is something that would happen to Amy". If you don't know my sister Amy, she seriously has things like this happen to her ALL. THE. TIME. Just crazy stories and crazy people. Anyway. My mind is still boggled. I had NO IDEA what to say in response to these comments. Seriously, just try and imagine if you were in my shoes...what would you have said? And this recount of the story doesn't even do it justice. I know that she said way more than I can remember...cause half of what she said sounded like complete nonsense. I had no idea what she was trying to say half the time. But those few sentences I shared...I could understand and remember. Thinking back I should've said- well do you think you were the only blondes at the fair? Maybe your hair is just super special and shiny for some reason. Oh well. She didn't make too much of an impression on me. It's not like I'm gonna go die my hair black now.

The funny thing is, her hair didn't look one bit shiny to me at all.

Oh- btw, I have recently gotten highlights in my hair and look like this (i just realized i don't think i ever mentioned that or put a pic up)
yes, i am aware it's blurry, but I just took it real quick myself and when I finally took a clear picture...i didn't like it cause my humongo zits were way more noticeable. but, you get the picture of how my hair looks...THAT is the point.

Life's little lessons

2011-06-29T21:27:00.003-06:00

So, I decided to reschedule my exam for July 28th. I was originally planning on taking it July 8th, but I was just kidding myself. I realized as I was going through practice tests and getting in the 50-60% range...I wasn't ready to take this test next week! I kept saying- no if I just study EXTRA hard I can make it. But the truth is, I'm not very good at studying EXTRA hard. I kinda have a normal study amount my brain can take per day before it feels full and maxed out. I have always been the kind of person that thinks she can do anything...I still feel that way to an extent...but the scripture Mosiah 4:27 comes to mind,

27And see that all these things are done in wisdom and ^aorder; for it is not requisite that a man should run ^bfaster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

Man oh man. How many times have I had to relearn this lesson? A lot. I'm learning it right now. I know to most of you this seems like no big deal. Your like, so what? You're taking it a month later...no biggie. For some reason it gives me a ton of guilt or something. I mean, not tons...but it took major convincing of myself to feel like I'm not being lazy or something by doing this. But, the truth is- I probably would've failed had I taken the test next week. Who knows- maybe I could've done it, but I would've been freaking out and felt so unprepared. I want to go in to the test feeling so confident and ready.

So I'll probably not take my Auditing test till the beginning of October (cause I can't test in September...and August is study time). Which is fine, I will probably need the two months to study Audit...since I only took one Auditing class in college and learned nothing (no joke).

On to other things- the weather is fantastic! It's like 80's everyday! I rode my bike two days in a row and I can already see I'm getting tanner. Everyone in Idaho whines so much about the heat...when we've only felt it for like 2 days. What the heck?! I say, "It's better than cold!" and then the classic statement, "You can always get warmer, but you can't always get cooler!" To that I say baloney. Go jump in the river. Turn the AC on. Drink ice cold water. Whatever. I don't care. AND- I can't always get warmer. Anyway- I seriously love it. It just makes for a happier time in life.

Clay and I are revving up for Harry Potter in a couple weeks. We have watched Harry Potter 1, and started 2. It was my brilliant idea to watch all of them before the next movie. And seriously- I haven't seen 1-5 in like, years. Especially 1-3. The first one was SO FREAKING CUTE! It was so innocent and fun. You kinda forget about those times in the last ones, cause they are so dark. But it just made me fall inlove with Harry Potter all over again. If you haven't read the books (cough*AMY*cough) you're crazy. They are marvelous. The most brilliant series I've ever come upon.

Well, I suppose that's all. Oh yeah- I'm feeling so much better by the way. The treatments I'm on are doing wonders. I am now a firm supporter of B12 injections (which I give myself), Vit C IV's, and Hydrogen Peroxide IV's (yep). What a difference it makes!

I'm feeling very blessed right now. I hope this feeling sticks:) I know I'm blessed always, I just don't always realize it. Call me crazy, but when the suns out, I can ride a bike, study for the CPA exam, get to work ontime, and watch movies with my husband...it's pretty hard not to feel happy. Of course there's plenty things I still want...but whatev. I am satisfied for right now. Things I want will come in due time. I feel like Heavenly Father is just...so completely aware of everything. I know good things are in store for me and Clay...and that as long as we ride out this wave with faith and hope, we'll come out on top. I know that sounds so cheesy...but it's just how I feel. Today I said the words, "Life is what you make it"...I wont go into why I was saying it or to who, but I really do believe that. I have so many reasons I could just lay in bed and be sad and sorry for myself...and people probably wouldn't even blame me for it! And believe me, I have my fair share of days where I do just that. But it never...NEVER makes me feel better, and it NEVER comforts me. I only feel better or good when I force myself to get up and live my life. So, that's pretty much what I'm trying to do.

The fourth is coming up, and I'm so excited. BBQ's, fireworks, and USA pride. 3 of my very favorite things! I am definitely proud to be an American. We are so rich and blessed here. I just wish more people could see that. I guess...I love my country, not necessarily all the people in it :) Anywho, I should end this now before I just keep ranting on about all my life lessons and stuff.

Love you all. Happy 4th. Eat a few smores for me. I will eat a few myself I'm sure.

11 things bachelorette

2011-06-27T21:10:00.003-06:00

1. FINALLY! FREE AT LAST! I finally realized why I loved Ashley the first couple episodes then hated her. One word: BENTLEY. Blah. So glad that's DONE. And I'm glad she had her little *bleep* you moment.

2. Dentist is gone- FINALLY. I'm so freaking sick of hearing so much WHINING about RYAN! It's obvious that when the only thing you can talk about is another guy, you don't have too much of a connection with the lady.

3. Did everyone else LOVE Constantine and Ben on the group date? They were seriously cracking me up. And I think my favorite part of the group date was that Dentist and Ryan were paired. BAHAH. Or the moment in the elevator with Ames. Teehehe- I totally giggled during that. And I loved when the door opened on them. Ames is so awkward I love it.

4. Ryan shouldn't sport the bearded look. It doesn't suit him well.

5. I was so happy she picked JP for the one-on-one date. He is totally awesome. AND he reacted so well to the Bentley thing. And I think he's good looking- but not the most handsome man I've ever seen?!?!?! Did you think that was a little bit of an extreme description of him?

7. The other guys DIDN'T react well. I really wish she would've handed out the roses and then said, "And Lucas, you need to go home. CYA". But no, she still hasn't gotten all her smarts yet. I seriously think that if they had real feelings for her, they wouldn't be so stupid.

8. Why did Ashley feel like it'd be this great thing to tell them? Of course they'll feel second best. Like...why would they feel happy about it? I dunno. Kinda silly. I get both perspectives though...

9. I think this was the first episode where Ashley didn't say "PerFACT". You know what I'm sayin? Oh dear. I thought if I heard that one more time my head might explode. Kinda like the feeling I get when I hear the name Bentley come out of her mouth.

10. Ashley loves baggy see-through shirts where her bra can be seen ever so slightly. They are cute sometimes, I really do think so- but like...every time? Shake it up a bit...wear a form fitter. Or a solid color.

11. Favorites: JP, Ben, Ames. In that order.

Did you see the preview for the rest of the season?!?! Holy cowsers this is gonna be good.

On a side note- I biked 7 miles today. WOAH! Talk about amazing. I'm gonna do it again tomorrow. Woot woot!

Thrifty Thursday

2011-06-23T18:24:00.003-06:00

Well...I went to DI today cause I don't even remember what I was looking for. Oh yeah. A lawn chair. They had them...but they all looked so disgusting I just couldn't handle it. My hands got dirty while looking through them...and I know I could hose them off and stuff, but I just for some reason couldn't handle it at the moment. So I did my normal rounds around the store...dishes- my fav section...and came upon some AMAZING salt and pepper shakers! Holy smokes. I fell inlove right then, right there. 2 bucks. DONE.

Oh- and my father will appreciate this one- the holes are just the right size. Not GINORMO like most of the salt and pepper shakers of today. I do wish there were maybe one or two more holes..but really they are great. And I put pepper granules in the pepper grinder right when I got home and it totally works PERFECT! YES!

NICE HOLES

Then I came upon this mug! I absolutely ADORE these kind of mugs. I already have two of them. It's kinda hard to tell in the pic, but they are oversized mugs so you can like, eat cereal (if I ate cereal), eat ice cream (if I was allowed to), or put your berries in (this is my most common use). They are my favorite cause I like to eat while I watch TV, and bowls are awkward to hold, but these are cute and have handles and it's just the best. Anyway- this was a dollar. SOLD.

Then...I went to the yard area...you can find some pretty great gems in this area. I know most of you wont see my vision on this one...but trust. It's gonna be just perfect for my wall I'm creating in my mind and hopefully will come to real life soon. There wasn't a price tag so I asked the cashier and he said, "2?" and I said, "2? eh..." and he said, "How bout a dollar and a half" I said that sounds good. Hows that for DI bargaining? :)

Overall, I spent less than 5 bucks, which was perfect cause I had this mysterious five dollar bill in my wallet that I have no idea where it came from. So it pretty much was meant to be.

I'm rarely this pleased when I leave the DI. The only bothersome part about the trip was that there was a lady roaming the store that stunk STRONGLY of poop. Do I just attract these kind of people to me? I know what you're thinking...Danielle, maybe it's just you...but NO. It most certainly is not! Everytime I was away from the woman, the smell went away. Everytime I was BY the woman, I pretty much had to hold my breath. And you know that client a long time ago that yelled at me and smelled like poop? Well, she came in again this year and smelled like poop again. I also happened to know a couple of people in middle school/high school that smelled like poop all the time too...so I've come to the conclusion that it's a disease or something. I feel really bad for these people. Is there not a cure or fix for these kinds of things?!?! I really don't understand but man oh man...it's bad.

Not to end on THAT note...but, that's all I have for today. Peace out!

Funky candlestick decor tutorial

2011-06-23T10:34:00.000-06:00

So I got this really great idea from my friend Lori. She had these adorable candle sticks and I complimented them, and she said she MADE THEM! So she told me how and I did it and I love em! They are definitely a little rusty and coulda been done better...but whatevs. I am NOT too picky.

Wanna know how to make them? EASY.

1. Get a bunch of candle sticks. If you tell people you're looking for candle sticks, they just might give some to you for free!

2. Mess with them to see which ones look best ontop of eachother. (You will need to mess with right side up...upside down...etc. Just play around with it and see all your options)
3. Glue them together.

4. Spray paint. I didn't even prime them.

Pretty easy! Since I already had all the spray paint from leftover projects, and half the candle sticks were given to me...the whole project cost me $2.18. Not bad...not bad at all. Some of them are a little funky...but I kinda like it that way! It took me long enough to do this. I saw the candle sticks at Lori's house probably like...a YEAR ago. Been meaning to do it since. I've had the candle sticks for months! Just haven't gotten around to it. Finally did it last week. YIPPEE!!!

Summer...finally!

2011-06-21T21:24:00.005-06:00

So it was 83 degrees today. HEAVEN! There's nothing quite like blasting country music with my window rolled down, wearin my sunglasses, looking at blue skies. I love it! For some reason I don't listen to country much in the winter time. Its just this weird thing...I associate it with summer time. Hm.

Well, I PASSED BEC! The exam I took last time...I found out I passed. SO HAPPY! Oh my. So relieved. Now I just need to pass the next two tests and I'll be REALLY happy.

So I got this really great idea from my friend Lori. She had these adorable candle sticks and I complimented them, and she said she MADE THEM! So she told me how and I did it and I love em! They are definitely a little rusty and coulda been done better...but whatevs. I am NOT too picky.

Wanna know how to make them? EASY.

1. Get a bunch of candle sticks. If you tell people you're looking for candle sticks, they just might give some to you for free!

2. Mess with them to see which ones look best ontop of eachother. (You will need to mess with right side up...upside down...etc. Just play around with it and see all your options)
3. Glue them together.

4. Spray paint. I didn't even prime them.

Pretty easy! Since I already had all the spray paint from leftover projects, and half the candle sticks were given to me...the whole project cost me $2.18. Not bad...not bad at all. Some of them are a little funky...but I kinda like it that way! It took me long enough to do this. I saw the candle sticks at Lori's house probably like...a YEAR ago. Been meaning to do it since. I've had the candle sticks for months! Just haven't gotten around to it. Finally did it last week. YIPPEE!!!

Well...as always, my life basically consists of Lyme treatments and studying to become a CPA. SO exciting :) I'm pretty much freaking out about my next test, in 3 weeks. I wish I had another week to study, but the testing center doesn't have any room...as of now. Oh well. I'll just have to work super hard. Which is hard. Especially when it's so nice and hot and I feel lazy. And tired.

OH YEAH- I finally gained the courage to give myself the B12 shot! I have to give it to myself twice a week. I was so nervous. But I finally did it, and it wasn't so bad! And I honestly feel like I can already tell a difference. So hopefully soon I'll have more energy. I can't really describe what it's like. Before I found out I had lyme I always thought something was wrong with me cause I couldn't do things like my sisters could, or my mother in law, or mom or really lots of women. They seemed to be able to do SO MUCH no sweat. But I just honestly couldn't. Still can't. But now I realize it's because of LYME. Not cause I'm lazy or I'm not good enough or whatever. What a relief. And I don't mean to say like...I expect to be superwoman when I'm through with this. I just mean...I can make dinner and clean it up without feeling completely spent afterwards. Or...clean the bathroom and do something else too.

Anyway- all that to say, I feel like these B12 shots are gonna help lots. Thank goodness!

Well, I'm off. Till next time.

TGIF

2011-06-17T22:08:00.002-06:00

Ah...the weekend.

Although, it's not really THAT great being that I'm not sleeping in Saturday. On the contrary, I am getting up EARLIER than normal....gotta get to Pocatello to get my blood pumped with Vit-C and other goodies. It takes about 2 hours or so...and then the driving alone is 2 hours all together...so it kinda takes half my Saturday. Oh well. Clay and I will probably take a nap when we get home...which is always nice.

I'm eating frozen custard. YUMMO! It's leftover from our date :) Clay and I basically never go on dates...it's not a good habit we've formed, but when we do go on dates, I'm pretty excited. If Clay thinks of a date, he wont tell me what it is...today he took me to Rexburg to this frozen custard place that he heard about. Pretty tasty if I do say so myself! Not to be a snob, but I'm pretty sure I've tasted better...but don't get me wrong- I'm still happy I have it to eat!

When we were in Rexburg, I was so happy. I just kept sighing...and saying things like, "Oh I love that sidewalk. I used to ride my bike to school everyday on that sidewalk by Porter Park. It was my favorite." or, "Can we drive by campus?" or, "I will always have a sweet spot in my heart for Rexburg." Then Clay chimes in with, "Why? I can't stand this place. I can't stand the stores, the driving, the students..." haha. I think I just love small towns. I love that I was able to ride my bike EVERYWHERE in Rexburg. And I love the people and students! It's got a good energy and spirit that town. AND- what I kept saying to Clay was, "This is where WE grew up together"...you know- it was our beginning, our roots. Even though the weather SUUUUUCKED, Rexburg definitely will always have a tender place in my heart.

Well I got all my studying done at work today, and so I had some free time tonight. I thought of just watching tv, cause I really didn't feel all that great...but the truth is, I just was kinda sick of watching TV. I mean...not really, cause I love tv. I'm not one to pretend I don't have time for tv or it's below me. I am a tv fan. But I just felt so unproductive, and kept thinking of this project I have had the stuff for and been planning for MONTHS. So I decided to buckle down and just DO IT! I'm so proud of myself. It will be done tonight, and I will post pictures tomorrow. Yippee!

Another thing I'm proud of- I made dinner Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday! And I cleaned up the kitchen afterwards on Tues, Weds, and Thurs! Okay AND I made shakes for us every morning. This may sound like a normal dealio for some of you- but for me, this is like EPIC! SERIOUSLY proud of myself on that one. And I really was planning on doing it again tonight, except Clay had the Rexburg plans. And seriously, I just can't believe how much better I feel about myself when I do those things. Makes me happy.

I have a confession. I totally haven't been reading my scriptures...doing personal spiritual time or whatever...for like a long time. I keep making it a goal to do...but I just haven't. And the bad thing is, that's like one of the major testimonies I have in this life...is the power of daily scripture study. Well anyway, today I finally read an article in the ensign and the corresponding scriptures...and I just always am amazed at how I ever stop these things. I just feel so good, uplifted, and happy when I read the scriptures or articles from the apostles and prophet. Why wouldn't I do it everyday? And feel that way everyday? I dunno. But I'm really hoping I get myself back to it.

My score for my last exam should hopefully come within the next two weeks. I'm really hoping next week. But who knows. It's driving me crazy. I check the mail like 3 times a day. Literally. It's ridiculous. Even if I get the mail on the first check, I still check it 2 more times thinking maybe it was yesterdays mail even though I know it's not, but like...I dunno I just can't help it. I check it when I get home for lunch, when I leave for lunch, and when I get home from work. Crazy lady I am. I'm so nervous. I think I'm struggling with studying my upcoming exam just because I'm so nervous about my score for the last one. Bleh.

Anyone experienced in making your own nut butters? Don't bother leading me to a site or whatever...I'm just asking incase anyone I know personally has something like REAL and honest to tell me about it. Just cause you know...I have found that popular blogs can kinda glamorize things...and I want an honest opinion. From what I read, normal blenders can't handle it...but food processors are perfect for it. Unfortunately, I don't have a food processor! I've been scoping out craigslist...no such luck. Cause here's the deal...I buy these nut-butters from like, the health food store and stuff...and they are SPENDY buggers. So I was like...geesh...after I buy all these natural nut butters, maybe it would've been worth it to just buy a food processor and make my own. But then here's my other question...is making your own really that much less money than buying it? I haven't run the numbers or anything...so if any of YOU have, let me know. I really really want to make my own hazelnut butter...cause THAT stuff is like...real real expensive. And then of course, whats the best food processor. I think most of my fam uses the cuisinart one...which of course is the most expensive. But I've seen lots of people liking less expensive ones...people who have even claimed to make nut butters with them! ANYway...

Aight. I'm off to watch some television and eat the rest of this yummo desert. OH YEAH- another thing...I didn't eat any sugar or gluten Mon-Thurs either! That was good too. Till next time...

Home again home again jiggity jig

2011-06-11T19:50:00.003-06:00

My beautiful backyard when I got home! I had to take a picture. I looove when they look like this.

Welp, I'm home! I just spent a week in Southern California, and a few days in Seattle.

California was great. Mid-nineties the whole week...it was heaven! Seriously, I love the heat. It's true. Lizzie asked me before I left if I was excited to get away from the heat, and I said without hesitation NO! Ohhh I love the feeling of being baked. No lie. It was a pretty lazy week for me, which was just what I needed.

Seattle was fine. Same as always. We pretty much just changed up the meds...it's becoming very clear I don't have such great circulation which can be a problem. But, we are working on it. Also, my hair has kinda been falling out...don't freak out or anything- I'm not balding, but it's kinda like...every time I run my hand through my hair a bunch of hairs come out...I clog the shower drain everyday...I just always have hair on me. It's no biggie...but I suppose it falls right inline with my thyroid problem, or something. My biggest symptom of this whole Lyme dealio is I'm so tired. I feel so heavy and weighted down. Anyway- we are working on that too. Clay appeared to be doing better...with his physical tests. Like...his circulation seems to be better, and his balance is really good. hah- I know those things don't sound like a huge deal, but they are good signs. But that's basically the report. We are changing our meds around and I'm really excited about that cause the antibiotic we were taking makes us extra sensitive to sunlight, AND we aren't supposed to eat dairy with them. SUCH a pain. So we are DONE with that antibiotic at least until summer is over :) YIPEE! That's pretty much it. Don't feel like talking much about it past that.

Well, starting Monday I'm back to life. BOOOO. That means studying, working, cooking, cleaning...you know the drill. Oh well. I have some fun projects I'm hoping to get to. And the weather is looking up! Life is always better when it's sunny and warm, in my opinion.

Hope everyone is happy and well. Oh yeah- as far as bachelor goes...Bentley? My goodness me. If I ever see him in person, I WILL splash a cup of water or slushy or SOMEthing in his face. I'd say do something physical to him...but I fear I'm not strong enough to make much of an effect. Meh. Anyway- what a meany-head! But, I think my favorite part of the show was probably when the masked man unveiled his face and said, "Hi, I'm Jeff". Oh dear.

Dante checkin what I'm doin from the hallway

Bachelorette Week 2

2011-05-30T20:33:00.003-06:00

Oh dear. Lets start with William.
Was I crazy? They kept saying how amazing that wedding date was, but I kept thinking it looked so awkward! I dunno...but the dinner seemed really great and romantic and I really do like William. HowEVER...I thought it was tacky how he just randomly started bragging about the fountain moment...and then the whole standup comedy thing...bleh. I feel really bad for him cause I think he thinks he's funnier than he is...

Bentley- Ashley is such a freaking idiot.

Please, please, please, please, please, please....stay.

I think the quote of the night was, "I would rather swim in pee than plan a wedding with her" GAH! Why is this woman BEGGING him to stay? And then this whole bit about his daughter? Obviously he doesn't care about daughter...if he doesn't' have feelings, why stay? And where is Ashley seeing sincerity from him? Eck. This guy is a moron if he thinks he'd ever have a chance with sweet Emily!

Mask man- he wouldn't seem so weird if he wasn't lurking everywhere by himself. I was so annoyed that he didn't take off his mask! UGH! Did anyone else laugh out loud when he was outside with a beanie and the mask? I loved the guys expressions when she called his name for the rose:) AND I loved his housekeeping duties around the house. PAHAHA. I hope he stays for a while juts cause he's funny.

JP- He was really cute when he had the one on one time with her and flipped for a kiss. I just liked it. I hope he gets a date next week.

Mickey- First thing first, he definitely looks better with glasses in my opinion. Second, he's way too serious and I didn't get much of a personality from him...

Nick-Guy with died blonde hair personal fitness guy- stupid. Anyone else think so? Eh.

Can't wait for next week. Looks like Bentley comes clean! But I'm really nervous about William making a horrible joke?!?!?! I guess we'll see! Till next time...

Life Thoughts...

2011-05-29T20:07:00.001-06:00

Today at church I was sitting on the same row of perhaps the most darling family in our ward. There are 6 kids...ranging from 0 years old to 12 years old. Dad is Bishop, the kids are all sooo reverent and sweet. The little boy that was closest to me, he's about 6...he kept glancing over at me and smiling:) The mom's brothers and dad were visiting today and she kept looking back at them and smiling, and she was so happy. I could tell. And I seriously almost started bawling! I missed my family so much. We have 6 kids in our family...with a 12 year range. And we love eachother so much. And all I could do as I was sitting by myself a few feet away from this family was tell myself, "Thank goodness I am seeing them in 5 days." If I weren't, I probably would've started bawling! I dunno...maybe it's because I know I'm seeing them so soon I'm taking my guard down as far as missing them goes...who knows. I just am so freaking excited for Thursday, when I get to fly to Sandiego, have my pretty pregnant sister Amy pick me up from the airport, and see my brother and all my sisters the next day. And my parents! YAY!!!!!

Back to the family I was sitting next to. All I could think throughout sacrament was, "You are so lucky". I would just watch the mother and I know she struggles. I mean...she has 2 kids under the age of 2...and 4 other kids...and her husband is bishop...and really I am sure she has a hard time sometimes...but I couldn't stop thinking how lucky she was.

I have Lyme Disease. And I am constantly having to convince myself to accept it. I don't know why the acceptance doesn't stick. I get waves...where I'm great and have a mindset like, "Oh I'm going to become a CPA and life will be great and I will just focus on that and I can sew and blog and decorate and do whatever I want." And that can stick for a bit. But then I realize what I actually want...and then the wave changes...into a wave of self-pity. I feel so sorry for myself. I get that womanly ache for motherhood. And then I get into this warrior stage...where I'm like- I AM GOING TO KICK THE CRAP OUT OF THIS LYME DISEASE! I will do everything right! I will never eat sugar/gluten EVER AGAIN! I will be PERFECT at this treatment, and I will get better so quick! And you'd think that'd be easy...but then all of a sudden I go into self-pity mode again where I'm like..."I'm depressed, I deserve a cookie." Even though that completely contradicts everything. And then I go back into acceptance. And it all starts over again. But, the fight continues on and I WILL continue fighting. I AM a Lyme Warrior. That never changes. It's just my level of vigor I suppose.

Today I cut my finger with scissors. Seriously...I don't know how it happened...but I was cutting a package of pecans open and all of a sudden I was cutting my finger. It hurt. And it still hurts! I seriously think I'm getting clumsier or whatever by the day. In the past 3 months I think I've gotten 3 permanent scars. Most of them from burning. And they are all different kinds. Iron, hot almond roca, I have a scar on my LEG from getting a pan out of the oven. I still try and remember how it happened...but I can't really remember. I just know it happened. And of course I am always running into things. THAT specifically is part of my Arnold nature :)

I have to tell you that sunbeams...are basically little devils. I'm sorry. It's just true. We finally decided it's time to talk to each of the parents seriously. The sad thing is, I know it wont make a difference. I've seen all of them with their parents. ALL of them get away with murder with their parents. So how are we expected to be able to get them to behave? I'm not joking- most of the sunbeams in our class, I have seen them with their parents...and their parents let them do whatever they want. And they don't discipline. I hope so badly I have fresh in my mind this class when I'm raising my children. I do NOT want them to give their primary teachers hell. It's basically torture. I have a teaching partner, and she has been teaching sunbeams for years. She said that she has had 4 teachers ask to be released, and that 2 of them were mothers of one of the children in the class! She is a saint.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. I'm pretty happy because that means no work. But, it also means lots of studying. Boo.

I'm very grateful I live in this country. Even though the leaders anger me sometimes, and even though there's a lot of wrong...I still feel it's the most right. I love the USA. I'm so happy I'm American. There are still a LOT of good people in this country.

Well, I guess that's all for today. In case you were wondering, Idaho is stickin pretty much in the 38-58 degree range these days. SoCal HERE I COME! Yessssssssssssss!!!

Bachelorette: Episode 1

2011-05-23T22:04:00.000-06:00

Well, it's that time again. And my goodness, I'm so happy!

First off: I am loving Ashley. I know she gets on people's nerves...but I just adore her! Plus I respect a woman who admits to her faults and mistakes. She is sooo cute and pretty and I think she's great. Of course except that she's another idiotic woman who falls inlove with the #1 scumbag...hello? We'll get to that later. Actually, no. Lets start with the big fatty elephant in the room:

BENTLY:
Lets get the obvious out of the way. He's from Salt Lake City...divorced...meaning, the friend that called Ashley to warn her about him would be none other than: MICHELLE! Surprisingly...I would trust her! But it just frustrates me...I mean, what a FUREAKING jerk that isn't attracted to her, wishes it was Emily, but sticks around??!?! I hate him! How does she fall inlove with him? Seriously- why does this keep happening to all the bachelorettes? Gillian- Wes. Ali- Frank. Ashley- BENTLY. It's like an abusive family or something...it just keeps going down through the generations. Will it ever stop?!?!?!

How bout ol Masky?
I get it...you want her to know YOU. The real you...not your looks. But I dunno...it's a little odd. I did however get some good laugh OUT LOUD moments when they showed him in places like the balcony...with intense music...or you know, ON THE TOILET. What the heck?! When have they EVER in bachelor-history shown someone takin a poo on the toilet?! No thanks. No....thanks.

How about this guy?
"and maybe when we are inside you could take a picture of me with Chris Harrison????"

What?! hah- this was SO AWKWARD for me. It was for Ashley too- I could tell. I seriously couldn't stop thinking how that is how I would act if I were on the set of Gilmore Girls or something. Like...I'm just so super stoked cause I'm a ginormous fan I want pictures of everything...but not really looking for love? Who knows.

Here are my front-runners:

I was actually really surprised this guy became one of my front-runners cause at first I was thinking...oh dear, he doesn't have a chance. He's a cell-phone salesman? We've got lawyers, finance guys, big honcho solar construction guy...blah balh. Well anyway- I just love his personality! He just seems so happy and full of life, perfect for Ashley.

He was just real sincere and sweet. I like him a lot. But I dunno...it's like, he just almost seems TOO sweet. I think Ashley needs a little spunk in her man.

I also liked both the dark shaggy haired guys. But there isn't much to say about them yet.

Oh yeah- and I loved the end. Could we really have when an episode without a ridiculous moment of crying when there is absolutely no good reason for that person to cry? This GUY starts CRYING he gets kicked off after like 2 HOURS of meeting Ashley. At first I thought it was ridiculous- I still do- but at the same time...it is ALMOST more of a rejection to get kicked off the first night than any other night. Cause it's like...out of 25 guys, I was the worst? YEESH! I must suck a lot. That definitely would hurt. But I'm sorry- that's a little humiliating to cry about it on national tv.

All I know is this is gonna be great! When is it not? Seriously. I always say it, and I will continue to say it I'm sure- this is good television. Bachelor writers/producers/whatever...brilliant. I mean...I'm already heartbroken for Ashley over Bently, and I haven't even seen it unfold! Sigh.........till next week!

The Exam

2011-05-20T10:55:00.001-06:00

So I took the BEC (Business Environment and Concepts) portion of the CPA exam yesterday. Just so you know, I think I forgot to say this part, I wont find out my score till the end of June. Pretty stinky. But anyway, so I don't know how I did! I can tell you that I felt okay about it. Not great, not bad...I dunno. I'm just so scared to say anything in case I didn't pass.

I am now on to studying for my next section. I am going to schedule it for July 8th I think. This topic is "Regulation" or REG. It covers tax, and law....generally speaking. Which HOPEFULLY will be to my advantage since this is my field...tax. Who knows. I'm still studying it like I would any other section. I am starting studying today. Thought about breaking for a couple days...but I just want to get this sucker over with. AND- I am going to California in a couple weeks (YAY!) and if I stick to the schedule I mapped out, I can totally go to California without studying. Meaning basically a week break! Hoorah! Huzzah! So I am fine with hittin the books now and not stressing and studying while in sunny California.

Today I don't have work, so I have a ton of stuff to do. Dishes (been neglected for quite some time...), sort pills into pill boxes, health food store, study 2 hours, I SHOULD vacuum but really...i dunno if that will happen. I really really want crepes...so I'll probably make those :) I guess I should get started!

I'm so tired. SO excited for California. A week of laying by the pool. With my sisters and mom. And adorable nieces and nephew. And not worrying about the CPA exam. Okay- I will probably worry about it...but not have to study. That will be fabulous.

Alright- have a good weekend! I hope you have better weather than cloudy gloom (again, so excited for California).

Life Update

2011-05-14T10:03:00.000-06:00

This is Dante's usual routine these days. We let him out in our backyard and ye darts STRAIGHT for the fence...that spot specifically, and sometimes for hours, be peeping through the cracks at his doggie friends across the fence. I think there's some sort of relationship going on, cause if those dogs are out in their backyard, you can be sure to have Dante at that exact spot looking through the cracks! He's not creepy...I think he just likes to have friends :)

So last night I tried this new recipe, that I had to adjust cause I didn't have all the ingredients, and oh my goodness me, they seriously are DELICIOUS! They are mint chocolate chip cookies. And they are...GLUTEN FREE, SUGAR FREE (besides choc chips..there are recipes for home made ones but i just haven't gone there yet), DAIRY FREE, EGG FREE...seriously- they are sounding disgusting right? But somehow, with magic- they are delicious! It's still hard for me to believe. I will share the recipe soon I'm sure.

This Thursday is my next exam. If I pass this, I'll be half way there! I'm pretty fuuureakin nervous. I don't feel ready, to be COMPLETELY honest with you- but I'm pretty good at cramming like crazy and then brain dumping. It's pretty much how I got through college! I dunno...we'll see. Please if you remember, keep my stressed brain in your prayers this week that I will pass and remember everything!

Today I'm hoping that when Clay wakes up, he'll still want to do what he said he would a few days ago. I want to go to "Mesa Falls"...they are an hour or so from here, and is supposed to be a REALLY easy walk. The pictures show pavement and everything. So anyway- I really think it'd just be fantastic. I'm not gonna lie, I woke up this morning and my ankles felt stiff and not the best...but I'm so dang sick of staying IN THIS HOUSE. We need to get out more. Especially since it's like 70's today!

Last but not least, have you seen "Under Our Skin"?
This movie is about Lyme Disease. It's VERY informative and gives a way better picture than we are capable of giving you about what patients and doctors go through that are involved with Lyme Disease. Clay, me, and Clay's parents went to this presentation by a Lyme specialist that tours the states, and we watched this movie first then he answered questions and stuff. This movie is on Netflix Instant Play- so SERIOUSLY, if you have Netflix...you should watch it! I just want everyone to watch it so that they are aware of this HORRIBLE disease and what it can do to people. Please watch it. It would mean a lot to me and Clay. Oh, and when you watch it- they talk about Dr Jones, who is still being prosecuted today...anyway- our doctor worked with him for 7 years. You can actually see her in the background of one of the scenes at one of his trials, but it's way too hard for me to describe. I will warn you- this is a pretty depressing movie! I cried a LOT at one point. But the point is...it's just so important. And I feel like I need to say this since it's becoming hiking/camping season:

1. If you get a bulls-eye rash, this means you GUARANTEE have contracted Lyme Disease. Go to a doctor IMMEDIATELY and you MUST get treated with 4-6 weeks of antibiotics. If you do this, it will go away and you will be fine! DO NOT WAIT!

2. If you find a tick on you, and you don't have a bulls-eye rash...this does NOT MEAN you're safe. If within a month of finding that tick you have any of these symtoms, you probably contracted Lyme:

Flu-like symptoms
Joint Pain
Fogginess of brain
Basically, you will just feel "different"

3. DON'T BE STUPID. Please check yourself, and all your kids for ticks! And if you think your state is "safe"- it's not. If you find ANY TICKS, seriously you need to just be so aware of what's going on with you or your kids bodies until you know for sure that you are fine.

So...do you all want to go camping now?! haha...sorry if I'm scaring anyone- but seriously, this stuff should be known. I just wish there was a way I could reach more people about this.

Well, it's time for me to study...BOOOO. It'll all be worth it. I will soon be a CPA! A Certified Public Accountant! That's pretty cool. Aight...cya!

OH yeah- one more thing. I'm kinda thinking of combining all three blogs. I'm so annoyed of updating each one...or whatever. I dunno. It's just annoying- and I bet it's annoying for any of you who follow each of them. Why not just have them all on one?! Sounds good to me.

Gluten Free Crepes

2011-05-08T17:38:00.000-06:00

These crepes are so good and so easy! One of the few gluten free recipes that I don't really feel like I'm eating gluten free! Yay!

1 1/4 cups milk (you can use dairy-free milk)
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or butter)
1 cup gluten-free flour
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp baking powder

Mix all ingredients in blender until combined. Heat a non-stick skillet to medium heat. Put 1/4 cup batter in heated pan and spread around pan to about an 8" diameter circle (it wont ever be perfect!). Let sit for a minute until you are able to flip it. Flip crepe and let sit a minute. Slide off onto plate and put paper towels/napkins in between each crepe.

We like to put berries, or jam in ours!

I am Number Four

2011-05-03T17:33:00.000-06:00

Have any of you read this yet? I say yet cause I'm pretty sure you'll end up reading it if you haven't.

I heard that it was good, but seriously- I loved it! I read it in two days! Here's the scoop if you're interested:

There are 9 kids that are shipped to earth because their planet is under attack. They are shipped to earth to preserve their "race" or whatever (and they are all scattered...none of them know where the others are). Anyway, bad guys are still after them on earth and can only kill them in order of their number. 1-3 are dead. The narrator of the book is number four. It's all about him and developing his special powers and of course, falling inlove with a human girl! It's set in high-school. It pretty much rocks. If you like Twilight, the Host, Hunger Games, Mortal Instruments series...this is RIGHT up your alley. It is the perfect combo of action, science-fictiony mystery, and romance.

I really hope no one has seen the movie though, if they haven't read the book...cause just from the trailer I can tell it's not as good (as always). But I still really want to see it!
You will absolutely fall inlove with John and Sarah's romance. And you will feel so happy with John and Sam's friendship. And then of course, there's the father-son relationship between John and Henri. Well- and I should probably mention the most tender relationship with the dog:) Really- just read it. You wont regret it! And I guess it's supposed to be the first of a six book series! Next one comes out in August. Woohoo!

Murderer, Weddings, and more

2011-04-29T09:59:00.001-06:00

So first things first: My husband thinks I'm a murderer. Looky at what we found yesterday:
A birds nest right in our garage above our door connecting our backyard to the garage. Ummmm...I really didn't feel malicious when I said, "So you're gonna take that down right?" But that comment brought on some fierce accusations that I was in fact, a murderer! Apparently, I would not only be killing a bird, but a family. So pretty much, a bird is living in our garage and will soon be laying/hatching eggs in there. I told Clay one day he'll get pooped in the face and it will be funny.

Next on the agenda- this also has to do with Clay! Ha..you know the news has been NOTHING but THIS lately?:
Royal Wedding. I cannot believe how this has affected Clay! Sentences like this have come out of his mouth, "I don't understand the big deal?! Why do we care about this?! Are these not the people who wanted to enslave us forever?!" haha. Clay HATES celebrities. He hates hollywood. He hates people caring about celebrities. "They are just people. They are not any more special than you or me." It's true, but I'm human..and polar opposite of him. Kate's pretty, and this is dealing with princes/princesses...so yeah, I'm interested! And of course, I'm OBSESSED with celebrity gossip- I'm pretty sure you all knew that. Anyway, it's been pretty humorous. I told him to just not look at any news sites for a few days.

One thing I did last weekend was paint this old mirror turned chalk board for my kitchen! I've had this for like a year probably and JUST got around to doing it. I love it!

I also painted our table.
We got this counter height table (cause Dante basically could sit on our last table) and it can sit more people- it has a leaf missing in the pic. But anyway- Clay and I disagreed on what to paint it....again, like a year ago. So he wanted it brown (eck), I wanted it white. We compromised and did the table top brown, and the chairs and legs white. Let me tell you- it was HIDEOUS! I was so embarrassed when people came over. And trust me, Clay hated it too! Finally we decided to just paint the whole thing white cause the brown idea was just nonsense! I LOVE IT! It looks so much better now. Except for the fact that in certain lighting it looks like one spot on the table could use another coat of paint. Which isn't so great...but I'm kinda lazy and don't want to do it so I'm fine with it looking just okay in certain lighting :)

I have this major to-do list today. Don't worry, blogging is on the list! So I'm actually being quite productive right now. A few things on the list are...cleaning bathroom top to bottom (literally, I'm going from ceiling to floor today), clean floors, clean kitchen, study, and really a bajillion other things too. I'm excited though! I love having Fridays off.

Oh- incase you don't like the place you live, here's a little something to change your mind.
Yep, this was my morning wakeup view. April 29th. Oh, what? You don't think of snow when you think of that date?

Today I'll just hang with this cute dude.
He's a good pup. I love him lots. Oh yeah, another thing on the list is to wipe up slobber off the walls :) Just one of the many perks of having a Great Dane in the fam!

Overall, things are going really great. I mean- I made dinner two nights in the past week! Which is pretty impressive for me right now. I made chicken kebabs, and german pancakes. Not together! Two separate nights :) It made me happy to make dinner. I think I am going to try and do that a little more.

Studying is going good. I haven't gotten behind yet, which is great! I still have little mini freak out sessions in my mind, "What if I don't' pass this one?!?!!?" But I try to quickly push that idea from my mind and just say, "Of course I'll pass". I know that seems silly- you guys probably think, "If you don't pass, just take it again". Well...this test is expensive, and takes months to study for, and changes year to year, AND I have a deadline. So it's kinda pressure-packed. Oh well. I'm just trying my best and that's all I can do I suppose!

Alright, I think it's about time to go look up some Royal Wedding pictures and scandals. Then I'm off to my to-do list!

Wanna know a secret?

2011-04-20T12:17:00.000-06:00

Okay- so before any of you freak out thinking I'm a CPA, I'm not...yet! This letter is informing me that I passed the Financial Accounting & Reporting (FAR) section of the CPA exam. For those of you who don't know much about becoming a CPA, here's the rundown:

There are 4 sections of the CPA exam. Financial Accounting & Reporting (FAR), Business Environment & Concepts (BEC), Regulation (REG), and Auditing & Attestation (AUD). Each test is 3-5 hours long, depending on the section. The one I took was 4 hours. These are basically the hardest tests in the entire UNIVERSE! I'm not just saying that either! For the test that I took, only 45% of the people who took it passed it (I was one of them! Yay!). The test overall basically has around a 48% pass rate...meaning over half the people who take this test FAIL! I'm not kidding when I say it's like the hardest thing ever!

I decided to send in my application for the exam back in September, and figured it'd be fun to keep it a secret and tell my Dad (who's a CPA incase you didn't know) after I passed all sections. Well, about a week later we saw our doctor, Clay started treatment, I kept studying, took the test in Nov, found out I had Lyme disease, and the same day of my diagnoses, found out I passed the exam! I decided to keep studying, but then tax season started, and I was just starting treatment myself, and I pretty much thought I might die of exhaustion and stress. So I decided to hold off on studying or taking any exams until after tax season, and I also decided I would tell my Dad about the first exam, and my plans to take the rest, on his birthday (today!). He's pretty happy:).

I decided to tell everyone for a number of reasons. First, this blog is pretty therapeutic for me in sharing my feelings and what I'm going through. It's hard to not share this ginormous thing that's going on in my life. Second, Clay has been the most supportive husband EVER in this. He didn't pressure me to do it, he didn't pressure me not to. When I finally decided I was doing it, and on long days when I studied some material, and none of it made sense, and I cried and cried and said, "I'm so stupid- why would I ever think I could pass something like this?!?!" he would comfort me and tell me how smart I am and how I can do it. He seriously helped me through a bazillion break-downs. He also supported me when I decided to delay the other exams when I was feeling too run-down. That being said, I can tell he is wearing thin! If I have a breakdown or need someone to boost me up, I now have so many people to help and remind me how worth it it will be. Lastly, and kind of embarrassingly, I think I need more people to know so that it motivates me not to fail! I obviously don't want to fail...but I'm pretty prideful...and so if everyone knows I'm studying for this- my pride wont let me give up.

Only a few people knew about this. NO one was supposed to know...but I forgot to put my study book away when Patty came over once. So Clay's family knew pretty early on which actually was a good thing since we see them so much! They were really understanding when I said I needed to study. And a few select close friends knew too...that we see often as well. But none of my family knew! I'm telling you that was so hard to keep a secret. Especially cause our family reunion was right after I took the test!

I never really wanted to do this mostly cause I wanted to get pregnant and have a baby more. I still do! But the truth is, I can't. Not for 3 years probably. I have been so depressed the past few months feeling like my life is pointless. I realized I am the type of person that needs to be working on something or towards something in order to be happy. If I can't start a family for 3 years, I might as well do this!

My goal is to have passed the exam by September. The whole thing. My next test is May 19th. BEC.

After I pass, I still have some stuff to do before I am licensed. I have 18 more credits I have to take in school...but I can do those online. I also have to take some ethics test or something. And then of course a bunch of paperwork and such. I would LOVE to say by the end of the year I'll have it all done. But 18 credits in 4 months, while working full time? Probably not. But I do think I'm safe to say that by this time next year, I'll be a licensed CPA! Wish me luck!

Sick sick sick...

2011-04-11T10:25:00.000-06:00

I think that my big lesson I need to learn in this life is Patience.

Seattle sucked. I mean...it was good...we found more answers...but the answers are what sucked.

Clay is way sicker than we realized.

I'm way sicker than we realized.

Parasites that probably some of you have, and your bodies can handle, kind of have taken over our bodies cause we are already so sick. This can be taken care of with time and the right medicine, but it just complicates the whole Lyme treatment.

Doctor thinks that with this new revelation of how sick we really are, we probably shouldn't think of having kids for 3 years unless some miracle happens and we are better so much quicker.

So...not that I want kids because of other people...but...probably by the time I'm thinking of getting pregnant, my friends and sisters will have at least 1 if not 2 more kids! Clay and I will have been married like...8 years.

A couple weeks ago at church I had to leave after sacrament cause I felt so nauseous (I think a reaction from our iv treatment the day before) and so I told my Primary president so they could get someone to cover my class. Of course, later she asked if I'm pregnant. This is probably something I'll just have to get used to for the next 3 years. Don't get me wrong...I'm grateful at the same time. I mean...can you imagine if we did have a kid? With Lyme Disease? While we are in the shape we are right now? Probably a bad idea. There are people with multiple kids that have Lyme, along with themselves. I honestly don't know how they do it. There MUST be angels living in their home. I can barely handle me and Clay.

I think I need to post more pictures of myself up here. hah! Talk about boosting my spirits! Thanks to everyone who was so nice about my pants-alteration dealio.

There's obviously so much more details about our health that I don't mention on the blog. But it's just boring. And depressing. Seriously parasites are just part of the complicated equation. Oh well. I know this is all depressing and everything but I kinda just need to get it off my chest...and maybe it'll explain why I haven't really commented the past few days on anyone's blog! I already knew that we were looking at around 2 years for having a baby...but I don't know I guess I was just all hopeful that we would get better faster than she thought...but then we go and she adds another year to it and tells us how bad of shape we are. I just need a bit to accept it I guess.

PLEASE- don't tell me how young I am. I already know that. I know it's a blessing. I know I will still be in baby-making age...so no need to tell me that. The thing is, I want babies now. I don't just want...i ACHE for them. So you know...telling me how young I am doesn't really do much anymore. And I know that 3 years is so short. And I know that when I look at my entire life, this is such a short time. That in 5 years I will probably have a baby and look back and think, oh if only I knew it would all work out for the best. I know, I have faith in the Lord's plan and I know that this will all work out just fine. That's why I say I just need time to accept it and move on. It's just this immediate after-fact reaction that I'm dealing with.

On a lighter note, a week from today is tax day. What a relief. Have you gotten your taxes done?

Another thing- Pia got kicked off. Which everyone's freaking about. But honestly? Clay and I talked about this...the next day after Idol, did anyone think of Pia's performance? I sure didn't. I always forgot about it. She's amazing- one of the best singers for sure...but boring. But, I still wish Stefano or Jacob went home instead. I had a dream that Haley was in the top 2! Which I would LOVE! Her and Casey are my fav's.

Okedoke...till next time. I promise the next post will be happier.

Put pants pic up

2011-04-10T18:24:00.001-06:00

Pants Alteration

2011-04-06T17:30:00.000-06:00

So in my last post, I mentioned the pants alterations. The before was horrid cause every pair of shoes I wore with them they looked like high-waters. You can't tell very well in that pic, but really- they did. So I used this video tutorial and made them into skinnies! I love them!

Hello! How are you?

2011-04-06T09:09:00.001-06:00

I know I haven't posted much. It just seems like such an effort sometimes.

What have we been up to?

PRISON BREAK! Holy Cowsers? Have you seen this? Clay and I are addicted. Michael Scofield is da bomb. This show is pretty crazy and creepy though! It's definitely not one for the easily scared/obsessive compulsive/anxiety prone people (hint hint...you know who you are). But Clay and I literally just lay in bed and watch like 3 episodes in a row. It's fantastic.

BIRTHDAY! I'm 23 now! Pretty cool pretty cool. I got some great gifts and have some play money, so I am happy. Patty made me this scrumtious Peanut Butter Cup Cheesecake. And let me tell you- it's even better than it sounds! She did a great job.

WEATHER! I am sick of this bi-polar personality of Idaho weather. One day it's spring, next day winter. Decide already! I just want summer. Everyday of my life, please.

WORK! Busy...but soon over. Tax season, anyway. Which means I will switch to the whole...only working every 3rd Friday dealio. YES! This makes life so much better. Having an extra day in the weekend really brings joy to my life :)

PANTS! I altered these pants and I got like...lots of compliments on them! Yippee! I barely ever get compliments ever anymore, so this made me feel great. Then I come home and Clay says he likes my outfit, but isn't quite sure on the pants. Oh dear. I'll put on pictures later...

LYME DISEASE! Clay and I are truckin on with our hundreds of pills (literally). I take over 400 pills a week! Meaning almost 2000 a month. That's pretty impressive. Clay and I have been talking and we both feel like we are getting better. So that's always good news. However, it's still such a slow process. I'm feeling very motivated right now to get better. I want to have a baby so bad and in order to get there, we both have to get a LOT better.

BIKE! I think I want a bike. I used to have one and I loved it sooo much. I think it'd be good for me too! So if anyone in the area knows of a good bike for free or cheap, let me know! You know what I really want though? A cruiser. Yum. Those bikes are just beautiful! I was thinking I could possibly ride my bike to work once it's officially nice outside. I'd have to ride on some pretty busy streets though...which isn't too fun...but I would always ride on the sidewalks. And be careful.

Well, I suppose that's all for now. I will try to be better. Sorry there's no pictures.

Saturday Mornings

2011-03-19T12:25:00.000-06:00

I LOVE! Oh dear. I think that's the single positive thing about working for me (besides the whole money thing), is it makes Saturday mornings sooo blissful.

I can be lazy and take my time, I can make breakfast, I can gather my nice little thoughts (cause Clay sleeps in WAY past me), I open the blinds and let the natural light come through (even though it's cloudy and I would much rather have sunshiney)...it's just nice.

Normally we have our IV treatments in Pocatello....but what do you know? Somehow it was forgotten to make an appointment. Normally, we have to wake up at 6:30 AM and be ready to go as soon as possible, to get down to Pocatello as soon as possible, so we can get our 3ish hour long treatment done as soon as possible, and get home by 1:30 if we are lucky. It makes having lazy mornings pretty impossible. So, though I'm kinda upset we didn't get our IV treatments (since they help a LOT with my energy level), I'm happy to have my Saturday morning.

I have thought about some goals I want to accomplish. My life has kinda become deadish since the whole Lyme disease thing. I feel like I wake up, rush to work, warm up dinner, and collapse on the couch/bed watching tv shows. What a lifeless life right? I used to have a lot more hobbies it seemed. So here are the goals I want to work on starting NOW:

1. Work on being a better people picture taker. I LOVE my camera. I LOVE taking pictures of inanimate objects. Like...pillows and food. ha. When they don't move, or have life...I seem to do okay. Whenever I try to take pictures of people, or anyone that is moving? I seem to have problems. I would REALLY like to get better before I have little kiddos running around. And I like taking pictures, so it'd be nice to work on something specific. Hopefully I can non-awkwardly find random people to take pictures of :) Cause Clay isn't the most willing participant! Unless I want angry looking faces in every pic. No thanks.

2. I pretty much am fearless in the home-decor sewing biz. I in no way think I'm the master...it's just that it's gotten to the point that I see something I like, and I figure out a way to make it. I mess up a lot, but I just dive in and don't care, I've become fearless. One thing I am NOT fearless in...in fact I'm completely a SCAREDY cat- is the clothing arena. I want to become fearless with clothes. So, I want to work on making clothes/altering clothes, etc. I feel like if I just take the leap, and try a few things...pretty soon I'll be fearless at that too. Hopefully :)

3. Reading. I used to read ALL-THE-TIME. Some of my friends that knew the old Danielle who read a lot, always ask "Read anything good lately?" and...unless I want to embarrass myself and say..."uh...yeah, People.com", there's NADA. Seriously- that's the extent of my reading these days. Celebrity gossip! I miss reading. I used to LOVE it, and get so into the story and it just felt a lot better than tv. I hope to start reading more. You know those kindle commercials? They are good. I always say to myself, "I need one of those" after I see one. I am sooo not one of those people who think, "I love the feel of books and highlighting things". Nope. Don't care! I fully love just reading good stories. I don't really care if it's on the computer, hardback, paperback, phone, or anything. As long as I don't want to put it down, I like it. The only thing about the kindle though, anyone know if there's a library connection? Like, you can connect to your local library and rent books or whatever? I need to look into that.

4. My hair. This is something I've never been good at. But I am so sick of just the same ol straight every stinkin day. I have different things I could do with it...I just need to do it. That is another goal I want to work on. Doing different things with my hair.

Well, my Saturday morning is officially spoiled. It's snowing! Maybe another goal I could have is to convince Clay's company he works for to move to California.

Being that I AM limited in the things I do lately...I know I'm not gonna master these things immediately. That's why I said goals I'm going to WORK on. Slow and steady.

Alrighty..till next time!

PS- If you are gluten-free, look on my blog for a gluten-free german pancake recipe. It's purty good.

Gluten Free German Pancakes

2011-03-19T12:09:00.000-06:00

My awesome gluten-free brother sent me this recipe. He got it from withasmile.wordpress.com, but we've adjusted it a bit to our liking. For gluten-free, this is quite good! As with all my gluten-free recipes, I still suggest normal white flour/wheat flour if you can tolerate gluten! This doesn't compare to the norm. But it definitely beats no german pancakes:)

INGREDIENTS:

6 large eggs
1/2 cup Gluten Free Flour
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup milk (this can be substituted with soy, rice, etc)
2 TBS butter, room temp
1 TBS coconut oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease a 9x11 cake pan.

Beat eggs in blender until they are thick and fluffy (a couple minutes). Add flour, salt, and milk and mix until blended. Blend in butter and coconut oil.

Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes or until puffed and lightly browned.

*If you don't have coconut oil, you could just add another tablespoon of butter. I try to get as little dairy in as possible, that's why I used coconut oil instead of butter.

My bonding time with Dante

2011-03-17T18:19:00.000-06:00

Clay is super good at playing tug-o-war with Dante...and petting him tons and stuff.

I am good at taking him on walks...at least I'm trying to be. Today was decent weather (40 degrees and sunny) so I took Dante on a 35 minute walk. WOAH! Hold the phone- 35 minutes doesn't sound long but HOLY SMOKES it is! My legs feel like rubber! Not even joking! I don't know how people can go for longer!

Dante and I headed out on our usual route, but I decided I wanted to walk for at least 30 minutes. So I went another way...and before I know it, I'm lost! Seriously- I am just walking through this neighborhood thinking how nice and pleasant it is, and then all of a sudden I'm like....uhh...where the heck am I?!

Eventually I stumbled upon a really busy street that I recognized, but I couldn't walk on THAT street cause there's no side walk and it really is super busy...so I turned around. I eventually came upon a road where I was pretty positive was the right way towards my house...and I was right! Thank goodness.

I'm trying to get more exercise in my life these days...cause it's supposed to be good for me- just like everyone else I suppose :) So Tuesday I did Dance Dance Revolution for a half hour...Weds I did this rubber tension thing for my arms, bicycle like motions with my legs in the air while laying down, punches in the air (yep), jumping jacks, and probably some other stuff for a half hour...well actually in 10 minute increments, 3 times. Then tonight was my long walk with Dante. I hope that it's nice weather a lot just cause I like the whole walking dealio. And Dante likes it too.

Another healthy thing...I haven't had a treat since Saturday! I know what you're thinking- Danielle, you're not supposed to have treats. How is this a big deal? Well...ever since I started finding "no cheat" treats...like the no bake cookies...I have kinda always had those on hand for daily consumption. So it's pretty impressive that I haven't had one treat- not even a "no cheat" one- in almost a week! It's amazing to me that I have the power to do that. I have been eating lots more fruit though.

Welp, that's all for now. Cya!

Are the judges deaf?

2011-03-16T21:05:00.000-06:00

My fav's:

ABSOLUTELY my number one fav is CASEY!
Seriously love this guy. I have loved every performance. Clay and I were rockin out to his Nirvana performance tonight. LOVE him. And I love that he's goofy! I feel like we'd be friends if we went to the same high school.

Next fav, PAUL!
His voice is SO awesome. And I love the way he smiles and moves while he sings. I know a lot of people DON'T like the way he moves on stage...but I love it! He is super cool and laid back but so good. Clay's thoughts? "I hate his shoes. And his pants. I hate the way he walks around. He sounds the same every time. He's stupid." hah. Oh well. Good thing he doesn't vote!

These next ones are pretty much all even for me...
Haley- i LOVE her. She is so cool too. I felt so embarrassed when I saw her lipstick on her face...but she just laughed it off! I personally LOVE that she does totally random songs that aren't in the same genre. I love all the things she does with her voice. She's got pipes. This is one where I feel like the judges are way off on. She rocks.

James...well, the thing is- I love his personality and I think he's a really sweet guy! And he sings good...but sometimes he sings bad...and sometimes he screeches. He just....really aint no Adam. That's all I'll say about THAT.

Scotty- I think this is the one guy that could be on the radio TODAY and no one would think he came from Idol. He is so good. I love closing my eyes when he sings cause he sounds like a 40 year old country singer...then I open my eyes and he's this awkward teen that leans. LEANS. Have you noticed that? If not, pay attention and he LEANS to the side SO MUCH. Holy smokes it's one of those things where I'm like holding my breath waiting for him to straighten up.

The obvious:
She's just freakin good. But nothing too exciting or anything...

Lauren is good- obviously. I agree with everything the judges say on her...but her personality is a little too much for me! She is always trying to be funny...and she simply...isn't!

As for the others...

-Stefano is way too intense when he sings. I feel like he's in pain and FORCING so much. I find myself feeling really really tense while I watch him.

-Jacob Lusk...I seriously don't get. He always does some horrible note in the middle, and he too- is way too intense and OUT OF CONTROL!

-Speaking of OUT OF CONTROL- Naima is seriously seriously SERIOUSLY crazyspice out of control. And not good. I'm sorry...she's just not.

-Karen...aka Selena worshiper- in Clay's wise words..."It's American Idol..not spanish Idol" the sad thing is...she's a really beautiful singer, she just simply doesn't have the strength. Her voice is too weak, and too normal to go too far.

-Thia Megia- really i LOVE her. She seriously sounds like Michael Jackson to me...and she seems sweet. But she's starting to get boring. I want her to stay though, and prove me wrong.

That's basically it. Loving this season though. Steven Tyler ROCKS. He is like my favorite part of the show. Even though he was wearing an outfit tonight that I could totally see on Paula...

Gluten-free, sugar-free no bake cookies

2011-03-15T17:31:00.000-06:00

I got this recipe from an agave cookbook called "Everyday Agave", but tweaked it a bit. These cookies are so tasty! They are perfect for lymies like myself who have an addiction to treats...but can't have sugar or gluten

Ingredients:

1/2 cup cream
1 cup agave
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1/2 cup unsweetened creamy peanut butter
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 cups quick oats (if you are concerned about the cross-contamination of gluten they sell gluten-free quick oats)

Directions:

In a medium saucepan add cream, agave, butter and cocoa powder. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Boil for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove from heat.

Stir in peanut butter and vanilla. Stir until peanut butter is mostly dissolved. Add quick oats and stir until fully coated.

Spoon mounds onto cookie sheet and refrigerate until firm.

I'm sorry Brad...

2011-03-15T16:49:00.000-06:00

But you made the biggest mistake of YOUR LIFE!

I never liked Emily. Yeah, she's pretty...yeah she's sweet...yeah she's that nice lil southern BELLE. Weeeeeeeeell. Sorry to break it to you, but THIS IS NEVER GOING TO LAST!

Aren't couples supposed to be in la la land when they are engaged? Oh, and wait- aren't couples supposed to KNOW if they are engaged?! Aren't couples supposed to know if the other person thinks they are engaged?

Brad had no idea if Emily even thought they were together. How does that happen? And how can he say he's the happiest he's ever been in his entire life...if he has those concerns?

Also- Correct me if I'm wrong Emily...but DID HE NOT SAY HE EXPECTS HIS WOMAN TO MOVE TO AUSTIN, AND IF SHE DOESN'T WANT TO, LEAVE?! And didn't you say you wanted to move to Austin, and you wanted to marry him? Well...it's a little interesting and manipulating that all of a sudden, nope! Don't want to do EITHER?! Here Chantal is saying she would marry him that very day if he wanted to...and Emily all of a sudden has cold feet? I'm sorry Em, but you are kinda supposed to decide if you can see yourself marrying him BEFORE you say yes...not after five minutes of babbling about issues and then hesitantly saying yes, you can see yourself married to him in the future. What?! That was supposed to be an easy answer. Is this not the bachelor?

Emily bugs. Bad. And I just love Chantal. Chantal and Brad actually KNEW eachother. They got along. They had fun. BY THE WAY EMILY- you didn't get fun dates? Need I remind you of the helicopter rides, elephant rides, sexy beaches, etc etc? You're dates were just as good you spoiled little belle.

Emily and Brad seriously don't know each other. I didn't think they did on the show, I DEFINITELY didn't think they did on the after the rose show. It's so awkward. And I feel so bad for Brad...he seems like a lost puppy that isn't sure what to do...so he just says things like "I'm so happy!" and "She takes my breath away!" and "I have a temper." whatev.

A few highlights of the show:

- Brad getting really awkward and weird when his bro asked about Rikki's dad...and him going "gUHHHH....well...UHHHH..."

- Speaking of Rikki's dad...the fact that everytime it comes up Emily has to start with the phrase "He was the love of my life". Seriously. And end with "The plane didn't get there" BLAH. It sucks. It does. I'm sad for her. But she is letting this story DEFINE her. It's annoying.

- Brad's sister-in-laws for some reason thinking that the decision really all came down to who they can relate to better. Since THEY are mom's, Emily is definitely the better choice for BRAD.

- Me looking at Brad's brother thinking, "Man you can definitely tell they are brothers...they look a LOT alike.." and then realizing they are twins :)

- Ashley is the bachelorette! I'm so excited. ONE- I love her new hair. TWO- she is cute and actually has a personality (unlike some people...).

Is she not the cutest?! I love this pic.

Well, that's pretty much it. I'm just waiting for the headlines, "Brad ends up alone...again". Really, I'd give it...1-2 months and we'll be watching Brad on every talk show telling us about his new therapy sessions and how he's an even more changed man. And poor Emily. POOR POOR Emily. Get over yourself.

Flower Pillow Tutorial

2011-03-15T14:56:00.000-06:00

I have seen lots of circle flower pillows before, but I kinda decided I love mine best :) Ha..ha...it's soooo super easy, and kinda unique for the flower world. It's also sloppy (kinda like all my stuff) which I tend to like. Here are the steps:

Take a bowl/plate/something round that is about the size you want and trace around the fabric you are using. Cut out two circles.

Draw a line about an inch from the edge all around one circle.

Cut lots and lots of strips and surge the sides in a rolled hem fashion.
Sew all the strips together in a long chain. I just sewed a bunch together, laid it out on the circle like i'd be sewing it, add more, check it, until I felt like the strip was long enough. It all kinda depends on how big you want your pillow.

If you don't have access to a surger, you could always hem the strips, or sew two strips together and turn them inside out. I like the surger look though, I think it gives it kinda an edge.

Next, you start from the outside, and start sewing! The line you made is the starting guide. Once you come full circle, start sewing about a half inch below the previous circle. Like this:

Make sense? You want them to overlap about 1/2 an inch I think.

I seriously just bunched the fabric when i got to a tough corner, and it totally works. If you do this throughout, it makes it look like that's how it's supposed to...and since this is my pillow, I have decided- that is exactly how it should look!

Once you get to the middle you just twist the tail and turn it and sew all over it.

After that you press the entire thing...if you look at mine, you will see some are pressed in, some pressed out, some all weird like- THAT is exactly the reason it looks so cool. It's not perfection, but it looks just as it should.

Next you put right sides together, and sew around leaving an opening for batting.
Stuff batting in.
Pin and sew the opening together!

Walah! A beautiful pillow.

You can also use this method to make a lace pillow like this!

I am also entering my turquoise one at the top in the Blogger's Pillow Party. I probably wont win cause they tend to pick more quilty-like pillows...but I figure I'd give it a shot anyway :)

Did those instructions make sense? I know they aren't the most detailed and I don't have pictures for every step...so if you have a question, ask away! I'll get back to you on it.

New Hair

2011-03-07T12:34:00.000-07:00

Got me hair done. All I did was get a trim, and bangs. Guess how long it took!? 2 HOURS. hah. Oh dear. Oh well. She cut my bangs shorter than I'd like...cause typically I like a bit of a curl to them ya know? But this is COMPLETELY straight out of the shower brushed down as far as they could type of thing. So maybe next week I can start culring them without looking like a 3rd grader:) I like it though! I think I'll just like it more next week!

Update

2011-03-03T12:12:00.000-07:00

I realize I haven't posted for almost a month! Here's what we've been up to...

Beginning of February- I experienced pain like none other in my stomach and soon realized a smidgen of what Clay had been going through for months...while on pills. To give you an idea...I got through the entire first season of Gilmore Girls in less than a week...basically because I got home from work, ate, and laid in bed till sometimes past midnight cause I couldn't fall asleep cause it hurt so bad! Lyme Disease ROCKS.

We went to our Doc appt around Feb 18th or something...and great news! We have Parvo! Or some sort of parasite. At least that's what we are thinking. Cause we shouldn't be feeling like death, and we were both on an anti-parasitic pill that you would think would get rid of the parasite, but no- it just angers it! So she took us both off that pill, and we are doing just dandy! Woopee!!!

I basically watch a LOT of tv. It's pretty annoying cause I feel like I have no life...but it's kinda all I can muster up the motivation to do.

It's March, which is basically great because that means it's BIRTHDAY MONTH! Yessss! That always makes me happy. I will be turning 23. On March 30th. Feel free to send me gifts or something :)

One thing that basically changed my life, was the non-cheat no bake cookie! Holla! This has been saving my never-ending cravings for chocolate.

Sugar free, gluten free no bake cookies :)

Other than all that exciting business (sarcasm), I've been working. Rah rah rah. Soooooooo fun.

See? This is why I haven't written in almost a month.

One thing also that we started was this chiropractor office in Pocatello that does intravenous vitamin C, hydrogen peroxide, hydrochloric acid, glutathione, and ozone. It's basically to help get our immune system up. Clay has already seen improvement! (He's been more times than me). So that's good. They treat lots of Lyme patients...but we feel like we need our Seattle Doc to fully kill off this thing.

I'm finding that being a sunbeams teacher is probably the hardest calling I've ever had. I've taught 3 different ages in primary, and this is by far the most emotional age group I've experienced. It's insane! One kid is like an escape artist. And I just really love how when I'm in high heels and this kid is bookin it down the hall in church, multiple people from the ward see him, giggle and smile at me. Oh, don't worry- it wouldn't help me at ALL if you grabbed him. Instead, I'll just chase him down until he runs into the PRIESTHOOD room where all the men are. No, I didn't go inside. I waited at the door and after like 5 minutes, some genius finally realized it'd be nice to grab him and bring him to me. Like I was going to chase around a 3 year old boy that is barely potty trained infront of a bunch of men. No thanks. Anyway- then there's the fact that like...2 of the kids for some reason decide that I'm not a very cool person and refuse to look at me or let me do anything for them. And occasionally glare at me. It's weird ya know? Last week they are fine with me, this week...nope? I tell ya, the most DRAMATIC age group I've ever taught. But you know...it's pretty funny when they pray without help. One girl kept trying to bless Thomas and Carl (dunno who they are) and a boy in the class kept interupting her and saying, "No, it's Thomas S MONSON" and she would say, "No it's Thomas and CARL" and they would go back and forth in the middle of her prayer. And last week one of the boys kissed another girl. On the lips, yep. My goodness.

Well...that's about it. Cya.

Not much going on

2011-02-11T19:21:00.000-07:00

It's hard for me to post lately cause I feel like I'm such a downer or such a boring person. All I have going on in my life is taxes and Lyme Disease.

This week has been one emotional hayride. Towards the beginning of the week I really was just like- holy smokes, my life sucks and I basically hate everything. I pretty much was struggling quite a bit. And then it was like...right when I felt like, you know...did Heavenly Father forget about me? Something happened that was basically so blatantly heaven-sent. I don't really feel like sharing it with the world right now, maybe one day- but I really felt like Heavenly Father was just sending me a little poke, like...I'm here. I need to have more faith. I need to read my scriptures more. I need to pray more.

One thing that has been SO amazingly wonderful is all those meals my momma made me! Oh deary me what a difference it's made. When I think of all the ways it's helped it's overwhelming to me. Life is definitely easier.

I honest to goodness wonder how people endure health issues if they are atheist. Or don't believe in life beyond this earth life. If I thought this was it...MAN it'd be so much harder. I just take SO much comfort in the fact that this is happening for a reason. Somehow, I will grow from this...and if I endure this life, I can only look forward to an amazing life on the other side. Heavenly Father has promised that if we endure, we can't even imagine how great of blessings he has in store for us. This thought makes me happy.

I have been thinking a lot about babies lately. And how much I love them. I told Clay the other day...and this may sound CRAZY...but I seriously feel like I can feel our future kids....something. Not presence or anything...it's just like I feel like I miss them. When I haven't even met them. In this life anyway. I just...I don't know feel like they are anxious and waiting...and it's just this weird feeling that has been sort of hard for me because it makes me SO excited for kids. And not even just KIDS...like...OUR kids. I just KNOW that my family that I will have...is going to be the absolute joy of my life. I know that having kids and being a family is my whole point in this life. I'm just so excited! It's hard to have to wait. I just re-read this paragraph and I bet it will freak some people out or weird them out. I dunno. It's just the truth.

Well, this post turned out to be super serious. I think I'll go sew something now. I am actually feeling up to it! Yay!

Thank you for praying for me and my husband. I feel very loved.

Wanna know a secret?

2011-02-03T17:24:00.000-07:00

My mom is a super hero. She has to be.

Look at what she did in basically 2 days.

Yes, my friends...that is 3 MONTHS WORTH of freezer meals! She spent two straight days with barely any sleep (one night she LITERALLY didn't sleep) cooking, cleaning, cooling, bagging, labeling. Seriously- I can't even believe it. I go outside in the negative twenty degree weather and have my choice of: chicken pot pie, dill chicken braid, tacos, meatballs, chicken fried rice, louisianna red beans and rice, fajitas - both chicken and steak, roast, rotiserri style chicken, turkey vegetable soup, italian skillet chicken, spaghetti, shredded BBQ pork, shredded green chili sauce pork, ham, and I'm sure I'm forgetting more...this is all just off the top of my head. Oh, and don't worry- I've also got a choice of mashed potatoes, rice, and quinoa for a side dish. HOW DID SHE DO IT?! I seriously will never know. Oh- and she also made enough gravy to basically serve all of Idaho. This all was, of course, after she completely went through my kitchen item by item- while i sat on a chair- and re-arranged the entire thing and re-organized so that it is just GORGEOUSLY simple and clean and wonderful. Let me tell you- those cupboards were scary. Serious help was needed.

The last night my mom was here, she seriously didn't sleep. I kept telling her it was okay if she didn't finish everything...and she said- no I want to get it done, I can sleep on the plane. The next morning I asked how she slept and she said, "I think I got about...a half hour" WHAT?!

I can't even begin to describe how blessed I feel. I am sooooo tired, all of the time these days. And I'm so stressed about food. I'm too tired to make anything, let alone think of what to make. She completely lifted that burden...and my life is already better because of it!

Just to give you a rundown- my wondrous mother got here friday night. We basically spent the whole night planning what we wanted to make and what we'd need to get etc. We also tried making homemade gluten-free flour tortillas (WHICH WERE AWESOME fresh) which I will be sharing the recipe soon, I'm sure. Saturday was shopping day. It took quite a long time and I'm pretty sure I thought I might die by the end there! My mom kept saying...you can go to the car, you can sit down. But I wanted to be with her for the short time she was here...so I trucked on. Sunday I was tooooooo sick to go to church (did I mention I got sick? Yeah. Pretty much friday I got sick), so I told my mom I wanted her to stay home- cause she is the type that would still go to a ward she's never been to cause she is so good! But I told her I wanted to have her home with me and she stayed! YIPPEE!!! I'm pretty glad too cause she pretty much watched part of "Meet me in St Louis" - have you seen that musical?! It was THE BOMB! I loved it- and then thats when she also completely redid my kitchen. I went to work on Monday and by 4:00 I really though...uh...am I dieing? What the heck is wrong with my stomach? And suddenly everything Clay described about herx reactions started making sense. For some reason I thought I could go to work Tuesday...but I was home by 10am...groaning and sighing...I watched Camp Rock, Funny Girl, and finally Gilmore Girls. I was pretty much too sick to even barely talk to my mom which was sad, but she still would come watch stuff every ONCE in a while just on a mini break for lunch or dinner, and she obviously took great care of me! She left Weds morn and that SUCKED. But I decided to finally try and take care of myself and stayed home from work again. I work with the nicest people ever. My co-worker came on her lunch break to bring me a jamba juice! I think it helped boost my system and my spirits :) But anyway...Weds brought Camp Rock 2- which by the way, ROCKED. I love those shows! I must be some crazy girl cause I never realized how cool the Jonas Brothers were. Disney's just the best. I finally feel BETTER today...but I'm still just so worn out. I've got to tell you- I'm pretty sure I was herxing the past couple days and it was not good. I didn't like it a bit! Oh well.

Clay has been working his GUTS OUT! literally- hhha. Not funny, but he worked like a 14 hour day...and for Clay's condition, to not rest for 14 hours can take it's toll. He threw up a TON when he got home at 1 am. They are launching a big ol thing next week so they have been working late late laaaaaaaaaate nights. I don't like it.

I think this past week I have been colder than basically ever in my whole existence. It's been like negative 20. NEGATIVE TWENTY! And guess what Clay had the thermostat set at? FREAKING 62 DEGREES! Oh my. I turned that bad boy up to 70. He claims he forgot to change it...welllllllll all I know is it felt like I was camping, and I wasn't. I had tights, sweats, socks, pajama shirt AND sweatshirt on- in the "comfort" of my own home...FREEZING! All is well now though. My poor mom. I was worried she was frozen dead down in that basement! We seriously gave her like 10 blankets probably. She did inform me it'd probably be nice to invest in a space heater for that room :)

I'm really excited to start feeling better cause I've got such fun projects in store. I've finally got all the supplies...I just don't have the energy. This morning it took me like 2 hours to get ready...cause I had to stop every 5 minutes and sit down to rest. I didn't like that. But you know...it could be worse.

Blogging is good for me. I feel so good right now. I just feel like it's all going to be okay. I dunno. I know I whined a lot about the heat and energy and stuff but for some reason it just feels like it's alright. Probably cause I can start smelling that chicken pot pie in the oven :)

I just know that Clay and I will get through this trial called Lyme Disease. Oh I know it will take time and patience and tears and pain....but I just keep thinking that years from now we will look back on this time as just a memory. We will be stronger (physically and mentally), and I just know we will be better people after we are done. We better be! And I also keep trying to tell myself that this is not the end...nor the beginning...nor the majority. This life, that is. If you look at the BIG BIG picture...this whole earth life will one day be just a memory, I suppose. Which may be weird to say, but it's kinda comforting for me right now. Clay and I wont have Lyme disease after this life- which will be nice. We will be rid of it in this life, but we will never stop worrying about it I don't think. At least I wont. Oh well. Life moves on...and...I've found that you kinda just have to move with it!

I'm so happy- I feel so loved and happy. My freezer is full of yummy homemade gluten-free sugar-free meals, my cupboards are so organized, clean, and awesome, my microwave is clean (what?! she did that too?! I discovered that one yesterday :) ), I have a spiffy new can opener (teeheheh my mom accidentally broke mine...oh how sad. She bought me a new one), and right now...Dante is just peacefully laying on the floor next to me staring at the stairwell (he has been staring at that stairwell for probably 1o straight minutes...pretty riveting stuff). I'm still sick- so I'm going to just watch tv all night guilt-free. That's the one good thing about being sick, so I HAVE to take advantage.

Alright- this was a LOOOONG one. Oh well. I liked it.

Say what?!

2011-01-25T21:46:00.001-07:00

Except for the chocolate chips, this cookie is completely sugar-free, and gluten-free. And guess what?! It's yummy! Now don't get me wrong- I wouldn't suggest this if you CAN have normal flour...cause those cookies are DEFINITELY yummier. But seriously- BEST gluten-free, sugar-free treat I've ever tasted! Ummmm not to mention there's good grains in there like sorghum and millet! Go to my Chef Danielle blog for the recipe!

Eventually I want to try phasing out the chocolate chips and getting more towards unsweetened chocolate. Meh...we'll get there someday.

Practically sugar free, definitely gluten free, chocolate chip cookie

2011-01-25T21:35:00.000-07:00

I have tried many MANY gluten free, sugar free cookies where all the comments say it's amazing, better than normal cookies. I try them, and they taste like CRAPOLA! Well, I finally tried and tweeked a recipe I found and came up with this! It is VERY tasty! Now I must leave a disclaimer- I probably still wouldn't make these for guests who have normal cookies all the time. But for a person with a gluten-free, sugar-free diet, these are just scrumptious!

The only sugar in this recipe is from the chocolate chips- the rest is completely sugar-free and gluten-free!

Ingredients:

1 and 1/2 Cups Agave Nectar
3 Cups my preferred gluten-free blend
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 Cup Butter (1 stick)
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Baking Soda
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 pkg. Chocolate Chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375. In a large mixing bowl, combine butter with Agave and mix well with a hand mixer. When combined, add in the eggs, one at a time. Add in the vanilla and mix well.

In separate bowl, mix in the baking soda, flour, and salt. Add the flour mixture to the liquid mixture, one cup at a time, and mix well. Stir in the chocolate chips until combined.

With a cookie scoop or a tablespoon, scoop out the cookies onto a cookie sheet, leaving them about 2 inches apart in all directions. Bake until golden, about 10-12 minutes.

My favorite gluten-free blend

2011-01-25T21:30:00.001-07:00

My brother, Jacob, is a health nut. He has experimented a TON with gluten-free flours and found this blend to be the best. After my experimentation, I agree!

3 cups sorghum flour
2 cups millet flour
1 cup amaranth
1 cup buckwheat
1 cup arrowroot
1 cup tapioca starch
1 cup potato starch

Sift together all ingredients until well blended. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator or freezer. If you don't have one of the starches, just increase one of the other starches (for example, instead of using potato starch, use 2 cups tapioca starch)

For the most part you can substitute this in any recipe and add 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum per cup of flour.

Saturday...

2011-01-22T11:30:00.000-07:00

Well, like most Saturdays lately, I am on the computer...Dante is laying by me....Clay is sleeping. He really does sleep most of the day Saturday, and half the day Sunday. Weekends are his recoup time.

I woke up with an extreme hunger for German Pancakes. So I thought, hey- why not experiment with a gluten-free flour mix, milk substitutions, and give it a shot? It's in the oven right now...so, we'll see:) I'm not holding my breath.

Work is crazy busy (i'm a tax preparer), Clay's work happens to be crazy busy too, and Clay is simply hangin on by a thread. It's hard.

However, I don't know if it's cause I haven't had Lyme Disease as long as Clay, or what- but I simply am not herxing! I am REALLY tired- like all the time tired. And my mouth tastes bad. But other than that, I'm basically the same ol me. Thank goodness! It enables me try and take care of the hubster.

The most happy thing is happening this next week though- my mom is coming to visit! YES! I seriously am so stinking excited. She is going to help me make freezer meals so that I don't have to cook so much and think of things to make. I can't tell you how much this means to me. Life will be so much easier! And of course, I just plain can't wait to see my mom! AND get her all to myself! That never happens anymore! The last few times she's visited was when Rebecca was here, so she had to divy up time between us and the grandkids...whenever i visit Oregon, I obviously see my sibs too! (which I loveeee) but it makes it so I don't ever get REAL quality one-on-one time with my mom. So this will be great!

I think it's time I start decorating my walls. I have really been into furniture, pillows, curtains...that kinda thing. But my walls are seriously bare! I need to get on that cause I think it'll just feel better.

I seriously watch a bazillion tv shows I've realized. And it's crazy cause I cut out 2 of my fav's a few months ago (Grey's and Private Practice) but somehow that time has been filled. We've got Bachelor, Parenthood, Glee (which might be cut...they are kinda getting boring and lame), American Idol, Modern Family, Off the Map (I know i know...it's that new one that is similar to those two shows I cut? Whatever), the office, aaaaaand I THINK that's it. ha! Seriously- a lot of shows. Oh well. Btw- I am loving the new judging panel on american idol!!! I think it's a good change. Except I don't like it when Steven Tyler hits on young girls....or any of the girls for that matter- it's kinda awkward.

Aight- I'm out. Sorry if this was boring and lame (like glee:) ). It really does seem like my whole life revolves around tv and lyme disease. Sad, but true. I'll try to have some more uplifting cool things to share next time!

PS- The "german pancakes" just got done. They didn't turn out. Surprise...surprise...

Lace flower pillow

2011-01-15T11:15:00.000-07:00

Here's another pillow I made for my cute little blue chair. I LOVE it. It's got a vintagey feel to it...but at the same time modern. I don't know why but so many projects I keep thinking LACE! I love it. I think it's so precious. Just thought I'd share!

It's an abusive relationship

2011-01-12T20:21:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else have an extremely one sided relationship with Joanns? Sure, you get their products, but really....REALLY- don't you think they could give you a smile, a note of intelligence, a titch of service...EVER?!

Here's what happened.

I go to Joanns, and ask, "Where is your seam binding?" (we are currently on the thread aisle)

"Just on the other side of this"

So of course I go to the other side of the thread and there are of course, two sides to the aisle, not to mention A BAZILLION things. I've never bought seam binding before so I have no idea what it looks like.

"So is it like...on this side? Or what? I don't know what it looks like..."

"Yeah it's over there- it will say seam binding"

THANKS! NO FREAKING DUH.

"Well, do you know what general area it would be at?"

"It will just be in there with them all you just have to look"

Oh? Look? I was trying to listen for it.

FINALLY she comes over and says, "What are you using it for?"

"A knit shirt"

"A knit shirt?!?! Are you sure?! That doesn't seem right"

"That's what the pattern calls for"

She beeps on her headseat "Hey, what is seam binding?" (and of course I'm sure you're thinking like me...how could it not seem right to her if she didn't even know what it freaking was?) Then she turns to me and says, "Well since we are closing the store and opening in a new location, we are just going through all these really fast"

"So...do you know where it's at?"

"Well all of these here are just selling really fast and we aren't getting any in"

"So...are there any left?" Since she has YET to show me where the freaking thing would be.

"No- they are all gone."

"Okay." Then she sits there for five minutes telling me how seam binding shouldn't go on a knit shirt.

I wish this was all.

I go to the register to buy some Christmas Decor. I have a gift card which LAST time I was there they said either I needed to bring the receipt in or they could call a number and get it working...cause it wasn't activated or something. Well- she runs it (same woman) and it doesn't work. I tell her "Last time I came they said it wasn't activated or something and that they could call a number to get it working". She says, "No they are all activated" and continues trying to run it like 5 more times! Then she slides it to me and says, well it doesn't work. And I'm like...."So can you call that number?" and she is like, "Yeah you call that number and they'll take care of it." And I'm like..."So YOU'RE not going to call?" She says, "No that's the customers job. It's your responsibility"

OH MY FREAKING HECK. I was bursting at the seams.

Like I said, an abusive relationship. And this is just like 2 Joann stories out of a bajillion in my life. GAH.

I don't get it cause I've been to stores where they say, "Aisle 7 middle of the aisle...about...mmm...probably 1/4 way down from the top" and BAM it's there! Why can't everyone do that? Instead of the lovely..."over there"..."you have to look"

JoAnns. Love you. Hate you. Can't live with you. Can't live without you. Don't worry, I'll be back.

Bachelor Week 2 Highlights

2011-01-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

WOW Just a few points I need to make:

1. Brad Womack just may be my favorite bachelor. WHY? Cause he sent home the crazy pants! Right off the bat! He saw drama, and sent it packin. Why don't they all do this?!?!?! MELISSA WAS CaRAZY! wowsa. Did anyone else feel sooooo awkward when she had alone time with Brad and was like crying then laughing and then randomly said, "Sorry my breath smells like onions...I ate 4 pieces of pizza" and giggles. Yikes! Did she remind you of Michelle? From Jake's season?

GAH!

2. Speaking of michelles, MICHELLE IS THE MOST ANNOYING WOMAN EVERRRRRRRRRR.
K- we know you're gorgeous, we know you want Brad, and guess what else? We KNOW IT'S YOUR BIRTHDAY- FOR THE MILLIONTH TIME! You know what I hate? When girls act like they are picked on cause they are on a group date. Hello? Haven't you seen the bachelor? Don't you understand you will be on group dates? It's part of the deal. GET. OVER. IT.

3. Emily reminds me of barbie, and a robot, and the girl from win a date with tad hamilton. And the Orbit Gum girl. She just has that perfect look. As in- she was digitally made. You know? Unreal. It makes me mad.

4. Ashley H was sooo super cute. I liked her a lot. Their date seemed good and from the previews I think she's goin far!

5. Hmmmm....still don't know what to think about this one.

Are we gonna learn more about the fangs? And did it seem like to you that when brad wasn't around, she didn't have them on? And when he was around, she did? Who knows...

6. GOSH- TALK ABOUT BOOBS. I'm pretty glad Clay hasn't been watching this season with me cause I swear...all of them let their boobies hang out all over the place. It's like- hello?! Do you not have anything else going for you so you have to shove your boobs down his throat?

Well- excited for next week.

Started my pills. Wanna know how I feel? My mouth tastes BAAAAAAAAAAD. As in disgusting...all. the. time. Toxic. Which then makes me feel kinda icky. If I chew gum, I'm really not too shabby. Seriously- hate it. But if this is the worst it gets that's just fine! I AM only 3 days into the pills though:) We'll see how it keeps goin. OH YEAH- today I got 30 viles of blood drawn- and before we were done...she had to switch arms cause my first arm like...ran out of blood or somethin! Kinda crazy.

Aight- that's it for now. Peace OUT.

Chicken Pecan Cheese Salad

2011-01-08T12:24:00.000-07:00

This salad is TO DIE FOR! My sister Amy gave me the recipe and let me tell you- I ate this three days in a row! It's soooo easy, sooo quick, and sooo tasty. Definitely one for the guests!

In and OUT

2011-01-08T10:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morn we woke at about 4:30 am....flew out of Idaho Falls at 6:00am...were at the doctors from 11am-2:30pm...flew out of Seattle at 6:00pm...got home about 11:00pm. I think my favorite part of the whole flying experience was when I opened that little air blower above my head on the plane...and Clay turned to me and said, "You realize you're just breathing in fresh farts right?" My husband is such a charmer :)

My ankles hurt. I'm serious. I have been hobbling around all morning! I think it's from the hustle and bustle to each terminal. We flew 4 airplanes yesterday...

So here's the scoop-

Clay appears to be on the right track! His bloodwork keeps coming back good- meaning his liver/kidneys are in great shape...which is great news considering how many antibiotics are going into his body at once. The doc said, "I wish all my pateints had your liver levels" or something like that.

The doc thinks she has finally grasped what works for Clay's body since he had such a ginormous herx a few weeks ago. She put it like this "First we start with sticks and stones, then we move to guns, then we nuke em"...she emphasized this was an ANALOGY. teeheh. But basically she is like...alrghty, time to turn it up a notch! She explained that when he has bad herx's like that, his body is emptying a TON OF CRAPOLA. So that's good! And sucky.

I got a few answers to things that have been bothering me lately. For instance- the past year or so I have been grinding my teeth like MAD. The doc explained to me that this is classic bartonella (which is a co-infection that runs with Lyme disease- thats what causes the joints to hurt)...who knew?!

Another funny thing- Bad circulation can occur with lyme/bartonella (i kinda confuse which causes which sometimes) Clay always says his hands are SO COLD. I believed him, but was always confused. His hands NEVER felt cold to me. Well, when she was doing physical exams on me....she felt my hands and was like- woah! Cold hands! Are they always this cold? And I'm like...uhh I never noticed! They don't feel cold! And she said- well do my hands feel warm? And I said- yeah actually they do! And then it clicked. No wonder Clay's hands never feel cold! Mine are just like them! Does anyone else think of Edward and Bella when I talk about this? I did too.

I am going to go fill my prescriptions and start getting treated TODAY. Here are some general estimated answers she had for us regarding some things:

She thinks I will be cured within a year. YES! My new years goal will hopefully come true!

She thinks that we shouldn't consider having a baby for at least 2 years...because she thinks that's when she'll have Clay UNDER CONTROL. Not cured, but under control. The thing is, I was just telling Clay the other day that 2 years sounded about right to wait. Pretty sucky, but that's okay. I'm glad to have a general plan. She says that as long as I'm on baby-safe antibiotics throughout my pregnancy, the baby shouldn't get lyme disease. She says she deals with this in her office ALL the time. I'm so grateful we found who we did when we did.

There were a lot of other random things too, but all probably too jargony and lyme detailed for the general public :) haha. Those are the highlights.

OH YEAH- one more thing. This was great news! She wants to see us in one month, for one last time...then we can start going every other month! We will still have phone consults in the off months, but this will make it SO much less stressful, and wallet-friendly to only travel every other month. Yay for us!

Well...I had a list of things I wanted to get done today, but I just don't know that they'll get done. It might just have to be a rest day! I'm so grateful for Walgreen's drive-through pharmacy. I don't even have to get out of my pj's and no one will ever know! ('cept you guys)

Here's to the new year. It really is gonna be a good one. I can feel it. Great things are in store! You just wait!

Jewlery Boards Tutorial

2011-01-05T17:30:00.000-07:00

Ever find a tacky/cool mirror like these?

I got the oval one from the DI for $15, and the curvy one from another thrift store for $25.

Well, I'm going to show you how to turn those....into THESE!

I made these jewelery boards for my two sister-in-laws for Christmas and they loved em! Just a warning....I started out taking pictures of each of them throughout the process...but that got tiring so I figured I could teach you taking pictures of just one! So....they transfer from two to one...but I used the same process on both! And I noticed I didn't take pics of a few of the steps...but I think it's pretty self explanatory.

So here we go:

1. Find a cool frame/mirror.

2. Take off the back and the mirror. I used the prongs of a hammer, and a flat head screw driver, to get staples out and screws out.
3. Kilz frames. Use Kilz Spray paint- I've found things look more store bought when you spray paint vs. brush paint...just my experience though!

4. Spray paint frames. For some reason I didn't take a pic...but if you don't know how to spray paint....read the can :) If you want to glaze it, wait till the spray paint is dry. Then I suggest following allthingsthrifty.blogspot.com 's instructions on glazing! It's super duper easy.

5. Get a board. I found this board in my garage! Score. Don't know where it came from, but it worked! Trace around the mirror onto the board.
6. Get a jigsaw, and saw around the shape! I did this all on my own! I was so proud of myself!!!
And no, it's not mandatory that you wear a paintballing mask while doing it...I am just protective of my eyes!!! And that was the only protective thing I could find in the garage:)

7. Sand edges a titch so that they don't hurt you during the rest of the process :)

8. Put fabric face down, then put the board ontop of the fabric. Pull fabric as tight as you can and tape it!
9. Use a hot glue gun to glue the fabric in place. I found that the tape wasn't the strongest of holds...so I took one piece of tape off, then glued (pulling as tight as can be!). I would suggest STILL taping it first, cause it places it in the general spot you want it...it just makes it easier.
I know this pic doesn't do much for ya...but it's kinda hard to glue gun and take a pic at the same time. But just glue gun within an inch from the edge and you'll get the tightest look. Which you want. Trim excess fabric from back.

11. Place frame ontop of board, and then place hooks where you think you want them...then snip TINY snips with TINY scissors where you want hooks. If you're putting in a headband holder, here is the time to make it.
a) Cut ribbon length of frame + 4 inches.
b) Cut another piece of ribbon that is smaller same length
c) Place smaller ribbon ontop of bigger ribbon and sew little slots for headbands. I made mine various sizes. Make sure you backstitch when you begin and end! These slots will see a lot of action so you want them to be able to hold up through time.
d) Glue gun them to the spot you want them! Make sure you leave enough space at the bottom or side for the headbands to sit...you know, so they aren't squooshed against the frame?

12. Screw hooks in and make your fingers really tired! (My right pointer finger still has a callous from this process...and it's been like 2 weeks!) Note- my hooks stuck out a titch in the back...this was really okay! Cause I still had to put the back of the frame on...so they were covered! As long as they don't stick out A TON- you're okay.

13. Put the back of the frame on however it was put on originally. One of the frames I screwed screws in, the other one I staple gunned.

14. LOVE IT!

Seriously- this was soooo fun and so rewarding. The girls loved em and I really need to make one for myself now!