Hot Date

I was able to get two tickets to the General Relief Society Meeting last Saturday, so Lori and I headed up to Salt Lake for our hot date.


We dined at Buca di Beppo, and ended up with tons of food. This turned my car into a garlic-scented mode of travel, but did make for a very tasty Sunday lunch the next day.


We finished eating at 5:00 and had to hustle to find a parking space (not easy to do when 20,000 other women are trying to do the same thing) and get to the Conference Center. We had to power walk about 4 blocks to get there, so we were both a tad sweaty, plus my Sunday shoes were not too keen on this sort of treatment and took it out on my feet.


The view of the temple through the fall leaves was beautiful. I think the Salt Lake Temple is gorgeous!


We paused for a self-portrait as we arrived at the Conference Center. It was fun to see all the groups of women gathering to attend. There were so many groups of friends, ward members, and sisters.


I think the tickets for Conference Sessions are pretty cool. I had to leave my camera at the bag-check because it's an SLR, which was a bummer, so this was the last photo I could take.


Lori was allowed to take her small camera in so we got this shot of us (which she thinks looks like an engagement picture) in the Conference Center. That place is ginormous! They're so organized in there that the security check, seating, and meeting all went smoothly even with so many people.


I had never been to a meeting at the Conference Center before, so this was a first. It was cool to be part of such a huge group of women, the highlight of which was standing to sing together midway through the meeting. (It would have been nice to have sung together more, though listening to the choir was beautiful.)

I particularly enjoyed Sister Beck's talk and President Uchtdorf's talk. My favorite part of Sister Beck's talk was when she told us how her mother said to her, "Tie yourself to Relief Society, Relief Society will be your mother." I found this very touching and comforting and thought how true this is and that Relief Society can also be our friends, our sisters, our daughters and our teachers. There is something for everyone in Relief Society.

I need to rewatch/read President Uchtorf's talk again because I couldn't write fast enough to get all the good quotes from it. Here are a few things I caught...

--The more you rely on the Spirit, the more you will creat and improve the world around you.
--Work will cure your grief, serve others.
--True words of encouragement require only a loving heart.
-The number of prayers we say will increase our happiness, but the number o fprayers we answer will have eternal rewards.
--As spirit daughters, happiness is your heritage.


After the meeting was over we walked out onto the balcony facing the temple and tried to get some photos. It was getting dark, so they were blurry without the flash and had a dark background with the flash...oh well, you'll just have to imagine the temple behind us in this picture.


We then walked across the street and strolled around the temple grounds. They are always beautiful, but there's something about seeing that building at night.


Lori and I ended our hot date by stopping by The Cheesecake Factory to get a $7 slice of cheesecake. The place was packed, so we got it to-go and ate it in the car. Lori got tiramisu cheesecake and I got Dulce de Leche Caramel Cheesecake, oh la la.

Going to this meeting was a great way to get me excited for this weekend's General Conference. Is it me or do the 6 months in-between sessions just fly by??

If you missed the RS Meeting, they're replaying at these times.

BYU Television
10/1 @ 8:30 a.m.
10/7 @ 11:00 a.m.
10/18 @ 3:00 p.m.

**Have you been to a session at the Conference Center?
Do you love the Salt Lake Temple?
What's your favorite kind of cheesecake?**

The Big 21

Today is my sweet brother Andrew's 21st birthday. As I've mentioned in previous birthday posts about him, his arrival came as a bit of a surprise to our family. My parents were both 39 years old at the time and the rest of us kids were ages 16, 14, 12, and 11, so this was a pretty serious age gap.


These days Andrew has made it through the school system (as well as can be expected), is pretty antisocial, watches loads of Disney dvds, adores Funniest Home Videos, loves anything to do with our dad, has a sense of humor, eats only french fries, nachos, wheat toast, cheese pizza, crackers and applesauce.


We gathered together tonight at JCW's (much to their chagrin) to celebrate Andrew's big day. He was actually smiling because he knew it was his birthday and that we were all there for him.


He happily clutched the "21" candles in his hand right up until the fries arrived.


The cousins were super excited to be together during the week like this (since they usually only see each other on weekend game nights) and were spread out all over the place. I'm usually annoyed by big, Utah families that do this in public places, but wasn't annoyed at all when it was us. Ha.


There was much eating, conversation, story telling, crying (Megan), and even some sleeping. Andrew isn't a chatty one, so he pretty much ate his fries and some of his Oreo shake, opened his gifts and then got up to leave.


My dad took him home, while the rest of us stayed and talked. The guys were at one end of our area, the kids in another, and the ladies on the other side. Good times.

Happy Birthday Amanda L.!!!

**Do you ever take over restaurants like this?
What's the biggest age gap in your family?**

Sunday Thoughts

This day has been absolutely crazy and I'm too tired to write about it now, so I'm sharing another one of my presidency meeting spiritual thoughts. I hope you had a good Sunday.

**Thoughts??**

Emergency Back-Up Mom

I've been the emergency back-up mom for Michelle this week while she's in North Carolina helping Jessie with baby Fiona. I like to think I'm a natural fit for helping Michelle since her kids are used to me being around and have known me forever, but there's really no substitute for the real deal.

Day 1--Monday


I arrived at noon so that Marc could go in to work (he doesn't teach MWF so his schedule is flexible). Eva was excited to play with me, especially since that isn't something I normally do when I'm at her house. We built a Lego park complete with a bench for Dora's mom, a vine climbing wall and parking.


It was early-out day for all the kids, so Eva and I went and checked my kids out a half hour earlier than early out (say that ten times fast) so we could make it back to Michelle's house in time to take Max to his cello lesson. It was weird for me to drive a mini-van with 3 kids in it, but all was well.


Eva joined me in the van during Max's cello lesson and managed to fall asleep for about 20 whole minutes! We stayed in the van during the lesson, so I read my book (The Bell Jar) while Eva slept. I thought we had a good thing going, but she woke up and then proceeded to sing and chat for the next 25 minutes. She was in a good mood so it was entertaining, but wow. She said she wanted to "talk about everything" but still vetoed anything I suggested. Hmph.


Eva was very excited to play with Whitney, and fortunately decided that coloring NEXT to Whitney was good enough. I did a little coloring myself (notice my foxy Hello Kitty); Eva was delighted.


Landon, Lucas and Max played a James Bond video game together, and the time sped by much too quickly for them.

Day 2--Tuesday

I went to pick Eva up from preschool at noon only to find out that she didn't show up for preschool that day! I drove over to the house and saw Marc's car out front and was thoroughly confused because he was supposed to be teaching.

Their neighbor Heidi spotted me as I drove up and ran out to tell me she had Eva asleep on the floor at her house and had been watching her all morning because Marc was in bed sick and because Eva didn't want to go to preschool that day.


It took some mental adjusting to the new plan for the day (which was me watching Eva while Marc slept). Eva didn't feel well so she vegged out and watched a show while I cleaned the kitchen. After awhile she inexplicably started crying but wouldn't talk to me to tell me what was wrong, so Marc surfaced and was informed that she wanted "to snuggle and watch a show." He had to leave at 2:00 to go prep for his next class, then his parents arrived around 3:15 to take over for me since Marc teaches until 7:00pm on Tuesdays. What a day!

Day 3--Wednesday


Eva was in much better form and was happy to see me. We played in her bedroom and built a house out of dominoes, once again showing me how much I suck at kid-play. She seemed fine with my efforts, but I found just sitting on the floor for an extended period of time to be a challenge.


The great thing was that I got to read my book for an hour while she slept! Marc's chair and ottoman set-up are so comfortable!

Day 4--Thursday


Marc called me in the morning to let me know Eva wasn't feeling well again and that he was taking her to the doctor. But I was surprised to find Lucas at home sick when I arrived at the house. He ended up playing video games all afternoon and let Eva play too so that was helpful. Plus Eva took a nap and Marc got home earlier than expected.

Day 5--Friday


I didn't know what to expect for day 5 and feared that Eva had had enough of me. She sometimes exclaims "I'm too sad for friends!" when she wants her dad to stay home with her. The good thing is that she recovers quickly when he leaves, so she sat on my lap and watched a show and then went down (without a fight) for a 3 hour nap!!



I was a giddy girl getting to read for 2 hours in the comfy chair today! I finished reading The Bell Jar yesterday and was able to get to page 110 of The Messenger today. Woohoo!


When Lucas got home from school at 4:00 I was surprised that he didn't immediately start playing video games. He was super chatty and appeared to want my company so I suggested that we play American Idol Karaoke game. Oh my goodness, I really shouldn't be allowed to sing audibly! It was pretty fun though and we sang together for about an hour until Marc got home, poor Max was in the other room on the computer and was probably praying for the singing to stop.

It has been a crazy week for me (hence very minimal blogging) since I've had to fit my normal life in-between being the back-up mom. I had a presidency meeting, laundry and house cleaning, helping at the school Wednesday and Friday, visiting teaching on Thursday, and have been obsessing about the primary program, since we're practicing tomorrow morning and performing it on Sunday! I can't wait for next week, everything will feel calm and luxurious after this crazy week.

**How was your week?
Are you the emergency back-up mom for anyone?
Have you played American Idol Karaoke?**

Funny to Me

Random Weirdness

I made a quick trip to Wal-mart yesterday and was delighted that I didn't have to stand in a long line for once. I loaded my items onto the conveyor belt only to see that the cashier (an odd fellow) was reading the back of my box of cereal! This was the first item he scanned, so he wasn't making any progress with my purchase...nope, he just wanted to do a little leisure reading while working.



When he finally tore himself away from the riveting reading he completely ignored me, no eye contact, no greeting, no nod of the head, nothing. The little screen they have for the consumer actually asked if the cashier greeted me, I've been hesitant to hit "no" in the past because I feared cashier-retribution, but he was so obviously shunning me that I got brave and clicked "no".

I feared he would steal one of my items or sneeze on my parcels, but he didn't (that would have been too interactive), so I swiped my debit card and finished my sale. He didn't acknowledge me once. That's weird right?

**Have you ever feared cashier retribution?
Has your checker ever read the back of your boxes?**

Wordless Wednesday

SPT--In The Kitchen

I wish I liked to be in the kitchen more, but I just don't. I am always impressed when I see all of your blogs with all your great meal planning and presentation. Unfortunately, I only admire your efforts and don't put them into action at home. The only thing that came to mind for this SPT was the pie-making tutorial Michelle gave me last November.

{Her hands and pie crust}

She was an inspiration in the kitchen long before blogging, but blogging has been a cool way to document and share her skills, and some of those have rubbed off on me. Woohoo.

{My hands and pie crust}

Vanilla Cream Pie

Here is Michelle's Recipe...
mix in a medium saucepan:
2/3 c. sugar
1/2 t. salt
5-6 T. flour

whisk in:
3 c. milk

Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat and pour about 1/3 of the mixture into a heatproof bowl with 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten. (I use the Pyrex measuring cup that I used to measure the milk.) You must whisk the egg yolks the whole time you are pouring in the hot mixture.

Immediately pour the egg mixture back into the pan and return to a boil (this will be very fast). Cook for 1 additional minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir in 2 T. butter and 1 1/2 t. vanilla.

Prepare an ice bath. I plug up one side of my sink and put in lots of ice cubes and about 3 inches of cold water. Place the hot pan in the ice bath. (This cools the custard down more quickly.) Stir every 5 minutes or so to prevent a skin from forming on the custard. When it has reached room temperature, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate.

**To make a delicious chocolate cream pie, increase the sugar to 1 1/2 c. and add 1 1/2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate when you add the milk.**

To assemble the pie, pre-bake a pie crust, let cool, and pour in the chilled custard. Top with a generous amount of whipped cream. Sprinkle with toasted coconut for coconut cream pie, chocolate shavings for chocolate pie. I have tried a lot of different pie crusts, but, truth be told, I am not a crust connoisseur. For me, the crust is just a vehicle for the filling. Lately, I have been using this recipe from the old Betty Crocker cookbook.

For a 9" pie crust:

Mix together 1 c. sifted flour, 1/2 t. salt. Cut in 1/3 c. shortening with a pastry blender or two knives until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Sprinkle with 2 T. ice water and quickly mix with fingertips. (You don't want to handle the dough too much or it will not be tender and flaky.) Gather the dough together and press firmly into a ball. Roll out into a circle about 1" larger than your pan. Fit pastry loosely into the pan -- avoid stretching to prevent shrinking. Crimp the edges and prick all over with a fork. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

(Just so you know, Michelle had never made just a plain vanilla one before I requested it. She usually pours the custard over sliced bananas or mixes in shredded coconut, but I'm a purist.)
Voila!

**Do you like to work in the kitchen?
Have you been influenced by bloggers?
Do you make pies?**

Recommendations

I just have to pass on some great reading and FYI-type links for any of you lurkers or friends.


1. My sister Robyn ran her first marathon last Saturday and wrote a great, inspiring post about it. It was such a huge accomplishment, especially considering the injuries she's been plagued with while training. So if you have anything hard in your life at all, you might want to check it out (and leave a comment) because it will fire you up to hang on, keep going and be joyful.


2. Blog friend Missy just opened her own Etsy shop called BetsyGrace with beautiful, personalized tea towels and bags--make sure to check it out.


3. Michelle's husband Marc has been posting like crazy on his Take Out Photo Blog and is continuing to do his monthly tutorials and challenges. I happen to be 2 months behind on them, but still plan on doing them. It's good to check in on his blog to see what his latest genius ideas are. He actually called to interview Randy last week about his love of fonts (I tried to warn him, but he went ahead with it anyway), you can see that post here.

**Will you check out these sites?
Do you have any site recommendations?**

Creative Friday--Giddy Edition

Michelle and I got together for Creative Friday and had a good time. I brought food from Taco Amigo for our lunch (which seemed to add a lot of time to our day since she wasn't in the kitchen prepping anything) and Michelle had made M&M cookies for us.


Eva chatted louder than usual, but was in good form so even though she interrupted us a lot and played loudly nearby at least Michelle was able to work on her big project rather than be drowned in Smotherhood like last week.


Michelle has been working on this baby quilt for Jessie for about 4 years now (off and on) and finished it yesterday just in time to wash it and get it packed for her midnight flight to Jessie's house. Woohoo! She was absolutely giddy to have finally finished it, what an accomplishment!


I love how she spells words out in the quilting along the sides. She included each of Jessie's 3 daughters' names along with words like sweet dreams. It's the sweetest thing. I think it's so cool that it worked out like this (taking 4 years) so that it has all 3 girls' names in it.


I wrote 3 cards, put postage on a few packages I had already prepared and I cut out good mail labels. It was relaxing and productive (how many things can you say that about?).


Apparently my mascara evaporated because it doesn't look like I'm wearing any (#$@!).


Edited to add: Michelle gave me this darling candy dish today, I love it!

**What makes you giddy?
Have you seen a quilt with writing around the edges?
Do you have any 4 year projects?**

Sunday Thoughts

This is a card I made when I had to give a spiritual thought at a recent presidency meeting. I find this thought hugely comforting and think it's one that I should review frequently.

**Thoughts??**

Raindrops & Lightning

We woke up to thunder, lightning and a downpour this morning, so I wondered if Whitney's last soccer game was going to be canceled. I was tired and wanted to read in bed or go back to sleep while listening to the rain, but I also wanted to still have the game. In typical Utah fashion, it cleared up after 20 minutes and was beautiful for the game.


Whitney's team name is Red Lightning and the team they played today (and beat 7-1) was named the raindrops, how appropriate and amusing was that?



It was a good game and a fun one to end our undefeated season with; Whitney even scored a goal! (She did at our game on Thursday too.) She was highly motivated by the promise of a shake, but she has also improved on dribbling down the field and power kicking it into the goal, so she is officially a force to be reckoned with.


The other coach's wife found a great website with nice, but affordable medals for the girls. So for $5 they all got a gold medal with their name on the back of it. The girls were thrilled of course, especially with the Olympics last month they're all medal savvy.


I have loved coaching these sweet girls this season. It's so much more fun to be involved every step of the way with them through practices to games, and to be invested in their progress rather than just there paying attention to Whitney.


I feel thankful to be able to coach, thankful to have a healthy, happy daughter who loves to play, thankful beautiful scenery to be out in, thankful for nice families who support their kids, so happy about seeing progress no matter how small, loving that I feel thrilled for others, and just happy to be a part of it all!

**What are you thankful for today?**