Change: It's a-comin'

I've been seeing and reading a lot of interesting things lately about foods.  I am a big foodie and, as such, was really fascinated by it all.  I've also been trying to eat healthier since Sky has a cholesterol problem and we're both overweight.  I've been adding more fruits, vegetables and whole-grains to our diet and I've stopped getting red meat.  I have decided that we are now going to try going vegetarian or, at least, mostly vegetarian.  And, when we DO eat meat, I'm going to splurge and buy free-range, grass fed beef and grain fed chicken.  I really have no desire to consume all the hormones and anti-biotics that they give to those animals to make them grow faster.  Also, I have all but given up on drinking milk (not just because I'm lactose intolerant) because it is disgusting what is homogenized into it.  Sterile or not, it's still gross and I am, after-all, a germaphobe. :D

Also, I am trying to only buy food that is actual food.  There was a guy on Oprah a few weeks ago talking about how we shouldn't eat food that out great grandmother wouldn't recognize.  I think that is a wonderful idea.  So much of packaged and processed food is filled with salt, sugar and fat and I have no need for that in my diet.  Buying fresh or frozen produce is also much better than canned because they can't add salt to fresh food!

In addition to this food revolution, I have been working out to Tae Bo, to get into shape.  My goal is to be back to the weight I was on my wedding day by my Anniversary next May.  I think this new diet (way of life) is going to make that easy as pie.

My dinner recipes for this week are: whole-grain spaghetti with mushroom sauce, bean burritos (home made with whole grain tortillas), french onion soup, tofu-veggie stir fry over brown rice and home made pizza with olives and red peppers.

I LOVE surveys!! (Stolen from my sister)

FOODOLOGY
*What is your salad dressing of choice? Raspberry Vinaigrette
*What is your favorite sit down restaurant? Carrabba's
*What is your favorite fast food restaurant? Carl's Jr. (I have never been to In 'n Out.  Although, I've heard it's far superior.  Maybe I'll go one day after the insane lines die down.)
*What food could you eat every day for two weeks and not get sick of? Peaches
*What are your pizza toppings of choice? Ham, Pineapple, tomatoes, olives, mushrooms
*How many televisions are in your house? 1
*What color cell phone do you have? red

BIOLOGY:
*Are you right-handed or left-handed? right-handed
*Have you ever had anything removed from your body? 6 teeth (including wisdom teeth)
*What is the last heavy item you lifted? my mattress
*Have you ever been knocked unconscious? Yes
*Have you ever fainted? Yes

BULLCRAPOLOGY:
*If it were possible, would you want to know the day you were going to die? No
*If you could change your name, what would you change it to? I don't know.  When I was younger, I wanted to change it to Anastasia (like Stacy in the Babysitter's Club).
*How many pairs of flip-flops do you own? 5
*Last person you talked to? Sky

FAVORITOLOGY:
*Season? Fall
* Holiday? Thanksgiving
*Day of the week? Sunday
*Month? October
* Color? Green
* Drink? IBC Root Beer and lemonade

CURRENTOLOGY:
*Missing someone? My sisters and my mother-in-law
*What are you listening to? The Olympics and my refrigerator running.  :(
*Watching? The Olympics
*Worrying about? Nothing at the moment.
*What's the last movie you saw? The Fantastic Mr. Fox (it wasn't fantastic. Not even good.)
*Do you smile often? Yep!  :D
*If you could change your eye color what would it be? Exactly what it is.
*What's on your wish list for your birthday? Lots of kitchen gadgets
*Can you do push-ups? yep
*Can you do a chin up? I don't know.  Probably not.
*Does the future make you more nervous or excited? Excited
*Have you been in a Car wreck? Yes
*Have you caused a Car wreck? No
*Do you have an accent? No
*Last time you cried? Sunday night
*Plans tonight? Finish this, snack, then bed.
*Have you ever felt like you hit rock bottom? Yes
*Name 3 things you Bought yesterday. A plate at Color Me Mine, a steak (farewell) and scallops.
*Met someone who changed your life? LOTS!!!
*How did you bring in the New Year? Watched the ball drop, lit sparklers, shot off a confetti gun (and we still can't get it all out of our house.  I'm looking at a piece on the floor right now) and toasted with sparking cider.
*Would you go back in time if you were given the chance? Yes
*Have you ever dated someone longer than a year? Yes
*What songs do you sing in the shower? Hymns, Mamas and the Papas, Kelly Clarkson and Avril Lavigne mostly.
*Have you held hands with someone today? Yes
*Who was the last person you took a picture of? I have no idea.  Probably my mother-in-law.
*Are most of the friends in your life new or old? New
*Do you like pulpy orange juice? No
*What is something your friends make fun of you for? My phobia of germs, organization of EVERYTHING, and extreme anger of Utah drivers.
*Last time you ate peanut butter and jelly? Two or three weeks ago.
*What were you doing 12 AM last night? Talking with my friend, Alice.
*What was the first thing you thought of when you woke up? Damn leaf blowers!  It's Winter!  GO AWAY! (Someone was using a leaf blower outside my bedroom window.  I'm not crazy.)

Sky's Birthday.

Hello, everybody!  I have decided that I'm going to try to get back into actually using my blog.

Sky's birthday was a few weeks ago and I want to share with everyone the awesomeness that was his birthday cake.  It took me about four hours (yes, FOUR hours.  Baking, making or, rather, seeding the raspberry sauce, icing, applying chocolate, and decorating...phew!) to make but, I made it myself; without a recipe.  (Although the cake was a mix.)  It was a lemon cake with butter-cream icing and raspberry sauce.

Here's a side view:

   Yes, those are white chocolate chips.  Yes, I put them on one by one--by hand.

And, the top view. ^^^

Birthday boy blowing out the candles:

And, the inside:

 

I have now decided to take a cake decorating class with my friend Alice-Catherine.  I will be sure to take pictures of all of the cakes I decorate and share them with you.  :)

I also planned activities for his 27th birthday celebration.  We went to Applebee's for lunch then went bowling.  We went up to the Y-mount parking lot with a few games and played Connect Four and War while talking and watching the sun set behind the mountains.  We love watching the colors on the lake as the sun goes down. Then, we went to Outback for dinner.  We did all these things the day before his birthday because it was Labor Day and he had off school.  On his birthday, I made and we ate the cake.  Then, on Wednesday, we went and saw the movie '9.'  I thought it was pretty lame but, he liked it so, it was all good.  He also loves his present I gave him of Avatar: The last Airbender Complete book 3.  We now own the entire series!  :)   His mom sent him some really awesome gifts, too.  He gets so excited on his birthday because he always gets so spoiled and I love to spoil him.

Choosing happiness

I've decided to ignore the fact that I'm in the middle of finals and focus on the happy things going on...

I recently found a wonderful thing on the internet. I have been searching for years for one of my favorite movies. It is an old version of Snow White that was made for TV and, in case you had no idea, there are about 50 different versions of Snow White. However, I finally found what I've been looking for on Amazon.com. I bought the DVD and had it delivered, all for the low, low price of $5.19! I was so ecstatic! I have never seen the movie without tracking issues and fuzziness. It is wonderful and I will enjoy it for many years to come!

Another bit of good news, better than the first, is Sky and I are trying for a baby! We've been trying for about 2 1/2 months and hope it will happen soon so we can have a baby next fall. We are very excited and I know Sky will be a great dad.

On a related note, I recently found out that my oldest brother's wife, Holly, is pregnant with their first child. She is due June 4th and I am so excited to be an aunt again.

We've decorated our apartment recently. We bought a Santa sign for our front door and lights for our balcony. We also decorated our Christmas tree and set up our three different Nativity scenes. I assembled and decorated a gingerbread house and we bought an advent calendar. It's so pretty and really festive.

I am really looking forward to going back to MD next Monday. We get in really late at night. :-( The next day, my mother-in-law, Christine, has made appointments for us to get our hair and nails done! I am so excited to get my hair highlighted, I've never done it before. Christmas is going to be nice, too. I'll be at home with Sky, my mom, dad, grandmother, brothers Wyatt and Shaun and sister Kimberly. The only thing I'm not looking forward to is the humidity. It is very snowy here in UT but it is still dry. I love it!

Listing, Fun!

I swiped this from my sister's page.

10 Years Ago I...
-was in 7th grade
-hated my little sister
-had a crush on so many boys.
-was mortified about the processes of puberty.
-wanted desperately to change my room. I hated it pink.

5 Things on tomorrow's to-do list
-Go to the doctor.
-Go to class
-Stop by the library
-Wash dishes
-Watch House

5 Things I would do if I were a millionaire
-buy a new wardrobe that fit me properly and I looked good in, and get one for Sky, too.
-College funds for all of our possible children to attend any school (even Yale) and grad school, if they wanted.
-Save for a house for when we get out of school and move to California.
-Buy a Prius
-and of course, 10% to church, some to World Wildlife Fund, some to Susan G. Komen Foundation and some to St. Jude Children's Hospital.

5 Places I have lived
-Rockville, MD
-Gaithersburg, MD
-Orem, UT
-Provo, UT
-um...premortal realm?

5 jobs I have had
-child care technician (I watched kids at a gym)
-Sales Associate at JCPenney
-something or other in the ER at Shady grove Hospital that I quit very, very quickly.
-Nanny
-Server at Brick Oven

What am I going to do?

Before today, I was pretty set on who I was going to vote for. I had chosen to vote for "Change Utah can believe in" by voting for Obama. Today, however, I discovered a lot of things about him that I didn't know. He, apparently, has no desire to protect marriage and family and in fact, supports abortion so strongly that I am surprised people are not comparing him to Hitler or Saddam Hussein...oh wait, they are. I was sickened by what I read about his views. I know that what I read was on some crazy right-wing website but, it had links to proof of what he was saying. I absolutly refuse to pay for abortions or support someone who wants to create embryos just to kill them for stem-cell research.

Now, I'm not saying that I'm wholely against the research, because I'm not. I am against the creation of the embryos en masse just to destroy them. That, to me, is stupid, wasteful and evil. Using fetuses from miscarriages or afterbirth material to run this research is a much better idea. This information will be vital to the medical community but, it is absurd to think that people in this country, even cripples, would ever support this audacious idea!

I also think it is ridiculous that he wants to get rid of all the ammendments that oppose gay marriage. This is just like my high school mascot all over again. I mean, come on, the people have already voted on this issue, why is he going to suddenly come back and say thay have no choice in the matter. What an egoist!
"Ok, so you're president, what are you going to do now?"
"I'm going to overturn laws that were inacted after the voting process was carried out and the American people gave their answer by a clear majority."
"Don't you think that will make people angry?"
"Oh, no...just because they voted doesn't mean they actually know what they want. After all, they voted for me even though I lied about what I believe and refused to answer questions about touchy topics. Why create a stir? I'll just do what I want, now that the brainwashing has clearly taken effect. I mean....that question is above my pay level..."

So, you see my prediament..do I vote for the young, idealistic, baby-hating, gay loving newcomer or for the old guy who has experience and is going to keep our troops in Iraq (where they don't belong in the first place) for 100 years and will drive our economy, health care and educational systems into the ground but loves babies and will fight for the family? That's right..I'm voting for Pedro. Spread the word....Pedro '08!

Thinking of a title is too hard.

I am glad that I am finally starting to get better. It's kind of odd though, because I was really sick from Thursday through Sunday but, started getting better Sunday night. I feel much less achy and gross but I am still coughing and nose blowing all the time. I hate it and I wish I would just be back to normal, already. I'm just glad to be able to get off the couch and go out.

My ward is really awesome. The Relief Society sent around a "Get Well" card on Sunday and had everyone sign it for me. I'm assuming my friend Candace (the RS Pres.) did it because I told her I was sick to help make sure she and her daughter weren't sick because they had spent Wednesday afternoon with me.

I was talking to Sky yesterday and I thought of another quirk that I didn't put down. I didn't really think of it before because my dad and Sky and I all do it. Anyway, I apparently sleep in a funny way. I fall asleep facing the center of my bed (and Sky) then right after I fall asleep, I wake up and roll over to face the edge of the bed with my left arm extended straight out above me and my fingers hanging off the top of the mattress. I have my pillow between my arm and my head. I also have to have a pillow between my legs from my knees to my feet to help ease the pain in my lower back. A third pillow is held in my right arm, keeping it propped and preventing soreness in my neck and shoulder. So, Sky claims this is odd because he can sleep in pretty much any position but, I have difficulty sleeping any other way. He usually does have the pillows in the same positions as I do, though.

On another note, I am not looking forward to cleaning my house again. I finally got it all clean then I got sick. I was too weak and tired to clean it and Sky sits and does nothing. So, instead of maintaining the clean, he made it dirty. It's quite annoying because now I have to clean everything this weekend. Argh! Hopefully, I'll be able to keep it clean after that. We'll see...