Knock, Knock

Knock, Knock

Who's there?

My pounding head

My pounding head who?

My pounding head that is preventing me from finishing my research paper.

This break as been SO wonderful. Austin and I did have a few sniffles, but all was well, because we could sleep in. But, alas, just yesterday, Austin and I realized that wave #2 of colds were coming in. That is right; we contracted, fought off, and contracted yet another cold all in one week. Welcome to the life of a BYU student. Just our luck, it seems like every break this year, Austin and I have gotten sick.

I woke up this morning (after having my wacky Mexican language camp dream*)  and seriously felt like I had gotten hit by a semi. My through felt like the size of a straw, my nose was plugged up with so much pressure I wanted to go cross-eyed, and just thought to myself, "Self, how about we just stay in bed all day." As I pondered about whether to get out of bed or to not, I also decided that someone out there better be trying to find the cure for the common cold and if they did, they should win the Nobel Peace Prize!

Well, I did get up, I did go to school, and I did go to work. At work they were painting a wall and the fumes were just horrific. Not only were they super strong, but they almost smelled like B.O. For some reason or another, I have a really sensitive nose. Perfume, skunk, exhaust,  paint. . . it all gives me a horrific headache. With my pressure built-up nose and a headache added to the mix, my head is currently pounding extensively making it nearly impossible to finish my research paper that is due on Wednesday. No biggie, it is just worth 300 points and most of my grade.

Hopefully tomorrow I will be feeling better. . . hopefully Austin will too. Hopefully we will all feel better, and not contract ANYTHING else between now and the new year (or longer), because I think we have had just about every kind of cold a BYU student can get!

*For those interested in hearing my Mexican language camp dream.  . . .

All of a sudden I was at this really nice resort for a camp. . . a Mexican Language camp. At this camp, we were going to learn Spanish. I didn't recognize anyone there, BUT, our teacher was already picking favorites, and I wasn't one of them. I was quite concerned about this because I wanted to do well. Our first night there, we had a really really really nice Mexican dinner. I don't even know what they have for fancy Mexican dinners--I don't think it is Taco Bell. We ate dinner and were excused for a little bit before dessert. . . odd. . I know. So I decided to go for a bike ride.. . . I got lost in the resort on the way to my bike. I was really concerned because I didn't want to miss dessert (that's Rochelle for ya). And, then I woke up . . . I didn't even get to eat dessert!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

What a wonderful break! I LOVED being able to sleep in, I LOVED doing fun things other than school or work, I LOVED seeing my family, and I LOVED the wonderful food! What gets better than that? Sleep, fun, family, and food!

Wednesday
On Wednesday, we woke up to 1 inch of snow . . . no blizzard in Provo. Because such a big deal was made, BYU remained closed which meant no work for Rochelle! I slept in, exercised, got ready for the day and then worked on my family cookbook all day. . . no joke. I have never typed so many recipes, but it will be SO worth it! Austin and I decided that we should do something other than be on our computers all day, SO we starting thinking of something that we could do. Austin had the wonderful idea to make our own Christmas stockings. SO, Wednesday night we gathered all of the supplies and cut out our fabric. It took forever to pick our fabric, but we finally found what we wanted at Hobby Lobby.

Austin cutting out his fabric. 

Look at him sew!

This is my stocking cut out. 

Thursday-Thanksgiving
On Turkey day, we went to my Dad's house to help my dad and sister set up Christmas. It is always so fun to put up our Christmas Tree. We have two trees, a regular Christmas Tree and then a Jesus Tree. On the Jesus Tree we put all sorts of angels, pictures of Christ, Sheep, Stars, etc. to remind us what Christmas is all about. On our regular Christmas tree our family has this fun tradition where we get a new Christmas Ornament from every trip we go on. It is so fun to remember all of those fun family vacations when we pull out each ornament.

After we decorated, I made some sweet potatoes for dinner while the boys watched some football. Becca helped me, she is SUCH a big helper. I made two kinds of sweet potatoes (because I didn't know what everyone liked). I made up the recipes from a combination of many different ones. I think the vote was for the sweet and sugary sweet potatoes, but both turned out good. Here are the recipes (I forgot to take pictures, but the were good! )

Caramelized Sweet Potatoes with Cranberries

2 Sweet Potatoes- Peeled and Cubed

1/4 C    Honey

3 T       Brown Sugar

3-4 T   Olive Oil

4 t        Cinnamon

We coated the sweet potatoes in the sugary mixture and then with a slotted spoon, took them out of the sauce and broiled them for a little bit to get a nice brown covering on them. Then we transfered them into a glass dish and poured the remaining sauce over them. We mixed 1/2 pkg. of Craisins in with the sweet potatoes and added a few tablespoons of butter cut up on top.  Then we made a crumble for the top with butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and flour. I don't remember the portions. We baked it at 360 for about 30 mins, or until potatoes were tender. Then we topped it with marshmallows and put it back in under the broiler for a few min. until golden brown. Yum!

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Chives

2 large sweet potatoes- peeled and cubed

1/2 Onion

1/4 C  Olive Oil

2 T   Dijon Mustard

1/3 C   Cider Vinegar

1/4 C Balsamic Vinegar

2 t     Honey

Salt and Fresh ground pepper to taste

Fresh Chives

Basically the same process as above. Mixed the sweet potatoes in the sauce,broiled them, transfered to a glass dish, poured the sauce over them and baked at 360 for 30 minutes or until tender. Topped with fresh chives for garnish. 

My grandma and grandpa are AMAZING. They somehow puts on this amazing dinner every year. I'm sure they dread it but oh man is it good--something we look forward to! The turkey was amazing, and Austin loves her gravy. Pretty sure he could drink that stuff!

Friday
We slept in--again. We were both anxious to finish our stocking project. SO, that is what we did all day. We finally got them semi-close to being finished. Here is where we are now:

Rochelle's (Left) & Austin's (Right) Stockings

We then went to Austin's aunt's house and had a wonderful dinner and played games. Austin's parents came up north for Thanksgiving, so it was fun to see Austin's family.

Saturday
Every year Austin's aunt has an annual gingerbread making get-together for friends and family. Austin, myself, and Becca all drove up to join the fun. Austin's mom was so kind as to make us our "structure". I would say it turned out pretty good:

Then my dad took us out to dinner to Zupas. . . yum! It was also my best friend's birthday today-Jennifer! I love her oodles!! She is legal now! (aka. 21 years) People always thought we were sisters; we are so alike, I wonder sometimes.

Jen & I- Senior Year

It was a great weekend! Just what we needed! Now all we have to do is make it through 2 more weeks of classes and then it is FINALS!!!!!

Blustering thoughts on a Blizzardy Night

Okay, I have some more random thoughts to share. Welcome into the mind of Rochelle!

1. When we were at the game, of course, just like in every other game, the Ref makes a bad call. What does every guy do? Starts yelling at the ref. Okay . . . why? I NEVER got that. It's not like the ref can hear you. It's not like the ref is going to say, "Okay, thank you for sharing your opinion with me, I will reconsider my call."  It's the ref's JOB to make calls like that. When you do something that everyone else at work doesn't  fully understand, do YOU get "booed"? Hum. . . . I've decided I would hate being a ref. I also have decided that for some odd reason, our society has made it "manly" to yell at the ref, and if you don't yell at the ref, you aren't manly.

2. It seems like everyone has to make a similar comment on facebook. And it seems like it goes through a cycle every year. I should start a study on facebook status cycles. It's not that it's a bad thing, I like reading facebook statuses (or is it stati?) It's just something I have noticed. For example, everyone has to make a comment about school starting, or Thanksgiving break, or the BYU or U of U game, or Beatles on I tunes, or a crazy blizzard hitting Utah. Interesting isn't it. It is almost harder to come up with a completely original, random status.

3. I think the weather guys don't always know what they are talking about, just like doctors. Granted, it would be hard to predict something that you don't really have any control over, HOWEVER, to make such a big deal about a blizzard that hasn't been anything unusual. . . I don't know. I mean, according to the weather man, a blizzard should have been hitting Provo around 5:00 pm. This is what it looked like:

Do I see blue sky? Now, as I am writing this, it currently is snowing, and it will be interesting to see what it looks like when I wake-up in the morning. Here is my theory as to what happened with this whoe blizzard deal.

Some burnt-out college student REALLY wanted to go home early, and his flight left at 4:00 pm. SO, he paid all of the weather men to predict this HUGE, record-breaking blizzard so that BYU would close at 3:00 pm, the University would close down tomorrow (which means no work for me-yay!), and he could go home for Thanksgiving. That is my theory.

Well, blizzard or not, I hope you all travel safe and have a wonderful Thanksgiving Break because mine starts NOW!
 

Stay tuned for the exciting Somers Thanksgiving Adventures and plans!

P.S. There is a really cute video on my Facebook Profile if you need a laugh. I thought it was SO cute and sweet, but I laughed SO hard. 

The Game and Art Exhibit

Okay, so we won the football game against New Mexico . . . which was good. Was it cold? You bet! We had a blast though! We decided to ride our bikes to the game. That was a smart move. I think it was much faster than driving OR walking because we could go past all the cars and we could avoid all the walking crowds. Austin's buddy, Rodney, met us there with his dad and brother. It was fun to be with friends and enjoy the game. There was a really cute little girl in front of us who was almost more entertaining than the game. Here are some funny highlights from the game:

Girl: "Daddy, I need to go to the bathroom."

Dad: "Every time this happens! Right before they score. Where is your mother?"

 . .  . . . . . . 

Girl: "Daddy, can we go home?"

Dad: "You bet! . . . . in three quarters." 

. . . . . . . 

Girl: "GO ARKANSAS!" 

(First of all, she was SUPPOSE to be cheering for BYU. Second of all, even if she was cheering for the other team. . . we were playing New Mexico.)

Austin, Rodney, Brother, and Dad

Austin &I at the game-I love how my hair is going up his nose. : ) 

The Stadium-We had awesome seats!

We were also able to go to the Carl Bloch exhibit at the MOA with my Dad and sister. It was AMAZING! I loved it. It is stunning how detailed he was able to get everything--there is so much emotion and spirit captured in each painting.  I highly recommend it!

I remember the day that I was talking to my Mom on the phone and she said that she felt like she had received an answer to her prayers as to what treatment she should do next--None. She felt like it was her time, and it was hard, but she was okay with it. After I hung up the phone, I bawled, and then went running. I ended up at the MOA, looking at this painting:

Carl Bloch's Healing at the Pool of Bethesda

This painting has continually hung at the MOA and I love it. I remember thinking as I looked at this picture, "Can't you just heal my mom?" I now understand that healing comes in all sorts of ways. My prayer was heard and I believe it was answered. 

The painting that really touched me this time around was this one:

Carl Bloch's The Daughter of Jairus

I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and have a wonderful Sunday.

Chocolate, Art, and Clouds

Last night neither Austin nor I had any pressing homework, SO, we went to Target and picked up a few items and then stopped by The Chocolate. . . YUM! This time Austin got a  Pumpkin Cookie, I got a Chocolate Carmel Cupcake, and we shared Hazelnut Hot chocolate. Oh my goodness, it was good! I think Austin and I have decided however, that our favorites that we've had there are their fudgy-brownies and the Spice Hot Chocolate. Their cupcakes were good too! Next time we will have to try a slice of cake. : )

Tonight, we are going with my Dad & Sister to see this.  I am really excited to go see it! I LOVE the MOA. I remember my dad taking me there for Daddy-daughter dates and I LOVED it. They also have an AMAZING Cafe on the top floor that is only open for lunch, but oh my goodness, it is my favorite place to eat on campus . . if I had the money. I would go there my Freshman year because I had a meal plan and wouldn't use all of my money, SO, I would go there. They have a DREAMY Peanut-Butter Chocolate Cheesecake. It is possibly my favorite dessert in the WORLD!

Today was cloudy. I don't understand it but cloudy days make me the most lethargic woman on the earth. I was doing great this morning, mostly because the sun was out, but once I came home from school I have just been dragging my feet ever since. I was able to do our laundry. YAY! But other than that, I took two naps, went for a short walk (hoping to get my blood pumping), watched some Harry Potter Previews, looked up some Christmas gifts online, and now I am STILL sitting on my bum blogging.

Austin and I at the BYU vs. Utah Game Last year- This was Austin's 1st BYU football game. 

Tomorrow Austin and I are going to the Football Game with some friends. I hope it is not cold, I think it will be a lot of fun . . . that is, if BYU does well. Otherwise, it will just be frustrating.  . . and cold.

In conclusion, on lethargic days like today, I have found that laughing just helps a lot. SO, I usually do two things to help me laugh. 1. Visit mylifeisaverage.com.   For some reason, as stupid as these are, some of them make me laugh SO hard my gut hurts. 2. I look at old/funny pictures. Here is what I found today (These were part of a date we went on):

Austin trying to be the "Y" on the mountain.

"Um . . you might want to come see this." 

Happy Friday everyone!

Christmas Wish-List

Austin has a HUGE presentations tomorrow, SO I get to have a date with me-myself-and I tonight. Nights like these are good because I do get a lot of done. I have been able to make dinner for tomorrow, read my scriptures, work on my research paper, do NEXT week's reading, and now, do this blog post! It is great to get stuff done, but I miss my honey. 

Great news though, Iron Chef is on next on the Food Network, so that will keep me company for the next hour.

For my blog post today, I have decided to put up my Christmas Wish-List--not to imply anything . . . really. Just to share things that I love and have been eying this year. So here they are in no particular order:

  1. Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts  & Encyclopedia of  Sewing & Fabric Crafts

2. Food Network Magazine Subscription (Although Martha Stewart Magazine would be okay too)

3. Bent L Top's Glimpses Beyond Death's Door

4. A new exercise DVD (Any suggestions?)

5. Clothes

6. Jewelry-Necklaces

7. Floral Arranging Book

8. Scarf/Gloves

9. More Flower Headbands

10. Games

11. And for the dreamer in me . . . a new ipod. I could really use one that is more than 1 GB and will last me longer than 2 hours. 

There you have it. Rochelle's Christmas Wishlist. 

Sunset Today

Family Cookbook and ENFJs

I know I mentioned this in my last blog post, but I am just so excited about this, I HAVE to mention it again!

For my family meal management class I have to create a family cookbook. You know how some families have recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation? Well, we don't have THAT many of those, but I am going to START this line of passing down recipes. I am including recipes that our family all knows and loves like Grandma's rolls, Aunt Shirl's Frog Eye Salad, Grandma's Pancakes, Cousin Natalie's desserts, Cousin Jen's Salads, etc. Along with these recipes, I have asked people to also attach memories that they have with that food that we can include in the cookbook. I have also asked for them to contribute recipes that they just love and wanted to share.  I hope that this is something that is passed down and is cherished for years to come.

I took a Family History class here at BYU, and I'm not going to lie, it was not a good class. I didn't learn hardly anything, and if anything, it discouraged me from doing family history. BUT, it really got me thinking about things that was want preserved or remembered. One of these things is food. If there is one thing our family knows how to do, that would be EAT! SO, I consider this cookbook one of my contributions to family history. Does that count?


Lastly, I work at the Career and Academic Success Center. We administer Career Interests tests, one of which is the MBTI. This will tell you your personality type. Mine is ENFJ. It is AMAZINGLY creepy how well they can pin-point who you are in a nut-shell. Basically, I can get anyone to do anything I want because I am a great leader and motivator. One of my strongest points and weakest points is that value my relationships with others VERY heavily (aka. I am a HUGE people-pleaser). Just ask my dad about the many nights I cried and cried and cried of a situation just because I didn't want to hurt someone's feelings. It stresses me out. One thing that I really liked about my personality type is that we are "acutely" aware of what appropriate behavior and non-appropriate behavior is. I am very aware of my behaviors and how they come across. It blows my mind how accurate this profile is.  Anyway, for some reason it is really entertaining to have someone else tell you about yourself. I find it very interesting. I like learning what other's personality types are. I wonder what Austin's is . . . . hum . . . .

"For everything you have missed, you have gained something else, and for everything you gain, you lose something else.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Ah, Monday. I have decided to stop hating Mondays because it just makes the week last longer and the weekend seem further and further away. So, on that note, today was actually a pretty good Monday.

I am currently in an Adolescent Development class. We talk about things that really make me think. It gives my brain a work-out and I like it! Those are the classes that I am paying for! Today we talked about "autonomy" or this desire that teens have to gain more independence with no additional responsibility. I remember reading a book called "Choose to Learn". I would  highly suggest this book for parents. Yes, it meant for teachers. . . but isn't that what parents are? Teachers with no pay and life-long hours? : ) Anyway, this book talks about autonomy and how to use it to help children learn.

Another thing that my teacher said is that you need to "control" your teens with flexibility. If you make it a control issue, then it will become one. What this means is you give them the responsibility to choose what their actions are going to be, but you control the consequences. Isn't  that was Heavenly Father does? Sometimes that even means letting students or children fall on their bums sometimes and watch them pick themselves back up. This principle is taught in John L. Lund's "How to Hug a Teenage Porcupine." (Which is another great resource for parents, by the way. I know, I am not a parent, but it sure seems like good stuff. : )

Today at work, no one really came in, so I found myself reflecting on what I am grateful for . . . again. But this time, I really started thinking about how grateful I am for my Momma. I don't think I realized how hard this was going to be. . . but it really has been a blessing in disguise. Right now I am compiling a family cookbook. It has been SO much fun to get together all of these fun recipes that bring back so many memories and will hopefully be something that is passed down from generation to generation. I think I speak and feel a lot through food. I have thought a lot about some of the food my Mom made for us. . . and I am just so grateful. She worked so hard and made AMAZING dinners. . . even though she hated making dinner. I am so grateful that she let me help her make dinner and that she taught me skills that I never really knew she taught me. I am so grateful for her righteous example and sweet smile and laugh. I am so grateful for the daily phone conversations we had. I was thinking about all of this at work and tears started to well up in my eyes, and what do you know it. Someone HAD to come into the office RIGHT at that moment! Of course.  I have a great Momma. . . and I miss her. . . a lot. I decided to read this, and it really helped me put things in perspective.

Probably one of my favorite pictures . . . EVER!

It was a good Monday. I almost have all of my homework done for this week AND next week. I am a happy camper!

Thank You

Thank you so much to those who have donated to help the Teemant Family and thank you to all who participated in the 5K fight for cancer. There were over 500 people who registered for the race! That is GREAT! You can still donate to the Teemants anytime by either clicking on the button on the top left of our blog, or donating money to the Teemant Family Cancer Fund at any Wells Fargo Bank. 

I also wanted to say thank you to everyone who shows any little interest in our ordinary student lives and read our blog. I love reading your comments, ideas, and input. I want you to know that I do actually read most if not all of your blogs and LOVE reading them! I need to be better about commenting on your blogs, but know I do read them and love them! 

I am so grateful for all the love and support Austin and I receive every day. We are so blessed to have amazing family, sweet friends, and wonderful ward members who bless our lives with service, love, and memories. I know it isn't Thanksgiving yet, but I wanted all of you to know how much we are truly grateful for you. I personally, am also grateful for all of the support I have had getting through this year of ups and downs. There are many people who will have no idea how much they have helped me and are still helping me. Thanks for the wonderful examples you are; we love you!  

Thank you so much! 

Clean House

I've decided that I am excited to have a house of my own. I love our apartment, but the only thing I don't love is the washer and dryer. I have never liked public/shared laundromats. They are a blessing, that is for sure, but they do have their awkward moments. For example, last week, I was waiting for the washer. I waited, and waited, and waited. No one came to switch out their laundry, so finally I just did it for them. I am not a fan of touching other people's underwear, even if it just got clean. Well this week, someone was anxious to get their laundry in (I was maybe 5 mins. late) and switched ours. I am not a fan of other people touching my underwear. But it is what needs to be done with a shared washer and dryer. Hence, why I am excited to have my own house with my own washer and dryer so I can wash my clothes whenever I want, and not have to worry about other people touching my underwear.

Saturday was SO fantastic! I cleaned our apartment . . . like deep cleaned. It took all morning, but boy was it worth it! It is amazing what a difference a clean apartment can make. Even such a simple thing as having clean floors, or no dust, or crumb-free counters can make a big difference. I feel so much more relaxed, comfortable, and healthy in a clean apartment. It is great!

My mom talked a lot about making our home feel like the temple--clean, pure, comfortable. Our homes are where we spend most of our time, therefore, it should be a place where we want to be. By having our homes clean, orderly, and organized, we are allowing the Holy Ghost to be in our homes. It makes such a big difference. The whole world seems better when our houses are clean and organized. For more quotes on keeping a clean house click here.

Don't You Hate it When . . .

Don't you hate it when your alarm goes off, it is cold outside, and all you want to do is sleep all day?

Don't you hate it when you fall asleep in your first class because you are so tired?

Don't you hate it when you go to work and it is SUPER slow and NO ONE comes in?

Don't you hate it when you totally waste an hour on silly things when you have a To-Do list forever long?

Don't you hate it when say you aren't going to eat something and then you do it?

Don't you hate it when you attend a required event, but you feel that it is a total waste of your time?

Don't you hate it when have to ride your bike home after dark when it is cold outside?

Don't you hate it when you come home and you need to eat, but you have no motivation to cook dinner?

Don't you hate it when you have no modivation to do anything . .  like that 6 page paper that is do Friday?

Don't you hate it when you get really, really bad heartburn, so bad that you think a hole is going to burn through your throat?

Don't you hate it when you feel bad that you didn't cook dinner and a hungry hubby comes home?

Don't you hate it when you get caught up in silly little things and forget that life is beautiful, that every moment is part of our mortal test, and that we begged for every bit of it?

Don't you hate it when you lose perspective of why you are here?

Thoughts on a Tuesday Night

Tonight is Tuesday night. At 7:00 pm, I thought "Hey, our oven is dirty, I should 'clean' it!" So, I set the oven on the "clean" setting and continued doing my homework. Pretty soon I smelled something funny. . that would the oven. Okay, so ovens make funny smells when they are cleaning. Then my eyes started to get a little irritated. I looked up and our apartment is a little smokey.  . . . that would be the oven. Okay, so ovens give off fumes/smoke when they are cleaning. I then start feeling very warm. . . that would be the oven. Okay, so the oven makes our whole apartment a sauna while it is cleaning. So I open a window and get some fans going. I then look at the oven an see that there are three hours left of this! *sigh* . . Perhaps I picked the wrong day/time to clean the oven. I now will be waiting up till 10:30 pm for the oven to finish cleaning. I guess I can get a lot of homework done during that time,  . . . if I can see it. Austin was meeting with his group tonight. I called him, told him that his blonde wife doesn't know how to plan events such as these, and that he might want to consider staying at school an extra hour rather than try and get homework done in a stinky, smokey apartment.

So here I am. . . . waiting . . . . one hour left!! Take a tip from me, perhaps a cold EVENING where it is crucial that you get a lot of homework done, is not the best time to "clean" your oven.

Winter is Here

Winter is here, it is cold out side, and there is snow on the mountains. I'm trying to convince Austin to move somewhere like Arizona, Texas, or California where there is no snow. I would be okay with that.

I have mixed feelings about the holiday's approaching. I hear girls talk about how much their moms bug them or drive them crazy. It's hard to hear people talk about their moms in such an negative light, when I would give anything just to have my mom "bug" me again.

They say that the year after the death of a loved on is the hardest. I am anxious to just get this year over. This year will be very different. No traditions, no familiarity, no Momma.  I am not even going to spend Christmas at my house, we are going to Austin's. Which I am actually very excited about it and think it will be helpful. I do think it will be a good year, just very, very different with possibly a few rough patches.

Our family is trying to decide what to do at the "year mark". Do we treat it as any other day? Do we make it a big deal? Do we have a ceremony? Do we invite the whole family and all the friends? Do we do something with just our little family? If you have any suggestions or ideas, we would love to hear them.

Teemant Family

We want to make sure that the Teemant family has a wonderful holiday season. Remember, TEEMANT FAMILY 5K THIS SATURDAY!! Visit Fivetofightcancer.com to register or get more info. You can also donate using the button on the top left corner of our blog.

UAFCS Conference

This weekend was a super fun weekend! I got to go to the Utah Association of Family and Consumer Sciences (UAFCS) conference up in Park City. I really, really enjoyed it.

Friday night we had a lovely dinner of salad, rice pilaf, garlic Parmesan rolls, and your choice of salmon or Malibu chicken. Do you see why I was so excited about the food?! Then we heard from Darin Adams, the host from the TV show Studio 5. He was SO super funny! Oh my goodness, he had all of us crying we were laughing so hard! He sang us a beautiful song about green Jell-o and how that is the only TRUE way to show someone you love them . . .is with green Jell-o.

Darin Adams with the BYU FACS girls

Anyway, he talked to us about "passion". I really enjoyed it. He had us make a bracket of 8 hobbies we really like. By the process of elimination, we had to identify our #1 hobby that we were most passionate about. That is something that we need to include in our life because that is what is going to give us energy and make us want to wake up in the morning. Then he had us do the same activity with 8 tasks that we do at work. Think of how much funnier work would be if you were able to identify what you love about your job, what you are most passionate about, and work on that. Great stuff huh?


On Saturday, we woke up at the crack of dawn . . actually earlier. . . 5:00 am. on a Saturday . . . I must really be passionate about attending this workshop. We had to drive up to Park City from Provo. Our speaker on Saturday was Matt Townsend. He was also just WONDERFUL and super funny! Matt has a marriage help center where he teaches couples the skills they need to have good marriage. When he spoke to us, he talked about relationships and communication and how men and women communicate differently. Women imply, men think literal. Did you know that when women communicate they use their whole brain? Men use the left side of their brain when they talk, so they think in literal and logical terms. Women bond by communicating and talking. Men bond by doing activities.

Side note, tonight my wonderful papa took Austin, Becca, and I out to dinner to California Pizza Kitchen. It was SO yummy and it was fun to see my dad and Becca. And then . . . it clicked! That is why dinner is SO great! Because it is a bonding experience for men AND women. The men are doing an "activity" and the women are getting their "communication" in. WOW! click!

Matt Townsend with the BYU FACS Girls

Anyway, he has a book (which he gave to all of us for free!) called Starved Stuff . It talks about 7 needs that need to be met in a relationship. If one person in a relationship isn't having those needs met, that person is "starving". You can read more about it on his website.   It was just a fun weekend full of fun people at a fun place! It was great!

To top it off Austin and I got in a date night during this busy week! We have this new deal where we alternate weeks planning the date. That way every other week each person is doing something they REALLY want to do, and one person isn't loaded with the burden of planning all the dates. This was our first week doing it and it was my turn. I thought after such a stressful week, we needed some laughs, so we went to Comedy Sportz.  We highly recommend it! It was super funny, clean, and something different for a date night.

I was telling Austin, "I did a lot today, but I sure didn't get a lot done." Regardless, it was fun. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend as well!

Kid Snacks

Good news, I am feeling MUCH better today! Maybe it just took a day for everything to kick in. Regardless, I was SUPER grateful because Thursday is my longest day of the week. Austin is still studying for his last and final midterm this week. I think we are both super grateful that he is almost done!

Today in Meal Management we made kid snacks. Did you know that 25 % of a child's diet comes from snacks? A suggestion that was brought up today was just simply have healthy food in your house. They won't eat the unhealthy stuff if it isn't in the house. Don't bring in the greasy chips, pop, cookies, etc, and they won't be eaten. Bring in the healthy stuff and it will!

Also, let the child make a choice by offering options, but offer equals. Example: "Do you want an apple or an orange? Do you want pretzels or toast?" NOT "Do you want celery or Popsicle?"

I also learned that each snack should have something from TWO of the following food groups: dairy, fruits, veggies, and whole grains. Also, if you make a child's snack more visually appealing, they are more likely to eat them. The stuff we made today was SUPER yummy! I really liked them. Our group made this:

It is a bunny made from Rhodes bread dough . You then hallow out the "belly" and fill it with veggie dip. The veggie dip was really interesting, but I actually really liked it. I thought it would be gross, but it ended up being good.  Here is the recipe for the dip:

2 C   Applesauce
1/2 C   Sour Cream
1/2 t    Salt
1 T Worchestire Sauce
1/4 C Minced Onions

It was fun to make "cute" food. It seems kids are more likely to eat it if it looks cool. If only we could put sparklers in our vegetables every night . . If you want more ideas (other than sparklers in your creamed spinach) look here. 


Tomorrow I am going to a conference for my field of study-FACS. I am super excited! It will be SO fun. Don't tell, but I am most excited for the food. : )

Band Bash

Yesterday I went to my sister's band concert. It was called the "Band Bash" because they literally cram about 7 bands in one gym. They each take a turn playing and then the Marching Band ends with a "Bang!". Becca did such a great job! You all should get her autograph now because she is going to be a famous flutist some day! She is SO good! She is such a talented girl, she can draw, write, play the flute, play the piano, make a new friend every time she blinks, and is super creative. I just love her to death!

The Flutist

This is a big deal

 Everyone knows American Fork is famous for their bands, but especially their marching band. When they played their last number, oh my gosh, my dad and I sad there on the verge of blubbering. They are just so good; they give you goosebumps the entire song! I don't know how they do it!

Well, midterms are almost done. Three weeks till Thanksgiving break . . not that anyone is counting. And 5 weeks till finals. Poor Austin has studied his guts out all week and is a tad burned out. It's time for a break.
 

I have a cold. It stinks . . . well, I can't smell, but if I could smell, I am sure it would stink. I took Zinc the first day I felt sick and well, it made me nauseous. I have taken Zicam, Airborne, and some Cold/Allergy relief. I swear by Zicam. . . it is the BEST stuff to get rid of a col. . . but it's not kicking in enough for me this time. None seem to make much progress. . . hopefully today was the worst of it.  I think today was the LONGEST day of the whole semester. I just wanted to come home and CRASH. . . but alas, school, work, and homework called. I got it all done, but I am so tired I could hibernate for the winter.   . . that might not be such a bad idea.

I am thinking of purchasing this tissue dispenser for my ever-dripping snot. 

Parsnips, Pumpkins, and Bad Cake

First off, people have been wondering how the fundraiser Bake/Yard Sale went for the Teemants. They rose around $3,000 from the sale. Don't forget about the 5K coming up! For more information: http://www.fivetofightcancer.com/ If you can't run, you can donate using our wonderful button on the side of our blog. : ) 

Second, the primary program went AWESOME! I was a little scared when I went to the practice and I was horribly messing up each primary song for the program, but it went well. The cutest part was when one of the kids went up to cite a scripture and said, "Luke 19, 17 minus 21" aka Luke 19: 17-21. So funny!

Do you remember my post about trying new foods, especially veggies? Well, I finally cooked the Parsnip. I roasted it with some carrots and made a thyme glaze. Ooooo, it was good!  Here is a picture of the masterpiece: 

This weekend I went to the farmer's market and got two sugar pumpkins. Austin and I have been craving Pumpkin pie and with the pumpkin shortage, it is cheaper to make your own pumpkin puree. SO, we made pumpkin pie. Yum! 

On Halloween we noticed that the our lovely carved pumpkins that we put on our fridge started molding and leaked juice all over the top of our fridge. Yum. I opted to NOT take a picture of that one. 

Today, November 1st, marks two very important events. The first is our six-month anniversary. In someways it seems like it has been like this forever. In someways, I can't believe our wedding has already come and gone. But I would have to say that these past six months have been the best six months of my life! The second thing today marks is the anniversary of our first kiss. We decided that since this was such a special day, we would pull out our wedding cake and eat some of it. Well, the reception place left the flowers in our cake and it froze that way. We thought it wouldn't be a big deal . . . . WRONG! It made the WHOLE cake taste like wet, moldy, leaves. So, after a crumb or two of cake, we chucked the whole cake in the garbage. Sad, but what can you do?