Back, Back to School Again....

Yep, that's right people, I just applied to go back to school through BYU-Idaho Online! I figured that my life wasn't nearly as much fun as it could be, so why not take on one more adventure?! I'm hoping to start the online program in Business Management in April. To be honest, I'm totally freaked out by this....hopefully I haven't forgotten how to study ;)

What is that I hear???

I can hear it...it's coming...it's change...dun dun dun. Walking out of the office tonight my Boss asked me if I would be interested in taking on another responsibility. You know what? I think I am.

Hmm...overdue for an update....

So I went to California, and then Washington 3 times and Las Vegas for my very first time with a group of great friends and then on an amazing cruise with my amazing roommate Kelli, all before the end of the year! 2011 was a very good year for me when I look back at it. It included many adventures and wonderful time spent with family and friends. We were also blessed to add 2 more babies to our family in 2011. I love being an Aunt and I love getting see my siblings families grow. Granted there was enough hard times and tears spilt and stress added to remind me that life is not all roses. I feel really good about 2012. I haven't made any resolutions, or goals, yet, but I feel like this year I could make some big changes.... So keep your eyes peeled, it could be anything :)

Getting ready to zipline in Costa Rica!

It's a crazy life!

This is just a quick little update as I'm actually on my way out the door to go to California for the weekend! It's a crazy life, but someone's got to live it :)

Things are going really well right now! I moved to Cottonwood Heights in May, in with my old roomie from college who is AMAZING! I'm so lucky to live with her!

I went to Seattle a couple of weeks ago and ran in the Seattle Rock 'n Roll 1/2 Marathon for the 2nd year. LOVED IT!

And I'm still trucking on with the healthier life style. While I fudge a little here and there I'm doing pretty good at being consistent with my diet and exercise. Here's a recipe that I tried last night and it was delicious - enjoy!

Dari's Picante Chicken (From the Biggest Loser Cookbook)
1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup mile, medium or hot picante sauce
4 medium boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of visible fat
6 tablespoons light cream cheese from a block, softened
1/2 cup (1oz.) finely shredded Cabot 75% light cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread 1/3 cup of the picante sauce in the bottom of a 13"x9" baking dish. Set aside.

Lay chicken breasts on a cutting board and use a meat mallet to pound the chicken to a uniform thickness. Spread the chicken evenly with the cream cheese and place, cream cheese side up, in a single layer in the baking dish. Spoon the remaining 1/2 cup of picante sauce over the top. Cover the dish with tin foil and cook for 15 minutes.

After the first 15 minutes sprinkle the cheese over the chicken, recover, and cook for an additional 15 minutes, or until the chicken is no longer pink. Serve immediately.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving: 198 calories, 4 g carbohydrates, 6 g fat (3 g unsaturated), 83 mg cholesterol, 1 g fiber, 591 mg sodium

What will you have left?

We’ve been hearing a lot lately about not being “silly” women. This took root in my mind yesterday when we were learning about some passages from Isaiah. Specifically we were discussing Isaiah 3:16-24 which says: 

“16 Moreover the LORD saith, Because the daughters of Zion are haughty, and walk with stretched forth necks and wanton eyes, walking and mincing as they go, and making a tinkling with their feet:



17 Therefore the Lord will smite with a scab the crown of the head of the daughters of Zion, and the LORD will discover their secret parts.


18 In that day the Lord will take away the bravery of their tinkling ornaments about their feet, and their cauls, and their round tires like the moon,


19 The chains, and the bracelets, and the mufflers,


20 The bonnets, and the ornaments of the legs, and the headbands, and the tablets, and the earrings,


21 The rings, and nose jewels,


22 The changeable suits of apparel, and the mantles, and the wimples, and the crisping pins,


23 The glasses, and the fine linen, and the hoods, and the vails.


24 And it shall come to pass, that instead of sweet smell there shall be stink; and instead of a girdle a rent; and instead of well set hair baldness; and instead of a stomacher a girding of sackcloth; and burning instead of beauty.”

There is going to come a day when we are stripped of all the worldliness and all the things that we think define us. My question to you, all my faithful readers (HA!), is this: What will you have left? What will you have made of your life? What will define you? How will people know you without your “costly apparel”, jewelry and your fancy or non-fancy car? Will you know yourself? Have you developed your character in a way that is pleasing to the Lord, in a way that he can look at you and be proud?


I can honestly say that I’m not sure what would be left of me. I don’t look in the mirror everyday with pride and recognition. Some mornings it’s more like, “what the crap?!” So what is my game plan? I don’t think that I have one, but you can bet that I’m going to find a plan. I’m pretty confident that the Lord knows the plan, and I just have to be willing to learn it. Are you?

Little Things that make me HAPPY!

This morning I woke up to a...well, we'll say wonderful, text message. What made that text message wonderful you may be asking since it did wake me up? It was from a hot hot hot boy! I'll never complain about the hour of his text messages since he is so adorable! From there the morning really just got better. You see he got me out of bed, but my new running shoes got me on the go! It's just like when I get a new can of tennis balls. I just can't wait to crack that seal and smell the delicious smell new tennis balls! YUMMY! If you don't play tennis you probably don't understand that, just like if you don't run you don't get why new running shoes can get you out of bed on a Monday morning, but having that new cushioning under your feet making your knees & back feel all good just makes you want to run longer. HEAVEN! So here are my new running shoes---beautiful!

I also bought some more hot shoes (apparently "hot" is my word of the day), but I couldn't find a picture of them, so I'll have to toss that up later :) BUT there are a couple of other things that make me happy right now. The fact that my lesson went really well yesterday made me happy (that and the fact that it's over....) and knowing that a dear friend has started a relationship with a girl that makes him really happy makes me happy! So fingers crossed that the "Wake Up!" texts from the hot boy continue and that the love of running in new shoes continues as well! YAY!



Firehouse Car Washes-Fundraiser!

Hey all you local Utahans--it's that time of the year that you finally WANT to have your car washed! Firehouse Car Wash has teamed up with me to help me reach my fundraising goals for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. I'm selling 4-Alarm washes for $30 & 3-Alarm washes for $20. Firehouse Car Washes are seriously AMAZING!!! You won't regret this donation for a minute! If you'd like to buy a wash, or two or three, leave a comment or text me or call me or facebook me :) and I'll set your voucher aside.

4-Alarm: Voted "Utah's Best Wash" by Utah's best customers! The 4-Alarm gives your car added shine with water-whisking Weatherguard Protection. We'll shine and protect our dash with conditioner, too. We guarantee you'll leave delighted.

3-Alarm: Now you can cruise I-15 with pure confidence! Get the mud off the bottom and enjoy the shine of Weatherguard Protection. Be a superstar with tire shine and clean rims! We'll throw in an air freshener - you're welcome!

Race for the Date to Date for the Race Silent Auction--Spread the Word!

I'm Auctioning off Dates with my friends! Yep, you read that right! You can be the lucky "owner" of a night under the stars with one of 14 AMAZING people!


The date will take place on either July 22nd (Forever Strong) or July 29th (The Goonies). We will be doing one big group date (28 people in total) where we'll be going to the Utah State Capital for their "Movie Under the Stars" series and some other activities that night that will be announced later.



The Auction itself will be done on Facebook through messages. All dates start at $25 and increase in increments of $10. Two people will be auctioned per day, one guy and one girl. A "day" will be from 10:00 am - 8:00 pm.




To make a bid send me a message with either a current bid or with your maximum bid if you're not going to be around to make additional bids during the day. The Winner will be announced & messaged by 8:30 pm every night.




If you are the lucky winner you will have until the auction opens the next day (10:00 am) to issue payment online at http://pages.teamintraining.org/dm/rnrseatl10/mwootton or make arrangments with me to bring me a check or cash. If you do not meet the deadline the next bidder in line will receive the date.




The Auction will start on Saturday, June 5th and will conclude with the last people being auctioned on Friday, June 11th All proceeds will go to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and are 100% Tax Deductible!




I'll be posting a list of the participants later today and tomorrow, so keep your eyes open!




*If you're married you can't win the date for yourself, but you can win it for your single friend or family member that lives in Utah and would be available on the day of the date.




** If you don't live in Utah but do know people who do, please invite them to the Auction, the more people that know about it the better the results will be!

The Story of a Journal

Last night at my ward’s Relief Society Meeting we learned how to bind books. It was great fun! Well, to be honest, at first the books and I didn’t really get along that well, but we worked it out ;) I got there late (shocker!), but the Sister that was giving the message told us about how her Mom died when she was really little and her Dad died a little over a year ago. Her Sister (or Sister-in-law, I can’t remember which) put together a book for the family comprised of her Mom’s & Dad’s journals from when they were dating and newly married. There were entries that weren’t big or over the top, just about what happened that day, how work was, the weather, how much something cost. There were also the entries about their dates and how he proposed, what she wore at the wedding dinner. Did they know how much those things would one day mean to their kids? Most likely not, but what a wonderful blessing it will be for them and for future generations. After our discussion last night I’ve decided to recommit myself to being a journaler (I know, not a real word, but you get it!). Hopefully one day my journals will mean a lot to my kids. You never know, right?

"People often use the excuse that their lives are uneventful and nobody would be interested in what they have done. But I promise you that if you will keep your journals and records, they will indeed be a source of great inspiration to your families, to your children, your grandchildren, and others, on through the generations. Each of is important to those who are near and dear to us - and as our posteriety read of our life's experiences, they, too, will come to know and love us. And in that glorious day when our families are together in the eternities, we will already be acquainted." - Spencer W. Kimball, "Presidnet Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals," New Era, Dec 1980, 26.

My Book :)

A Beautiful Weekend with Beautiful People!

I had the honor to attend my cousin Jon's wedding this weekend. He married Holly Stansbury, a beautiful loving person. I only met her for real on Friday at dinner, but I was immediately impressed with how happy and caring she is. Granted, I'm sure that some of that happiness may have been caused by the fact that she was getting married the next day, but from what I heard from our family and hers, she's always happy! 

On Saturday Jon & Holly were sealed in the Salt Lake City Temple for time and all Eternity. It was a beautiful ceremony and I loved being within the walls of that beautiful and sacred building with my family. Holly & Jon looked so good!!! We kept comparing them to other couples in the area and Jon & Holly definitely won the prize for being the most classy couple there! On another note, can I just say my family is awesome! I had so much fun hanging out with my cousins and my Aunt and Uncle after the ceremony. They are hilarious!!! Plus I saw some traits in them that I see in my immediate family all the time! Too much fun.  

Congratulations Jon & Holly!

Have you ordered your Mother's Day Gift yet???

I found this cute store on a blog site and loved all the products! So I ordered my Mom's gift today, sorry, I'm not telling what I ordered just yet, in case my Mother decides to read my blog this week...:S Anyways, if you're looking for a great gift idea for your Mom, or maybe for yourself, check out this site! Enjoy :D

http://www.thevintagepearl.com/

Another Favorite Thing

What a wonderful way to start my day. I got to work this morning and as I was picking up my purse from the floor of my car I heard a little tap tap on my passenger window. There stood Stephanie, one of the other Exec Assistants here at Overstock.com and in her hand was a beautiful bottle....this bottle....

It's one of my favorite perfumes, DKNY Be Delicious, and it was just for me! My old roommate Jeanna brought me a bottle back from one of her cruises a few years ago and I LOVED IT! It's a perfect perfume for Summer time and it goes perfectly with Bath & Body Works' Tahiti Sweetie lotion, one of my favorite lotions :D It's just a favorites kind of week!

A New Favorite Thing

So I purchased this on a whim this weekend and I absolutely L-O-V-E it! I'm not big on having my finger nails polished, but I am digging this color. It's very sassy and fun and makes me feel like SPRING! YAY for Spring! It's called "Stolen Kisses" in the Nicole line of colors by OPI and I picked it up from Walmart. Enjoy!

Sunday Ponderings

Have you ever noticed how you can wear the same size jeans as someone else, you can be the same weight or the same height as them but the jeans won’t look the same on you as they do on them? The same principle applies spiritually. You can hear the same lesson, sit through the same sacrament meeting, even study the same scriptures, but the lessons you learn, the teachings that prick your heart and who you become spiritually will not be the same as the person wearing your identical jeans. We are all unique, we all learn differently; we all reflect what we learn differently. So there really is no point in comparing ourselves to those around us.



At the end of last year President Belnap came to our ward and had us all “pledge” to not partake in any self destructive behaviors. I would venture to say that that includes spiritually as well as physically and temporally. The only one you should compare yourself with is you. Continue to better yourself every day, but don’t allow yourself to be too self critical. Build yourself up through personal worship; through scripture study, temple attendance, personal prayers & service. Get to know you, not the worldly you, but the Child of God that is your true self. Only then can you truly understand your whole potential.

A Working Girl's Dilemma-UPDATE!

So I responded and agreed to lunch, but I pushed it off until next week due to a busy/unknown work schedule. I also had some stuff happen with a friend last Friday and I think that it started to really hit me last night and today I've been feeling pretty down about it. So I'm sitting here at work, just doing my thing and I get a call from the front desk, "Come get your flowers!" "Flowers?" "Yeah, you got flowers." "Ok, I'll be right up." As I'm walking up the stairs to collect my flowers names flash through my mind of who would possibly send me flowers. I get up there and see these:

Beautiful!

And yes, they are from the co-worker. (I think that I need to come up with code names for all of these people....suggestions?)