Feeling Good!

My sister Shannon has bought me a new purse for my birthday for the last two years and they have been FANTASTIC! I was so excited that I'd almost made it another year with the same purse when low and behold, it started ripping! :( So off to Target I went today in search of something cute and I found this:

I'm so happy with it! It's totally springy and light and cute! It's not as big as it looks, but I adore it! Happy Spring shopping! :D

Southwestern Chicken Pileup

This is from the Biggest Loser Cookbook. I love it! It's soooo good!!! Makes eating healthy worthy it! Enjoy!

1 teaspoon salt-free Mexican or Southwest Seasoning
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 small (1/4 lb. boneless, skinless chicken breast, trimmed of visible fat)
1 Whole-wheat pita (6 ½ “ diameter) -if I can't find the regular pita bread I use the pita pockets
2 tablespoons hummus, preferably red-pepper flavor
2 tablespoons no-salt-added canned black beans, drained - I forgot to put these on the first time and it's actually been really good, less calories I guess :D
Several red onion strips
Several red bell pepper strips
2 tablespoons chopped tomato
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons finely shredded cabot 75% light cheddar cheese - I just used regular mild cheddar cheese since I already had it at the house!
4 teaspoons guacamole or fat-free sour cream (optional)

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Preheat a grill to high heat (I use a George Foreman). Sprinkle the seasoning and garlic powder evenly over the chicken. Place the chicken on the grill rack. Reduce the heat to medium. (if it is not possible to reduce the heat, cook the chicken away from direct heat - I don't really worry about this, I just throw it on the George Foreman and let it go.) Grill for 3 to 5 minutes per side, or until no longer pink that the juices run clear. Transfer to a cutting board and let stand for 5 minutes. Chop the chicken into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.

Meanwhile, place the pita on the grill rack (I just put it in the oven for a couple of minutes at 450 degrees). Cook for 1 to 2 minutes per side, or until lightly toasted. Place the pita on a nonstick baking sheet. Spread evenly with the hummus. Top evenly in layers with the beans, the reserved chicken, onion, red pepper, tomato, cilantro, and cheese.

Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Let stand for 5 minutes. Transfer to a serving plate. Slice into 4 wedges. Top each wedge with a teaspoon of guacamole or sour cream, if desired.

MAKES 1 SERVING

Per Serving: 356 Calories, 38 g protein, 38 g carbohydrates, 6 g fat (1 g saturated), 68 mg cholesterol, 8 g fiber, 489 mg sodium

It's Difficult

So I'm trying to recommit myselt to being active in my own ward vs my friends wards. That includes all Ward Activities, FHE, Enrichment and all Sunday meetings. So tonight I head off to FHE for our movie night, fantastic activity I must say, but 16 girls and only 5 boys. So remind me why I want to be more active? The hope of meeting someone at an activity with those odds are very slim. Then you factor in that most of the guys there are younger than me, bonus points for me! Oh yeah, Utah singles wards are amazing!

I remember when I lived in Sammamish and girls would move to Utah and everyone would say that they'd be married within a year. HA! I've lived here for 4+ years and I can count on one hand how many dates I've been on. Okay, that might be exaggerating a little bit, but add my other hand and it's totally covered! I guess that's just the hand that life has dealt me, oh well.

Suggestions Please!!!

Okay, so I just got a new iPod Nano and I'm so excited! This is strictly for working out, so I need LOTS of motivating songs. Not motivating in the way of makes you feel so good on the inside, but the kind that make you move faster! So friends and family, starting letting me know what you listen to when you need to get up and move!

Single and Free

Whoever longs for their glorious days of singlehood needs to be slapped upside the head! Obviously they have forgotten about the nights that they sat alone watching tv, the days that they cursed themselves for “drunk dialing” or in our case desperation dialing. They have forgotten about the emotional roller coasters that they went up and down so often that they didn’t even realize they were on them half the time. As much fun as I can have being “single and free”, it sucks! I don’t want to go on vacation alone. I don’t want to go to the movies with the girls….AGAIN. But then, you meet a nice guy. The guy that you know your family would love and that your friends all think is fantastic, but wait, one small problem….no attraction. That’s right, you’re not attracted to him at all, he’s just not your type. You remember how people have said that once you get to know a person they become more attractive to you, but nothing has changed for you yet. So you’re taking all of this in stride and continuing to see Mr. Pseudo-Perfection when he straight up stands you up! There just went the Perfection Persona! So what do you do? Do you cut him out, do you continue to see him occasionally? That is the dilemma. So welcome to the fabulous world of “single and free”.

New Zealand Jingle Bells

In the spirit of me spending my first Christmas abroad and on the beach, here's a little carol for you! :D

Vocabular: Tog's are swimmingsuits and the other language is typical kiwi (or NewZealand native talk). Tea is afternoon and morning snack (not necessarily 'tea' and sometimes it means dinner). Have fun.

Dashing to the bay,in a Kombi campervan,

Christmas at the beach-the family's master plan.

Dad is at the wheel and Mum sits by his side,

we kids are squabbling in the back as we go for a ride.

Choir: Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,

Christmas in New Zealand on a sunny summer's day, ay!

Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way,

Oh what fun it is to have a Kiwi holiday!

We stop off at the shops, to load the chilly bin.

hokey-pokey ice cream soon dribbles down my chin.

We jump into the van, heading for the shore,

Dad fiddles with the radio to hear the cricket score.

Choir

Soon we're at the beach,our rellies shout "G-day!"

We swap our Chrissie pressies. A boogie board-hooray!

We change into our togs,and to the sea we run...

what a joy to splash and swim, summer's so much fun!

Choir

The grown-ups call us in, they've laid us out a spread:

lunch is fish 'n' chips, and cherrios in bread.

L&P to drinnk,pavlova, pud and pie

Anazc bikkies, choccy fish-it's cracker Kiwi Kai!

Choir

The kids are keen to play, but the Dads all want to nap,

the suncreen starts to fly, as Mums go slip-slop-slap.

We race out to the sand,to play a game of touch,

but all the cuzzie are too slow,because they ate too much!

Choir

The barbecue heats up,the sun begins to sink,

our tea's as good as gold,we've scoffed it in a wink.

It's nearly time for bed,we've had an awesome day,

celebrating Christmas time the real New Zealand way!

Choir

Overstock.com $50,000 Family Bailout Plan

I'm sending this to you because you are either family or a friend. I work at Overstock.com based in Salt Lake City, Utah. Today we rolled out our $50,000 Family Bailout Plan. Yes, it is a sweepstakes, but there is no purchase required. Essentially you enter to win $50,000 that will be used toward your debt. No, the money won't actually go to you, but it will go to qualified creditors of the winner or the winner's immediate family . Qualified creditors are limited to credit card companies, mortgage lenders, medical creditors, student loan creditors, and car loan creditors. There are a few other restrictions to the "debt", but please, visit the official entry page for that information.

If you are members of MY immediate family or if you live with me, sorry, you can't win :( BUT you can send this onto your family and friends that may benefit from something like this or who might know of someone who could.

Press Release: http://pitchengine.com/free-release.php?id=1636

Offical Entry Page: https://www.overstock.com/?page=sw_entry&id=78 Good luck!

HOT!!!

Okay, I’m admitting it, I have a problem. Yes it’s true…I am a shoe addict! I do not have room in my closet for a man and that is why I cannot get married, unless I get a bigger closet. :D This is a pair of my most recent shopping adventure! (I was looking for a pair of jeans and come home with two pairs of shoes, good thing my Dad doesn’t live here right now, he always harassed me about buying shoes!)
















Yeah, pretty much they are HOT shoes! I've gotten lots of compliments on them today at work! I can't quote some of them since they aren't appropriate. LOVE THEM!

Baby Lola

Volkswagon has recently come out with a new vehicle, the Routan. So Ari and I spend some time online tonight at the RoutanBabymaker3000 site. It was hilarious! But here is my little girl Lola Diggs---

Isn't she ADORABLE??? I think so ;) Ha ha ha!

New Times of the Year, New Things!

I'm so excited about these:

I just ordered them from Target.com. Got them on clearence! What motivated this you might be asking. Well....two days ago I took these pictures on my way to work:

Note how the leaves are turning colors and you can see the field and the Utah Lake, and yes that is snow in the mountains. Looks like fall, beautiful, fresh fall. Then today we get this:

Yep, lots and lots of snow! Well, as much as I love winter, I wasn't ready for this much snow just yet. In fact, my normal boots, you know the kind that have heels and zip up the side and that just make you look hot, aren't really walking around in the snow boots. So at lunch while I run out to pick up meals for nine people my toes are FREEZING and I'm trying not to fall while also trying not get hit by any cars in the parking lot of Zupas. Upon returning to the office one of the girls that sits near my desk has these adorable boots next to her. These are the first "rain" boots that I have ever liked, so onto Target.com I go! Hopefully they'll get here before the next snow storm!

Happy Halloween!

I went on a lunch grab today to this really cute Cafe in Holladay, it's called Normandie Cafe. We love ordering from there for different events at work. Their food is amazing! Janet's desserts are spectacular! Anyways, when we got inside Janet has all these cookies and cakes out for halloween. So cute! But on a big table in the corner is this ginormous gingerbread house. Usually when you think gingerbread house you think Christmas right? Well, this one was all decorated for halloween.

She has skull & ghost suckers and eyeballs on it. It's really very very cool!

Curly???

So I'm not a normal girl....I don't go get my hair done every six weeks. For me, it's more like every 6 months. When I do get it done I usually do something drastic, but still safe, like last time I got it chopped off and colored it blonde and red (I've been blonde since 7th Grade artifically). So this time I had lots of input from family and friends that I needed to keep it long and not color it. So I just went in for a trim. 40 minutes later I came out with the trim...and curly hair! Yeah, apparently I now have curly hair. What the heck?! I'm trying to welcome this new change to me...but I'm lost as to what the heck to do with it! So to all the women out there that once upon a time wished that your hair was curly or straight (or in my family's case, thinner), be careful what you wish for. It might come true and you'll have no idea what happened!

(don't judge: this is after working three 12 hour days going on 4 and having only 5 hours of sleep oh yeah, and apparently I'm sick.)

Fall Prime Time is Back!

So life as a young single adult is not as much fun as you might think it is or remember it being. Trust me! But there is one good thing that I can think of right now. PRIME TIME! We are LOVING it at our house. We get to watch new episodes every night while we work, do church stuff, grade papers, clean, do laundry, work out, etc. So we have our favorites, pretty much at least two a night! Thank goodness for Tivo and online viewing! The world of entertainment has come a long way in just a few years. Here are our favorites in case you haven’t gotten started yet:

Sunday
Desperate Housewives (ABC)
The Unit (CBS)
Army Wives (Lifetime)

Monday
Gossip Girl (CW)
One Tree Hill (CW)
Heros (NBC)
Chuck (NBC)
Life (NBC)

Tuesday
90210 (CW)
Privileged (CW)
House (Fox)

Fringe (Fox)
Biggest Loser (NBC)
NCIS (CBS)
The Mentalist (CBS)


Wednesday
Bones (Fox)
Private Practice (ABC)
Dirty Sexy Money (ABC)

Knight Rider (NBC)
Lipstick Jungle (NBC)

Thursday
Ugly Betty (ABC)
Gray’s Anatomy (ABC)
The Office (NBC)
ER (NBC)

Friday
The Ex List (CBS)
Numb3rs (CBS)

I am a Child of God

I was sitting in church yesterday dwelling on things that I probably shouldn't have been, you know, the day to day stresses of being single and trying to make it through life on my own, when we started to sing I am a Child of God. Now we sing this song a lot. We learn the words when we are very young and the melody, we learn the harmony and the decant part even! But it wasn't until I was sitting there, pondering my life, that the words really hit home with me.

"I am a child of God, and he has sent me here,

Has given me an earthly home with parents kind and dear.

I am a child of God, And so my needs are great;

Help me to understand his words before it grows too late.

I am a child of God.

Rich blessings are in store; If I but learn to do his will I’ll live with him once more.

Lead me, guide me, walk beside me, help me find the way.Teach me all that I must do to live with him someday."

It wasn't until I was wondering about how I got to where I am and how I'm supposed to move forward that I started to really listen to these words. I am a child of God. I do have parents kind and dear, and an entire family who I know would do anything that they could for me and me them!

My needs are great because I am a daughter of God, the Master of the Universe. Wouldn't you expect the child of Royalty's needs to be great? I'm striving to understand all that I can, before I run out of time, right? Do I really understand that I could run out of time? Do I take advantage of the opportunities that I have to learn from my family and my friends, from the very people that the Lord has put into my life at this time for a reason?

Rich blessings are in store! I had the privilege of attending the CES fireside at the Marriot Center in Provo a few weeks ago. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland was speaking about trials. (You can see the entire fireside here: http://lds.org/broadcast/ces/0,7341,538-1-61-1521,00.html) Near the end of the fireside (01:00:10) he said something that slapped me in the face. He said "I testify that bad days always come to an end, that faith always triumphs and that heavenly promises are always kept." WOW!!! I know that it's hard to always have the amount of faith that we think that we need, and sometimes it's easier to just give up, but where would that leave us? The Lord has made endless promises to us. Some of them apply to all of us as a whole and some have been made specifically to us as individuals. Let us all strive to do the Lord's will, so that we can live with Him again.

You are a child of God, and he has sent you here!
He has given you an earthly home with parents kind and dear.

You are a child of God, And so your needs are great;
He'll help you understand his words before it grows too late.

You are a child of God.
Rich blessings are in store; If you'll but learn to do his will you’ll live with him once more.

He'll lead you, guide you, walk beside you, He'll help you find the way. He'll teach you all that you must do to live with him someday.

Celebrating Life with The Biggest Loser

The new season started today and I’m so excited! We just finished watching this week’s episode and I am amazed at the progress the contestants made, but I have to admit, I have a favorite for this week. The yellow team: Coleen and Jerry.

Coleen is 23 years old and works as a receptionist. Her father Jerry is 51 and works as a Police Sergeant. Jerry can only work out for 30 minutes a day per the doctors on The Biggest Loser. So in order for them to stay on the show Coleen has to work out even harder than anyone else. For their first challenge they had to go on a hike and get their prize off of parachutes that had landed on the top of the hill. Coleen booked it up the hill and grabbed the Immunity prize for her and her Dad. Even with Immunity they both rocked the scales! It just goes to show that when faced with the challenges of life we can still rise above and succeed! I love when Biggest Loser is on! It always motivates me when I see other people taking risks and reaching out to change their lives.