Clam Chowder

As I mentioned in the last post, December is a hectic time for us. Anniversary, birthday, and Christmas. Our 3 year anniversary was on the 18th. I told Cory that we could count our Florida trip as our anniversary present to each other. But since we have friends who share our anniversary date with us, we went to see the Hobbit on the 15th with them. Great movie!

I worked on the 18th, but Cory took the day off. So when I came home, he was all dressed up looking all fine and sexy -he took me out for lunch. I wasn't expecting this at all. He is so sweet. But for dinner, I wanted to make something special. Clam Chowder. I'm pretty proud of myself. This is the recipe:

Clam Chowder

3 cans (6.5oz) minced clams -I used chopped clams
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup diced celery
2 cups cubed potatoes
1 cup diced carrots -I didn't have any carrots, so I didn't use any, and it was still good!
3/4 cup butter
3/4 cup flour
1 quart half & half -I used evaporated milk
2 TBSP red wine vinegar -I didn't have any, so I used balsamic vinegar, but you can also use apple cyder vinegar
1 1/2 tsp salt
pepper to taste

Directions

1. Drain juice from clams into a large skillet over the onions, celery, potatoes and carrots. Add water to cover, and cook over medium heat until tender.
2. Meanwhile, in a large, heavy saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth. Whisk in cream and stir constantly until thick and smooth. (It will get VERY thick) Stir in vegetables and clam juice. Heat through, but do not boil.
3. Stir in clams just before serving. If they cook too much they get tough. When clams are heated through, stir in vinegar, and season with salt and pepper.
4. If it is too thick, add milk.

 

When I made this, I wasn't expecting the butter, cream, and flour mix to get so thick, so I sacrificed my potatoes and celery because I was afraid it was getting too thick. I think next time I will let the veggie mix cook for a while before I start the flour and cream mix. But it still ended up delicious.

 

 I love this recipe, but I want to explore a little with other recipes. If you have a clam chowder recipe that you love, please let me know. Also, if I find one that we like more, I will post it. 

 

 Thanks for reading! Merry Christmas! Stay tuned.

I fail

So, this is the biggest fail of my life. Last post was before our trip to Florida. That's sad. So..... This is going to be a BIG update.

September: Florida was amazing. We really want to go back. We have a goal of visiting all 50 states together throughout our life, but, we liked Florida so much, we might keep going there. Since we came back I keep dreaming of the beach. It happens pretty much every night. I miss it so much. The beach is breath taking, and the same can be said about the harbor. We went on a dolphin tour, which was amazing. I had never seen a dolphin before, and I could not get enough of it. We went deep sea fishing. 5 hours on sea. Loved it. I could live on sea. I didn't want to dock (except for the fact that we had fish we wanted to eat). We held a baby alligator. We spent a lot of time on the beach. Definitely want to go back.

October: There was General Conference which is always amazing. One of my good friends, Robyn, spent that time with us. We made apple pie, went on walks, and what not. Then, my parents came down! I missed them so much! They stayed for the weekend, and it was so much fun! We did a whole puzzle in one weekend, it was demanding, but lots of fun. We made pie....again. Went to the Amish Cheese House and got some super awesome cheese. It was a very fun weekend!!! Halloween comes, and Robyn comes again. We spend our Halloween watching Harry Potter and drinking Butter beer.

November: I think the only thing notable was thanksgiving. Yum. Cory had to work Thanksgiving day, and some of his siblings had to as well, so we celebrated it the the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I love family! It was so nice seeing Cory's family again. After our celebration, Cory had to go to work, but I stayed up and my sister in law and I had a Twilight movie marathon. Watched all movies in 2 days. Way too much twilight. But it was fun. Mainly it was the company, but we did enjoy ourselves. We went to the theater to watch the last movie with our mother in law and other sister in law. There were moments in the movie where we just cracked up, and the only ones in the theater laughing. I think it was mainly too much exposure to twilight.

December: I have a job!! I love it! I have never had a job that I truly enjoy, but this one I do. I substitute teach. So far I have done elementary and high school. Did I say that I love it? Because I do! My money is fun money, and can you guess what we are saving up for? Another trip to Florida. :) This month also brings our anniversary, which we share with our dear friends, Mike and Robyn, so we are celebrating together by going to see The Hobbit! So excited. My birthday follows, so that's sweet. Then Christmas!!! Cory and I aren't doing much for Christmas. He has to work, and we already spent a lot for Black Friday, so we are only doing one small gift each other. Other news, my friend, Robyn, is leaving me. Her husband got a job in Kansas City (Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!), so they are moving. Bitter/sweet. I'm so excited for them to start living more comfortably, but we will miss them terribly.

Anyway, that's it. Hopefully I will be better about updating this more often. Have a wonderful December. Merry Christmas! And remember, God loves you!

It's been a while.

Wow. I haven't updated in quite some time. Sorry about that. These are my excuses: I broke our computer charger. Those things are pretty hard to break without cutting them with scissors, but I found the only way to break it with only a table.

This is what has been going on in the Compton home.

Cory and I are going to Florida this Friday, and I am so excited! It will be my first time to a warm beach. We have been wanting to go there since we got married. But, if you know my husband, you know that he does not spend money easily. He his the most frugal man I know. But we are finally doing this. I have been dreaming about our trip, and the dreams involved witches, piranhas, sharks, and a TON of tropical fish. So, I don't really know what to expect.

These last couple of months have been really stressful for me. I have always been a pushover, and a people pleaser. I have no problem standing up for other people, but when it comes to myself, I have the hardest time standing up for me. You have no idea how hard it is. After high school, I never had any problems with it. I was getting better. I can now stand up to people who respect me and I respect them. Well, a while ago, I was put in a situation that started out fine, but has turned for the worse. I started getting walked all over. I didn't realize at first, but when I did, it was like flash backs to high school. I have the hardest time standing up to this person. It has made me angry, every time I speak to this person. I hate those feelings, so I had Cory give me a blessing, and it helped for a while, but those harsh feelings came back. Cory and I started talking about this situation for a while now, and we decided that I am experiencing this to I and grow a back bone. I need to learn to respect myself enough to stand up to those I don't respect. This is terrifying to me. Just thinking about it is making my hands all clammy. But I have been given this opportunity several different times, and I didn't do anything about it. I will this time. Luckily I have Cory to help me. He will be my crutch for a while.

Along with that, there is Obama-care. More like Obama-stupid. Cory is a Physical Therapy Assistant. Most of the people he works with are on Medicare. Well, thanks to Obama, Medicare is going down the toilet. They have already made the first big change to Cory's job which will pretty much cut his hours in half. If they keep this up, he won't really have a job. So, pretty much this vacation is our last hurrah before we start penny pinching (like we haven't been doing that already) And it also means that I need to find a job. Well, I don't have a car, and we will be moving, and hopefully away from this town, so either it would be a long commute, or I would quit. But I also need to get a degree. But in what? I have a few ideas, but if Medicare continues like this, those ideas won't do any good. Ugh.

On a brighter note, Fall is coming! (HOORAY!) I love the Fall! I love the colors, and style, the temperature, everything. I love wearing scarves, so Fall is the time that I get to get those out. Also, November is almost here, that means Thanksgiving and Black Friday! And Cyber Monday! After November we get December, and that means, mine and Cory's 3rd anniversary (and our dear friends 2nd anniversary), my 22nd birthday, and Christmas. December is pretty fantastic!

Anyway, enough for today. Stay tuned, and remember that God loves you!

Another Odd Dream

Wow, it's been a while since I have been on my blog. The Olympics distracted me. That's a good excuse, right?

I decided to write my dream that I just woke up from. So strange.

The Ranch  by: Sara Compton

It was decided that we would spend our day helping Mr. Hanks with his ranch. He was old, and not able to take care of his large ranch as easily by himself. We pull up and find a very large pond behind his house. We arrived early, so we decided to take a dip in the pond before starting work.

Cory, of course, wanted to fish, and our good friend Mike joined him. Meanwhile, Mike's wife, Robyn joined me. We swam trying to find as many sharp rocks as we could and make a dam. My younger brother, Daniel, along with James, Thomas, and my dad, climbed trees and jumped in the pond.

We were having a grand ol' time when Mr. Hanks came to round us all up. He got in a small boat to retrieve Robyn and myself. We climbed aboard and waited to hit shore. It took a long time. The pond had grown twice it's size, and the tail end of the boat was sinking. Not making a big deal about this, Robyn and I sat there as the water rose to our shoulders. Soon, the boat was no good to us. Robyn was swimming, trying to keep up with the boat, while I had hung on and was being pulled. Out of nowhere, a shark starts chasing the boat. Terrified, I try to climb back into the boat (the tail end still under  water). Robyn was right behind me, trying, as well, to get back to the boat. The shark swims up next to us, threatening us as he bumped his nose against us.

"Let go of the boat and swim behind the shark. He'll leave you alone, he just wants to be in front." Mr. Hank yelled over our panicked screams. Swim behind the shark? Is he nuts? Let go of the boat? No, I must have heard him wrong. I looked back at Robyn, and the look on her face made it clear that I did not hear wrong.

With a prayer, I let go of the boat and  swam around the shark's front to get to it's rear. Big mistake. Angy that I had gotten in front of him, the shark opened it's large mouth and chomps down. Luckily I swim super fast and just missed being eaten for lunch. Instead, the shark had bitten down on the boat, taking off the whole end of it.

We reached the shore without anymore close calls. Mr. Hanks was right, the shark just wanted to be in front.

"I need help with some animals, I have so many, and I can't keep track of them." Mr. Hanks said as we started walking toward a large yellowed field. The field was empty except a woman in the center. She appeared to be eating the grass like a deer. Intrigued, I walked closer, with my arm extended. The girl-deer slowly walked to me.

"Isn't she a beauty? We found her in the woods with a broken leg. I mended it, and she's stayed here ever since. Her name is Wendy."

"Your animals are people?" I asked. I hadn't seen any another sign telling me different.

"No! That would be crazy. No, we clone Wendy, and turn her clones into different animals." He said matter of factly.

Suddenly, the field was full of animals. Cows, horses, pigs, dogs, any animal you would ever find on a farm was in that field. I walked to the horses and cults, at the same time a cult, acting much like a puppy, ran to me and licked me on the cheek. The more I petted the small animal, the more snugly it got.

We were assigned chores. I was to feed the horses and cults milk and tuna. Robyn was supposed to get the tuna, either by fishing for it in the pond or going to buy some. Mike was to work in navigation (after being awake, I don't know what use that was). Cory was to jump of the trampoline with the chickens, and then make pillows out of the feathers that had fallen out. Daniel was to take care of the dogs. Thomas to tell jokes to the cows. Jame and my dad were to make hats for the roosters.

As I sat on the bunk bed with the horses around me, waiting for their milk. I let only one on the bed with me, and that was the cult that had licked me. I had named her Sandy. Once I had finished feeding the horses the milk, I went to find Robyn for the tuna. I found her with Mike. As Mike worked hard, navigating us all, Robyn found a computer and started playing games.

"Robyn, where is the tuna?" I asked.

"Oh, yeah, um, I didn't get the tuna." She replied, not moving her eyes from the computer.

"But I need the tuna. That was your job. You failed us all."

"I'm just so tired of doing what's right all the time. I decided to be a rebel and not get the tuna." She looked at me and gave me a smirk, then turned back to her game.

"Robyn, if you don't do your part, how are we going to trust each other?" I was near tears now.

"Sara, don't you see? This is their was of using us. Their plan is to clone us, just like Wendy. But if we are bad, they wont want us. I'm saving all our lives."

Whatever. I stormed out of there. She can't be right. They wouldn't clone me. I needed that tuna. I went to find Daniel, and together, we went to the lake. It had turned into a kitchen, and we sat on the counter tops. Knowing the water was under the tile, I threw a rock down on the floor, and sure enough, it make a small hole, and water started to come up. The floor had started to become transparent, and I was able to see the huge tuna swimming beneath me. I forgot my fishing pole. The only way I could catch them was to use my leg. I knew I had to get the fish, but I was afraid of them swallowing my leg.

"Sara, I know it's scary, but it needs to be done. I would do it, but you are the only one with legs that taste like marshmallows." Daniel encouraged. He was right. Daniel couldn't do it. The tuna would hate his bread tasting legs.

After catching a few tuna, we decided to go back. The horses were probably hungry. But the only was to get back was to walk across the floor, and it was starting to sink. The shark was still in there, and I didn't want to risk my life again. Slowly, Daniel and I walked across the tile. We couldn't step on the blue tiles, because they weren't tiles at all, but traps made by the shark. The floor started sinking further and further, and I could see the shark and his punk alligator friends. We would have to run.

And then I woke up. I hope you enjoyed this dream. It sounds silly, but while I was dreaming it, it was terrifying and frustrating. It was so real.

Stay tuned. And remember, God loves you!

Regular old update.

Whoops, I forgot to do Tuesday's top five. But, in my defense, yesterday was a very busy day. When I finally had time to relax, the power went out, which means, no internet.

So, I have started working out. I work out with a few friends from church (if I didn't have friends, it wouldn't get done). We are doing Turbo Fire. It's a love hate relationship. It is so hard. I hate doing it, but I love the way it's making me feel! Right now, my legs (that includes every muscle there is in the legs), arms (but mainly my rotator cuffs), back, and butt are soar. So very sore. I love having sore muscles, it makes me feel like I'm doing something right. Although, I must admit, I'm not enjoying my sore back. It's just painful. Anyway, I'm almost done with week 1. I'm very proud of myself.

I have discovered something that has saved me from going insane. Recently, our apartment has been home to a ton of fruit flies. I don't know how we got them. Cory and I are very careful about putting food away, right away. My best guess is, that one of my neighbors are not careful about putting food away. (Doesn't surprise me). Anyway, I found a way to kill those little beasts fast (although, more seem to come). All you need is apple cyder vinegar, dish soap, plastic wrap, and a rubber band.

You put apple cyder vinegar in cup (about 2-3 inches) then just drizzle a half tsp to a full tsp of dish soap. (this pulls them in and sinks them to the bottom so they die). DO NOT STIR, OR SHAKE TOGETHER, just let the soap sink to the bottom. You then, put plastic wrap (I double it) over the top of the cup, rubber band it closed, and then poke a small hole in it. I poked a pencil through to make my hole, and it worked just fine. You want them to easily find their way in, but they are so stupid, they can't find their way out.

I made my trap early evening, and by 3AM there were about 15-20 flies already dead.

Well, that takes me to the end of the entry. Stay tuned. Remember to love your neighbor!

Tuesday's Top 5-Pet Peeves.

So I find myself thinking all week about what to write on my blog. Hoping that something exciting will happen so I could have this awesome story to write about. But, being home alone all day, not a lot happens. Sad.

So, I've come up with an idea. I will have a theme day. Once a week (or more, it I enjoy doing this) I have a themed blog. A general theme with changing details. Does that make sense? I did a little brain-storming, trying to think of something clever to do. I came up with Tuesday's Top 5. Each week is a different list of various top 5 things.

If you like this idea, feel free to steal it. Also, I have a list of 5 things to write about in the future, but I can foresee myself running out of ideas, so you could give me your ideas.

Today's is Top 5 pet peeves.

1.) It absolutely drives me nuts when people are loud when they eat. Moaning, talking with their mouth full, smacking their mouth while they're chewing, biting their utensil (it's not a pretty sound, please don't do it), etc. I can hardly be in the same room when I hear people doing said list. I have been known to just get up and walk away because I'm afraid I will yell and possibly strangle the person doing them.

2.)When people use the wrong past tense. I'm not a grammar nazi. But when I hear "I seen you yesterday!" or  "I drawed this for you." or "I swimmed in the lake." Or when they try so hard to use the right word, but add a letter, such as "I sawl you yesterday."  Really? Did you go to kindergarten? Didn't you learn how to talk? And it happens all over! You would think that only in the South would you hear such a thing, but no. I've heard it while in MN, I've heard it in Utah, Indiana. It's everywhere.

3.) Negativity. Now I understand the need to vent. I understand having a bad day. But when I see you are having a good time, laughing, smiling, whatever, and I ask "How's it going?" and the response is something like "Eh, it's ok, but I wish it wasn't so hot." or "Ok, but I wanted something different to eat" or "good, but I wanted to do something else" WHATEVER! You were just enjoying yourself. Do you need the pity party around you all the time? Is it to hard to admit you are enjoying yourself. But not only during activities, I see it all the time on facebook. When every status you have is negative, or complaining, or whining, you have a negative problem. Be happy. Smile. Admit to liking something. (my negative post about negativity...... convenient eh?)

4.)People getting in your personal space just to talk. Do our noses really have to be touching? I don't mind if it's a close friend and we're just goofing off, but I had better know you pretty darn well for you to get all up in my purple circle to talk. If I can smell your breath, and count your pores, we're too close.

5.)When people talk during a movie. I don't mind a question about the movie here or there. It becomes a problem when you are constantly asking what is going on, or why they did what they did, or my favorite: when someone just comes on screen an no one knows anything about that person and someone asks "Who is that? What are they doing?" You know just as much as we do. Watch the movie, and you'll find out. Or of course when people just have their own conversation during the movie. If it's a movie I've seen a 100 times, I don't mind if people talk, but if it's a new movie to me, and everyone wants to watch the movie and two people decide to talk about the drama in their lives to each other.......leave the room, or wait.

So there you have it. What are your top 5 pet peeves? If you want to join in on the list, next week will be top 5 habits. Stay tuned, and remember, God loves you!

Time flies!

So, some of you know that July 3, 2009 was the day that Cory and I first met. 3 years ago this past Tuesday. On that day Cory asked me to be his girlfriend, and to marry him..... little did he know... he he he. And then, the 4th of July was the 3 year anniversary of our first date.

I've been remembering those days and the circumstances leading up to them. It was amazing that we even met. For those who don't know, Cory and I met at a YSA (young single adult) activity. From what I understand, Cory hardly ever went to those, and almost didn't go to this one. Me, on the other hand, LOVED YSA. I wanted to be 5 minutes early and stay as late as I could. Well, I was staying with my sister, and they needed the car, so I was planning on going with a friend of mine. He baled on me the day before. Saying he was moving. So I called my friend Eden, who I was going to invite anyway, and asked her if she wanted to go "oh and by the way, can you drive us?". Luckily she did want to go, and she could drive us. (When we arrived, my first ride was there. Just having the time of his life. Thanks dude.) This was a very delicate window. Cory would probably not have gone to any more YSA activities and we would have never fallen in love.

I am so grateful for having Cory in my life. He is such an amazing man, and truly is the best man for me. I am so glad he didn't give up on me. I really had no idea how to be in a relationship, and I probably drove him crazy the entire time.

3 years. It's funny how one day can change your life forever. How Heavenly Father knows what you need at that time in your life. I had no idea why I needed to go to Kansas, I thought it was to help my sister through her pregnancy. It was because I needed Cory in my life for so many reasons.

I am so excited to celebrate our 3 year anniversary of marriage in 5 months. Time really does fly. I still feel like we are only in our first year of marriage. I am so glad I have eternity to spend with the love of my life.

Well, that's enough cheese. Stay tuned. Remember, you are a child of God, and He loves you very much!

We Are Spies

So the other night I had a crazy, wonderful dream. So here it goes.


I spy, you spy- a dream, by Sara Compton

Cory comes home from work and announces that his job is having him go to Italy for the week to help work on a couple of patients. Sadly, I couldn't go. After sitting around trying to come up with a plan that would not leave me home alone, we end up with the solution of me going to Paris, France for the week. (I don't know why, if we could afford me going to Paris, why I didn't just go to Italy with Cory)

Our bags are packed and we are on the way to the airport when Cory says "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too. But it's only a week, and we've been apart longer than that. We will make sure we chat everyday on facebook." I say, trying not to get too emotional. This will be the farthest we ever been away from each other.

"Be ready to leave by Friday, I will come pick you up and we can go home together." He's said this about 10 times before, but I don't stop him. This will be hard on both of us. So i respond "Don't forget me." We then share the silence. It's not an awkward silence. It's the silence that is so full of emotion and love, we don't need words. There are no words.

We get to the airport kiss goodbye. Not wanting to let go, but knowing we have to. I go to my gate and wait. I'm excited to see Paris, but do I really want to go without Cory? Isn't Paris the City of love? I will be all by myself. I numbly walk on the plane and take my seat. The person sitting next to me is way to chatty. Talking about their significant other sharing this trip together. Great. Just tune them out. Can't they see that I'm without my significant other? Do they have to be all kissy face in front of me? Gross. I fall asleep.

We land and I find a cab to take me to my Hotel. I don't know French. So it is easy to tune out the driver talking away. We pull up to the Hotel, and it is way too fancy for one person. I walk up, a bell boy comes and takes care of my luggage. I walk into the lobby. Huge would be an understatement. There is a museum to the right and a zoo to the left. There's an aquarium surrounding both. I wont even need to leave the hotel to be entertained, which is good, I would end up getting lost outside. I would get lost here too, but it should be easier to find my way.

Taking my time to see everything, I slowly walk to the front desk and say my name.

"Oh yes, Madam, if you would follow this fine young man, he will show you to your suite." The man behind the desk has such a heavy accent it takes me a while to dissect what he said. Finally, after looking like an idiot, I follow the young man with droopy eyes. My suite turns out to have 2 bedrooms, 2 kitchens, a pool with a hot tub, and a safe. The living could fit about 200 + people. The 80" TV makes me feel like I'm at the movies.

I get interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Hi Sara, your mom didn't want you in Paris alone, so she sent me" My Aunt Becky and a few of her kids walk in.

"Huh?" was all I could get out as I watch my cousins file in.

"Your mom didn't want you here alone, so she sent me. Sorry, I couldn't leave my kids home." Came the cheery response.

"Um, my mom does know that I'm 21 right? And that I'm married? She does know that she doesn't have to take care of me anymore right?" I'm getting a little frustrated. Not that I'm not happy to see my family, but warning would have been nice.

"Oh yes, but she recently watched "Taken" and she doesn't want you to end up like a prostitute." Ok..... I guess that's nice, but I wouldn't be talking to anyone anyways..... whatever.

"Well, I'm going down to the lobby. I'm taking the bedroom straight ahead." I walk out.

There are so many things to do in the lobby it's hard to know where to start. But then I spot it. Sitting a little taller than a toddler is a baby elephant. Ok, my mind is made up. I walk, almost run to the little guy. He is not in a cage, but sitting on a rug out in the open. I take that as permission to pet him. He is so soft. His tiny trunk out lines my face and we become instant best friends. I have to find a way to keep him. So, naturally, I steal him. I wrap him in a scarf and hold him like a baby and run to the elevators. Safe in the elevators I decide it's a good time to name the little guy. Christopher. Yes, Christopher is a great name for my new friend. I hurry Christopher to my room. He can wonder the suite during the day but at night I will need to put him somewhere. I settle on the safe. It's big and believe it or not, it has holes in it....not much of a safe.

Becky, being totally awesome, never asks about the elephant. Never asks how or why I have it. She just goes along with it. And no one down stairs seems to care it's missing. Success. The next few days go by in a blur. Now that I have a pet to keep me occupied, Friday came so fast. I wake up on Friday morning and let Christopher out. I go to the window to see the view. Instead I see Cory.

"Hi dear, are you ready?" He says with a huge smile.

"Is that a jet pack?" Is all I say.

"Why yes, yes it is. Come, I have a flying motorcycle for you, it's to carry all the luggage." So, as if this is all normal I pack my luggage into the flying vehicle.

"Cory, guess what! We have an elephant. His name is Christopher!"

"That is splendid Darling!" We are all packed up, but Cory decides he wants to blow up the balcony. We place the bombs, he flies a little ways off and blows it up. I'm still on the thing, so me, being totally graceful, and awesome, cartwheel up balcony as it hangs by the thread. Cory catches me and we fly off into the sunset.

We have to take a break over the ocean, so we find a small island. All of a sudden I have a 9 year old son that's been following us the whole time. He is obsessed with bugs. While we are on this small rock island, my son (for the life of me, I can't remember his name....I know. I'm a horrible mom) points out a round cave on a cliff that appeared out of no where.

"That is where we keep our fortune." Cory announced. And it made sense. Like I new it all along. We fly up there and enter the cave. The place is filled with gold bars, silver bars, copper bars (I don't know) and jewels. Right as we were about to leave we see an evil blue dude trying to steal our treasure. Cory and I whip out some awesome fighting moves. We tie up the blue man to a stalagmite, just out of reach of money. We leave him there.

"Dad," says my son, "How did you guys do that?"

"Well, son, your mother and I are spies. We have been for quite some time now. Let's go home" We fly the rest of the way home. We buy and awesome house (now that I have a son and an elephants, we needed a place bigger than our apartment) with a huge back yard for Christopher. And we live happily ever after, as spies.

THE END

Hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned. Remember God made you the way you are for a reason!

Catch up PART 3-goats

The rest of the weekend was fabulous! Sunday evening, we played the drawing game with Alicia's family. Sadly, Cory had to go pick up some goats in Alexandria, MN, so he couldn't participate in that game, but it was so funny. I was laughing so hard, tears were streaming down my face. Alicia's family is pretty amazing, I am not going to lie!

Later that night we played CURSES!! So much fun! But so hard! You really cant get distracted for one second or you get in trouble. I will buy this game. And it will be amazing.

The goats. Oh dear. So, my dad in law raises goats. He got rid of most of his goats this past fall, I believe it was, and so recently, he bought more. Two more that is. He bought them from a lady in Alexandria, MN. He was going to be going to MN the same weekend we were, and so to save him some time and the world from pollution with gas, we volunteered to pick them up for him. I thought it was one goat until the day we left I was informed it was two goats. So we travel up to MN with two dog crates and it doesn't look like anything is going to fit after we assemble the crates. But we continued.....mainly cause there was no turning back.

Cory gets the goats and I have to admit, they are so cute. But loud. And stinky. Their voices were pretty horse from crying all night, so they were high pitched and squeaky when we started our trip home. After a long while, they finally quiet down.....but they would start right back up if we put on music, or if we talked out loud. And then every once in a while, this foul, rank smell would fill the car. Lovely. So, we would roll down the window to get fresh air, but that would bring up the very loud duet of beating. The car smelled like a petting zoo covered in poop.

When we got around St. Joseph, it got very loud. We had to stop to find the goats and us. Now, I have to say, the baby girl was so cute. I would hold her and she would calm right down. She would nuzzle her chin up to my neck and just snuggle with me. And once we fed her, I'm pretty sure she slept most the remainder of the trip. The bigger and older boy goat would drink from the bottle without getting out of his crate. Well that wasn't going to happen. Not in the middle of town. So we give him some hay. That stirs Cory's allergies up, and it turns out, I have a hay allergy too. So that was wonderful drying while we couldn't breathe.

We named these goats. The girl is Belle. (from beauty and the beast) and the boy is Chip. (also from beauty and the beast). I wanted to name him Gaston, but Cory didn't want him to be a bad guy.

Well, that is the end of the catch up. I hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned. And remember to look both ways before you cross the street. God loves you!

Catch up PART 2

This part is telling about the wedding reception and setting up for it.

Cory and I arrived in Marshall, MN Friday around 2:30 PM. We walked into the Gym at the church (where the reception was held) and my whole family was there! (well, except James, he had to work, but he came later). I felt bad, cause I totally ditched Cory to give everyone hugs and completely forgot that he had never met my Grandma, Aunt Luann, Aunt Eloise, or Alicia. Luckily, he met everyone well enough on his own. (whoops) We were put straight to work. The room looked great already, but there was still tons to do. I had made cookie dough on Wednesday, and so for the remainder of the evening I made cookies. I made the best Chocolate Chip cookies in the world, and for the first time ever, I made Snicker doodles. They turned out great!

Alicia's reception was a beached theme, and it turned out so amazing! Her colors were white and blue and it was beautiful. We had balloons hanging from what looked like mid air, and there was a beautiful canopy the blue and white tulle. The center pieces for the tables were wine glasses filled half way with sand. The sand had shells and a flower surrounding a candle light. Around the wine glass were more shells, palm tree looking leaves and 2 more candle lights. It was so pretty!

The reception was so much fun. It had been way too long since I have danced with my siblings. I probably should have taken  it easy, my ankles are still sore from all the jumping and dancing, but I would do it again in a heart beat. Cory and I danced. This is a big deal, because my husband does not like to dance. So far, he will only dance with me at wedding receptions. This will change. :)

James and Alicia are so cute together! You can tell that by the way they look at each other and touch each other that they love each other so much! And Alicia was beautiful in her dress! Oh my goodness! She is such a cutie pie! I love her! I am so glad we are sisters!

 She had 4 cakes. They were beautiful!

 Where the Bride and Groom sat.

I wont put very many pictures of the reception until Alica or James have put them on facebook. But I these are a few pictures I took before the reception.

Well, that's it for today. I will continue this later! Stay tuned, and remember to respect others!

Catch up on the weekend PART 1

This weekend has been super busy but also amazing! There are many stories to be told about it. But the first happened on Thursday, May 24.

Cory and I were planning on leaving to go to Marshall, MN that night, so I was madly trying to get everything ready for the long drive. I was in the closet when I heard chirping that sounded like it was coming from my laundry area. This can't be. How would a bird get into my apartment? The sound must be traveling through the air vents. I continue packing but now it sounds like a bird is trying to fly out of my laundry space. I walk to the doors that open to the washer and dryer. It sounds like a bird is in my dryer. I call my dad for moral support. The conversation went something like this:

"Dad, it sounds like there is a bird in my laundry area. What do I do?"

"What?" laughter was in his voice. I can't blame him.

"Yeah, it sounds like a bird is in my dryer. I don't want to open my dryer in case it has rabies and it pecks at me."

"It wont have rabies"

"There is no way to tell till it's too late.... ok hear I go, I'm opening the dryer.........................empty. Maybe it's behind the dryer?" I carefully climb atop the dryer and pray that the angry animal wont try to kill me. But I see nothing.

"Why don't you call your landlord?" my dad suggests.

"Well, I'm not sure there is a bird in my apartment. I would look silly if they come to get an imaginary bird out." We hang up after I admit I might be over reacting. I continue packing. The chirping has stopped and I forget all about the bird.

I call my sister-in-law, Alicia to keep  myself entertained while I pack. But soon the chirping starts again, and it is louder than before. Even Alicia could hear the helpless bird. I am not imagining this. This bird is in my apartment....somewhere, it is scared, angry and hungry. I call the land lord and she laughs but says she will bring someone over to take care of it.

2 hours later someone finally comes by. I explain the problem, but I really don't have to because the bird is so loud I'm sure my neighbors can hear it. He tells me the bird is in my dryer vent. .......ok..... He disconnects my dryer and pulls my dryer into my kitchen, and says he will get his leaf blower and blow the bird out the other end. Is that even safe?

He leaves to get his blower and I continue packing. I'm just minding my own business when I hear the bird getting louder and louder. And then SWOOSH! The bird flies out into the kitchen. What the heck? This bird in going crazy! It's flying all over my apartment and it's getting caught between the window and blinds. I call my dad again for more moral support.

I'm pretty sure I'm screaming on the phone. The bird is hissing and flying everywhere. I'm standing there with the door open, but the bird refuses to go out. Finally, by the time the guys come back with his leaf blower, the bird flies out, almost hitting the guy.

He still blows the leaf blower through he dryer vent just to be safe. Turns out there was another bird in there. I named the crazy bird Fabio.

I will continue this post another time. Part 2 will come tomorrow. But until then, be good, stay strong, and choose the right. And remember, God loves you! Stay tuned.

Solar Eclipse

As a little girl, I remember reading about solar eclipses. I remember reading about the one 18 years ago, reading about the kids in Brazil getting to see it. I remember reading that you had to have protection over your eyes to see it. That fascinated me. I had always wanted to see one. Well, last night, I finally got to.

It was a couple of weeks ago when I read that the solar eclipse was going to happen on the 20th of May. Mentally I marked that day. Vowed not to forget. Well, last night, I was at my in-laws house and we were just talking. The date was brought up. "What was so special about May 20?" I kept thinking to myself. Then it came to me. The Solar Eclipse.

My sister-in-law and I looked up when it would start, (about 3 minutes from when I remembered. Close call.) that it was only going to be a partial eclipse. I couldn't remember if we needed protection, so me, being the brave soul, went outside to check. It was around 7:20 and it was so bright. I squinted at the direction of the sun and it hurt my eyes so badly! My eyes continued to hurt throughout the evening. We were trying to figure out a way to view the eclipse, when my blessed father-in-law spoke "I have a welding helmet in the shed." I ran outside. I was not going to miss this.

I think I was more excited than my nephew. I will admit, I was acting like a little girl. But come on, the last one was 18 years ago. We looked at it at the beginning of the eclipse and then set an alarm for 10 minutes to go check again. It went over the horizon around 8:30, but we checked till that time. At one point a cloud threatened to cover up the sun for the rest of the evening, but it left after 10 minutes.

This was such an amazing experience for me. Now I will have to view a total eclipse. We weren't able to take pictures, the sun was too bright even through the helmet. But I don't think I could forget it. So cool!

Day dream

Don't deny it. We all day dream. Where is your world you go to? Mine? Well, I'm still in the process of perfecting it.

Picture this: An island with lovely mountains scattered around and forests surrounding the beach. There is a beautiful valley beyond the mountains with a large lake that leads into a stream that wonders here and there. No one knows where it goes. That is it's own business. Moss lines the stream with wild flowers bunched together here and there. Rocks disturb the water as it goes along on it's journey; and somewhere down the way, the earth seems to disappear, causing a small waterfall. Where the water meets the earth again, various amphibians have claimed it as their home, filling the air with music as different animals stop to drink.

The forest is filled with all kinds of trees. Trees that you wouldn't find together, but they bring out each other's beauty. Maples, evergreens, willows, sycamores, etc. Song birds occupy the branches, while squirrels and other rodents make the truck and roots their home. Somewhere in the middle of the forest, you almost have to get lost to find it, sits a large tree stump surrounded by a bed of pine needles, making the ground soft. This is where we pick nick on occasion. Small paths are embedded in the ground leading to berry bushes.

The lake has cat tails growing in groups spotted around it. The water is clear. You can spy on fish as they make their own journey. Fish off all different colors make the lake look like a canvas of moving paint. Bright oranges, purples, blues, reds, greens, and other colors not yet named. It's calming.

 On the east side of the lake is a log cabin. 3 bedrooms, kitchen, living quarters, and den. Large windows are seen in front and back of the house. In the front yard lies a path leading to the lake. Shrubbery and flowers guard the home. In the back yard is the wood pile, the vegetable garden, and a small shed. A warn path leads through the forest to the beach.

The sand is white and welcomes the waves. The light dances on the water, calming your mind. The water is always the perfect temperature, always inviting. And although the sea creatures are beautiful, one must eat, and there is an endless supply sea food.

The animals on my little island are docile, for the most part. Every day dream needs unexpected thrills. You get lost and chased by a rogue pack of wolves. This like this can never be predicted. One must stay away from the caves in the mountains, bears and mountain lions have claimed that territory. Although, tame when coming to you, when you interfere on their grounds, they become protective.

I can often find Cory sitting at the edge of the lake, fishing. Or sitting in a bed of pine needles in the forest. Here, Cory has no allergies. We can lie on the grass without the slightest negative consequence. It's a wonderful place. A place where material things are not needed. A stress free world.

 Blog about the world you find yourself going to when you need to escape. But as always, thanks for reading. Stay tuned, and remember that you are a Child of God!

Blueberry Muffins!!!

I find that my cooking/baking have phases. When we first moved here, I wanted to cook dinner every night. Something new. And I did, for a while. But now my attention is on desserts and pies, cookies, candies, muffins, sweet stuff. It will probably switch back before too long. But, I made these Delicious blueberry muffins that I would like to share with you!

Delicious Blueberry Muffins!!


Ingredients

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1/3 cup milk

1 cup fresh blueberries

1/2 cup white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup butter, cubed

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1.) Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and get your muffin sheet ready!

2.)Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture. (well it says to sprinkle......mine didn't sprinkle very well, so I caked it on there, a thick layer, and it was so good!)

Crumb topping

Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking. (again, I caked it on there)

Bake for 20-25 min or until done. --I cooked mine for 20 and they were perfect! I usually  have a hard time not burning muffins, but I didn't burn these!                 

Well that's it! I hope you enjoy the muffins! If you have any recipes you would like me to try, I would love to know them!     

Stay tuned and remember, God loves you!

        

My stupid weakness

Yesterday, I was talking to my brother about books. We were talking about our love for reading. How we love when a book takes us out of this world and puts us in their world. I love forgetting about the worries I have when I read a book. My poor husband always feels abandoned when I get into a book. I get so engrossed in it, that I don't hear him talking to me until he's said my name 500 times.... Sorry babe.

As I mentioned in my first blog post, I need books with dialogue. I don't know what it is, but when a book doesn't have a lot of dialogue, my mind wonders. I have a bad habit of skipping ahead to the dialogue. When I hear the book being read to me, I can concentrate just fine. I have been trying to read this trilogy called "The Sword of Shannara". Hardly any dialogue. If they talk, the bad guys catch them, and the good guys win. No one wants that. So why can't I read this book that is packed full of intense get aways, and cutting it too close hiding from the bad guys? That is the question. So this brings me to:
My new goal.

I am going to try and get over this weakness. It's a really lame excuse not to read books. There are so many books I've been wanting to read, but steered clear of, because the lack of dialogue. It's sad, really. Books like "Count of Monte Cristo", and "The Lord of the Rings", and, well, "The Sword of Shannara". So, last night, I picked up my book again. I separated myself from all distraction. (although, no distraction can be the worst distraction...) and I read. I read a chapter and a half that contained 2 VERY short conversations. It was mostly "They talked about this. They argued about that. So and so told them he didn't like what they were doing." and so on. I tried to get into it's world, and you know what? It kind of worked. I enjoyed it all. I'm excited to read more today (and before yesterday, I hadn't touched the book in several months).

I think I will always be drawn to books with dialogue, but I hope that the point will come that don't need it to enjoy a book. I would love to hear some books that you have read and loved!

Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned, and remember God loves you! See ya!

I love to see the temple, I'm going there someday!

Today in church, we had a combined meeting 3rd hour. The Youth taught Primary and nursery so the adults could attend together the lesson that the stake wanted us to receive. It was on Temples and the blessing received from going to the temple. This is one of many things I love about my church. The work done in the temples makes it possible for ANYONE dead, or alive to receive the necessary ordinances to receive exaltation.



There are over 130 temples on the earth today. All over the world. And engraved on the temple it reads "Holiness to the Lord The House of the Lord" What an amazing blessing to have a place on Earth where we can be in the Lord's presence! It is a place to receive Heavenly guidance, peace, comfort, knowledge, and so much

more.

I am so grateful that Cory and I were sealed in the temple. Literally the most beautiful experience I have ever seen and been apart of. Knowing that our marriage lasts for eternity is such a comfort. I can not picture my life without him, and thinking about the after life with out him is so painful. We will be married for eternity.

It is no coincidence that we were place on this earth with a family. Families have a Divine role on earth. So if it's so important on earth, don't you think it would be important in Heaven. God is our Heavenly Father. So doesn't it just make sense that we have a Heavenly Mother? Jesus is our brother. There is a hymn that we sing at church called "O My Father" the third verse reads "I had learned to call thee Father, thru thy spirit from on high, but, until the key of knowledge was restored, I knew not why. In the heavens are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare! Truth is reason; truth eternal tells me I've a mother there." (text by Eliza R. Snow) It makes sense. Families were made to be eternal. We are given the opportunity to receive eternal marriage in the temples. What a blessing!

Another wonderful blessing the temple offers is helping those who have passed on before they accepted the gospel of Christ. God loves each of us. No matter what we do. And if one of His children died before accepting him, or even hearing His glorious name, He gives them a chance to accept Him. So, in the temple we do work for them by proxy. Which means we represent them. Since they can not be there physically, we represent them. They can either choose to accept or deny the work. But we want to make sure that everyone gets that chance. How amazing! The love the Heavenly Father has for us is unmeasurable.

The Kansas City, MO Temple will be dedicated on May 6. The past 2 weeks and this week the temple is having an Open house. CNN covered this and did a very nice job. this is the link. http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2012/04/07/taking-a-rare-tour-of-a-mormon-temple/?iref=allsearch

I am so grateful for temples! I am so grateful for the gospel in my life. I'm grateful that Cory and I are eternally married. That our future children will be with us for eternity as well. I love my Heavenly Father. I love my Savior, Jesus Christ.

Thank you for reading. If you are not a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (The Mormons) I hope you learned something and have more respect for my faith. If you have more questions, you can go to lds.org to find answers and a church building near you. We are glad to talk about our beliefs, but not what goes on in the temple by detail. It is not secret, it is sacred. Please respect that.

Stay tuned! And remember, God loves you very much!

Picture 1- Salt Lake City Temple

Picture 2- Winter Quarters Temple (Where Cory and I got married)

Picture 3- San Diego Temple

Picture 4- Washington DC Temple

(For some reason, when I add pictures, it doesn't recognize where I started a new paragraph.....This bugs me. I'm sorry if it makes it hard to read for anyone. I am trying to figure out how to fix that. No luck so far though....)

Strawberry Pie!

Pretty much ever since Cory and I have had a kitchen, I have been dying to make a pie! So finally, Cory and I went to look at pie filling. It was ridiculous how expensive they were! We ended up buying fresh strawberries and right when we got home I went straight for the computer to look up recipes for strawberry pie. But I wanted to bake it. Needless to say, my first pie was a success!

The pie was a bit runny and a little too sweet, but that's not that bad. So, I will be sharing the original recipe, and then put down what people have said to do to fix the runnyness and stuff... if that makes sense...

First, the pie crust recipe I used:

1 cup and 2 TBS of flour

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup oil

Blend with fork

Add 2 TBS water

mix till it sticks together (should be hard to mold and keep together)

Form a ball and put between 2 sheets of wax paper and roll with rolling pin.

To keep the dough from sticking to wax paper, lift up wax paper, put back, flip over whole thing and lift the wax paper on other side...

You will want to repeat this recipe for the top crust. The hardest part I had was laying the crust over my pie pan. Cory helped me shift it around, so you might want a good helper to help. :)

Second, the delicious pie!

1-1/4 cups white sugar

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

4 cups fresh strawberries

2 tablespoons butter

1.) Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees F

place one of the crusts into bottom of pie pan.

2.)In a medium-large bowl mix sugar, cinnamon, and flour. Lightly mix in the strawberries. Pour filling into pastry lined pan and dot fruit with butter. Cover with top crust, cut slits on the top. Seal and flute the edges.

3.) Bake for 35- 45 min, or until crust is slightly browned.

Like I said, it will come out a little runny. So this is what was suggested. I haven't tested it yet, but I will. Never you worry.

"Reduce the sugar to 1 cup and added 1/4 cup cornstarch to thicken the juices up...Overall, very good!" Jen (http://allrecipes.com/Cook/18648117)

They all pretty much say that. If you try it before me, let me know how it turns out! But that's it. Thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it. Stay tuned. Remember God loves you!

Probably the best dream I could ask for!

I have become obsessed with elephants! They just melt my heart. In Joplin, they have a circus half way house thing for circus animals, and every time we drive by I look for the elephants.

Cory and I were talking about going to the zoo sometime. We went to the zoo web site to see what they had. I was looking at their pictures and just seeing them put me in such a good mood. But only 2 or 3 pictures weren't enough. I had to see more of those adorable animals. So, naturally, I googled elephant's. EEP! So cute! That night, as I fell asleep, this is what I dreamt

My best friend, Lucy, the elephants.

I decided to be a volunteer at the zoo. Just to be around the animals would be awesome. I wasn't expecting to have any cool jobs, I knew I would just be cleaning up the poop.

As I walked into the elephant habitat, I large, but very cute elephant started walking toward me. It held out it's trunk to me as if a gesture to shake my hand. I shoot the trunk and continued doing my duties. The elephant started following me around and eventually started helping me. My co-workers started to gather around to watch.

"Lucy has never done that before! Sara, I think Lucy likes you!" my friend, Joe, pointed out.

I turned toward Lucy, giving her my attention. This was what she wanted. She held out her trunk and took my hand. She led me to a large shelf full of trinkets. Lucy would grab the odd objects on the shelf and hand them to me, she was showing me her treasures.

Our friendship blossomed over the next few weeks. I would give her gifts, and as she would open the box to her gift, she would do a happy dance (the cutest thing ever). I would play music while I cleaned the elephant area, and she would dance to it.

I brought Cory over to show him my new friend. Lucy greeted him with a kiss on the cheek by her trunk. She hugged me with her trunk, lifting me into the air. I would ride her, and teach her new tricks. We were best friends.

But then sadly, I woke up. I miss Lucy. She was the greatest!

Anywho, thanks for reading. Stay tuned, and remember to choose the right!

Hello April!

I don't know if it was just me, but March seemed to craw by so slowly! I think if the activities I did at the beginning of march and it's weird thinking that it was only a month ago. It seems like at least 3 months ago. Why is time going so slow for me? Excitement. Funny how time always does that. It's like punishment for not looking forward to everyday. What am I so excited about? Well...

In May I get to meet my new sister! My big brother got married at the beginning of March. I haven't met his new bride, but we have talked on the phone. What I can tell, we are so much alike! I am so happy that James is married! I love that my new, sweet, sister-in-law makes him so happy!

In June is my sweet husband's birthday! He will be turning 26. *crazy* I don't know what I am going to do for this wonderful occasion, but I want to do something big. But cheap. My present to him isn't exactly on the cheap side, so I want the event to be cheap, but fun. It's crazy to think that Cory and I are in our 3rd year of marriage! To me, that sounds like a long time (I know to all you "old married couples" you are laughing, but think back to when you were in your 3rd year...), but then, at the same time, I feel like we have been married forever! (in a good way) I barely remember what it was like without him!

In July is the famous Hale Family Reunion! Cory will finally get to meet my extended family. And that is a lot to take in, and he wont know any of the inside jokes. I am excited but nervous. I want this time to be really fun for him. But I can only see it as overwhelming. We have some family (Cory's side) and friends in the Salt Lake area, so either we will both take a day off and see old faces, or he will just take a break. But I am very excited to see my family.

Now that you know why times seems to have slowed this last month. Let me take some time to let you know that March was very enjoyable! I am loving my calling more and more, and I feel closer to the ward. The best part of March? The end of it. General Conference! Cory and I watched it at home. It was very relaxing and lovely. In between the sessions on Saturday, I baked a strawberry pie (recipe will come soon), it was so good! I am quite proud of myself! My very first pie. I love having a kitchen! (Have I mentioned that before?)

Sunday sessions of General Conference were amazing as well. I needed every talk.

Exciting news: the Kansas City Temple open house will be going on for the next couple weeks. I wish we could go! But sadly, our weekends are full. Kansas City is far away for us. But we are planning a temple trip at the Oklahoma City temple to make up for it.

Well anyway, now that my novel is complete, enjoy reading. Stay tuned. Remember, you are a child of God!

Yummy Lentil Tacos recipe

Cory and I are (more Cory than me) on a high fiber diet. This is a recipe we tried a few weeks ago and we LOVE it! So without further ado, the recipe:

Yummy Lentil Tacos:

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 garlic clove, minced (or 1/8 tsp garlic powder.)

1 tsp canola oil (I use about a TBSP)

1 cup dried lentils, rinsed

1 TBSP ground chili powder

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp dried oregano

2-1/2 cups chicken broth

1.)In a large nonstick skillet, saute the onion and garlic in oil until tender. Add the lentils, chili powder, cumin and oregano; cook and stir for 1 minute.

2.) Add broth; bring to a boil. reduce heat; cover and simmer for 25- 30 minutes or until lentils are tender. Uncover and cook on high for 6-8 minutes or until mixture is thickened; stir occationally. The mixture should look like this.

3.) Put mixture on taco shell with desired toppings and enjoy the wonderful taste!

NUTRITION FACTS: 2 tacos = 364 calories, 11g fat (4g saturated fat), 17mg cholesterol, 815mg sodium, 45g carbohydrate, 9g fiber, 22g protein.

With the taco shells, instead of buying them, you could (this is what we do) cook them in a skillet with oil or about 10 sec on one side, flip and cook for 5 sec on other side. It will make them warm and yummy. OR you could use this idea http://pinterest.com/pin/252975704038604092/ (we tried them, I liked it, but they didnt turn out pretty, some of them curled over eachother.)

I was worried that they wouldnt be as good without meat, but it's actually very good! I couldnt taste the difference.

I need your help!

I need your help on something. The person who lives in the
apartment above us smokes…..and that icky smell leaks through the air vents
into our closet. Yeah. Gross. I find myself spraying my closet down with smell
goods about 20 times a day. It wouldn’t be so bad if it were in the living
room, but the closet is small, so the smell has no where to go and it is strong and it gets on our
clothes. It’s giving me headaches, and it makes my eyes burn. I try very hard
not to complain about this, because I really do LOVE our place, and I wouldn’t give
it up, but, that being said, does anyone know of a more efficient way on how to
get rid of, or keep on top of smoke smell? I spray constantly to keep it off
our clothes, but I have more things to do than spray all day. If you know of a
way PLEASE let me know! I will be forever in your debt! Thanks!

Stay tuned and remember to say your prayers!

Hawaiian Baked Chicken YUM! recipe

So, as I have mentions so many times that I sound like a broken record. I love my apartment. I love cooking in my kitchen. And one of mine an Cory's favorite dish is Hawaiian baked chicken. Holy buckets, it's amazing! I will share the recipe, but I don't have any pictures.....we eat it right away.

This was the first meal I made here in our apartment, and I was so nervous it would be awful. When you haven't cooked in two years, it's nerve racking to try and make amazing food. But if I may toot my own horn, I did quite an amazing job! (toot toot) And it is super easy! It probably takes about 1 hour from start to finish (if your chicken is already thawed.)

This comes from my cookbook: The Taste of Home Cookbook

Hawaiian Baked Chicken

12 boneless skinless chicken thighs, thawed (we have also used thighs with the skin and bone, and we didn't have any problem)
2 cans (8 oz each) unsweetened crushed pineapple, undrained
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup spicy brown mustard
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoon butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon paprika

1.)Arrange Chicken in a shallow baking dish coated with nonstick cooking spray. In a small bowl, combine the pineapple, broth, mustard, honey and butter. Mix well.

2.)Spoon over chicken; sprinkle with paprika. Bake uncovered at 400 degrees for 35-45 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 180 degrees (or until center of chicken is no longer pink)

Yields: 6 servings

Nutrition Facts: 2 chicken thighs with about 1/4 cup sauce = 285 calories, 10 g fat (4 g saturated fat) 118 mg cholesterol, 288 mg sodium, 22 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 26 g protein.

We eat this with rice, which is so good with the sauce. I would put salt on top after cooking, it brings out the flavors so much better. I will sometime make more of the sauce mixture, I like the chicken swimming in it. :) I hope you enjoy! It really is very good! Let me know how you like it!

Stay tuned, and remember God loves you!

Hooray for private potty time!

I can not say it enough, I love my home! You all are probably tired of hearing it, but I cant help it. We have noisy neighbors, (I guess nothing is perfect) but we have a box fan that helps with the noise. I was reminded of a Hotel story the other day. I was taking a shower and heard a bang, and I suddenly panicked. Where was I? Was this all a dream? Have the cleaning ladies come?

When I lived in hotels, I have been barged in on while taking a shower or going to the bathroom. More than once. It surprises me how many time they don't knock. There was one day, they knocked, I let them in. They cleaned, vacuumed, sprayed smell goods, and made the bed. Then they left. It was time for my shower. I jumped in, enjoying the hot water, when I hear the door opening......

"Hello?" I call out, but no one answered my call. Then I hear whistling. Can they not hear the shower running?

"HELLO?" I yell. I hear swift walking TO THE BATHROOM!

"Is there anyone in here?" Said an unfamiliar voice.

"Yup." I call.

"Oh dear! I am so sorry ma'am! Do you want me to clean up?" is she joking?

"Nope." Why on earth would I want her to clean a clean room while I'm in the shower?

"OK, well, you have a good day ma'am."

"Yeah......You too....." I hear the door shut, and before I finish the shower I ran to lock the door and put the "do not disturb" sign on the door handle and then locked the bathroom door. But it was hard to enjoy the shower after that. I kept trying to hear if anyone else was trying to come in.

It is so nice not having to worry if someone barging in while your in the bathroom. It is nice cleaning my own things. I remember watching the cleaning ladies "clean" and I wanted so badly to either taking the rag from them and me do it all, or say "you missed a spot" Not all cleaning ladies were awful. Some were very nice and patient, and knocked. But others.........wow.

Anyway, thanks for reading. Stay tuned, and remember who you are, look both ways before you cross the street, and don't run with scissors

Teeth

What do dreams involving teeth mean? I never had dreams about teeth until I got my root canal. Now I have dreams that my teeth are chipping just by me eating an apple. Or my root canal tooth falls out or breaks in half. What does that mean? It drives me nuts! When I wake up I quickly, but carefully, run my tongue over every tooth just to make sure there is no damage. It's stressful. I have good dental hygiene, so I don't know why I'm having these dreams.

When dreams come up in conversations I am involved in, people talk about teeth dreams and in the past I have always counted myself to be lucky. My dreams involved other stressful situations, but never about teeth. Until now. What has changed in my life to make me dream these dreams? I got married, but I don't think that has anything to do with my teeth. I've moved a lot, but then again, what does that have to do with teeth? I am at a loss. Maybe if I find out why I am having these dreams, they will cease. Or at least that is what happened with my car dreams. Well, they haven't totally gone away, but I rarely have them now, and when I do, I can halfway wake up and change the dream I'm having.

Please help me. I love my teeth, and I don't like waking up thinking I have none. Thank you!

Stay tuned, and remember "God made you special, and He loves you very much" -veggie tales

Callings......

3 days after moving into the Pryor ward, the bishop wanted to meet with us. We thought it was to ask us to speak in church, or just to get to know us. Boy, was I wrong. He started talking about all the callings people wanted us to have, and how he had "special" plans for us. Scary. Then, he started telling us about himself, and wanted to know things about us, not telling us our future callings.

I was starting to get nervous. What if I was called into Relief Society? Or Primary Pres.? Butterflies were starting to gather in my stomach, and I just wanted to know now, and not think about it. 30-45 minutes later I was called to into Young Women's as first councilor. I had just told Cory the day before that I did not want to be in YW. I found it intimidating. These girls are closer to my age, they are hyper, and I am quiet and passive. I was terrified, and still am.

I met the pres the next Tuesday. That eased some worries. We have to start by scratch with everything in YW because it was not being done correctly. New beginnings is on the 22, and we have to start all over. It is nice, however, just hitting the ground running. Getting busy right away made me forget my worries.

I met the girls the next day, and I am more excited. I'm still worried about them liking me. I want to be someone that they can trust, and I want them to feel like they can come to me with anything. I want to help them feel and know the Saviors love for them. I want to help them see their true potential, I want to help make their testimonies grow. I want to help them with their problems. I hope I can be the person this ward needs. Cory and I are the youngest adults in this ward, so there aren't many people for us to mingle with and relate to, but we aren't far from friends and family.

Anyway, that's my update. Once Cory gets set apart, I will let you all know his calling. We would appreciate prayers, we've never had these callings before, and at least I am nervous. I guess I cant speak for Cory. Thank you for reading, stay tuned, and remember, you are a child of God, and He loves you very much.

My humble abode

Sorry I haven't updated in a while. Cory and I are out of Hotel living and moved on to apartment living. We don't have Internet at the moment, but that should change soon. How is apartment living different from Hotel living? Every way possible, and I'm loving every single one!
Cory and I looked at a few places before settling with this one. It is a very nice one bedroom apartment. I love placing my key in the front door and hear the noise as it unlocks the door to my small, but perfect home. It has been so long since I have had a place to call my own, and I have missed having a home.

When you get engaged you assume that you will go straight into living on your own, making your own way through life, but it wasn't that way for us. For the first 8 months of our marriage, we lived with Cory's parents, which wasn't bad at all, They made us feel right at home, we had our own space, making one of the spare bedrooms our living room, but still, it wasn't my own. Then finally we found a very small apartment in Carterville, MO. It was very small, but it was home. Not to our liking we shared it with some cockroaches, who also wanted it to be their home. I would catch them under cups and wait till Cory came home so he could kill them. During the 10 months of our hotel living, I would have given anything just to be back to our crammed, bug friendly apartment. But I know that for some reason, and I don't know what reason that is, we were not meant to have our own place for very long.

Then Pryor was the place for us. Permanently. I almost didn't know what to do with myself. I had trained myself not to look at houses/apartments because it would just make me upset that I didn't have one. It was so odd looking at apartments, calling to look at them in person, and really actually thinking about getting them. It didn't seem real to me. And then Pryor Creek apartments came along. I looked at them first, and loved them, but not getting my hopes up. One day, unannounced Cory and I went over, paid the deposit, and application fee. The lovely lady let us know the next day that apartment building 1717 number 8 was ours, and we could move in that day. I could not contain my excitement! I was finally going to be able to be a proper wife! Cook meals, make the bed, do the dishes, hang pictures on the wall, decorate. I could not wait.
Unpacking was a blast! And thanks to Adam, Dawn and Mason Compton we were able to move Saturday, January 21. The day after we were told it was ours. Unpacking our things that we having seen in 10.5 months was like Christmas to me. And some of the Kitchen stuff I hadn't seen since the wedding, two years ago. I loved organizing the kitchen, choosing where everything goes. I can not explain to you the feeling of using your own things to cook with, and your own plates to eat off of, and finally being able to feed others, and having people over, and not being the guest anymore. I feel so grown up now that I have a home. I will go into the kitchen, just to look. It is my favorite part of the apartment, so big, so spacious, and it's mine. Cory laughs at me when I wipe down the counter for the 20th time that day, but I cant help it. It's something I haven't done since we were married. Our last apartment in Carterville had a foot of counter space. so we never used it. I sweep all the time.

I feel like I'm playing house. I was called into Young Womens, and we had a presidency meeting at our place. I made dinner for Kelly, the Y.W. pres. and I had never made this meal before, I loved opening my cookbook, and making this dish. and by the way, it was amazing! I don't mean to toot my own horn, but toot toot.

Anyway, you are probably tired of hearing about my love affair with my apartment, so I'll stop, but the point is: I have an apartment and it is amazing!

But enough of that. Thanks for reading, stay tuned, and remember that you are a child of God, and He loves you!

Cinderella is not my Friend

When I was newly married, my dreams went from weird to weirder. I remember one dream I had shortly after I got married. It felt to real at the time, but now it just cracks me up. I think I had watched "Into the Woods" before I went to bed. I hope you find it as entertaining as I do.

Cinderella is not my Friend

I was so excited to go on this vacation with Cory. It would be our first vacation together, and my excitement could not be measured. It seemed like it took ages to get to our little shack on the beech, and to be honest, I was expecting the shack to be a little more elegant then it was. It had dirt floor, the bed (an old wiry mattress on the floor) was dusty and old and smelled of cats. And the shower was a shared shower down the road a bit. You know the showers at girls camp? You would rather not shower than shower with the nasty bugs that made it their home. How could you possibly get clean in that? But nevertheless, it was what we could afford, and it was ours for the week.

One day, Cory wanted to fish for sharks, hoping if he caught one, we could cook it up and eat it. Not wanting to fish, I went my own way. I watched people at the beech, I looked at the little shops that were set up on the beach, I sun bathed, but it was lunch time, and I was getting hungry. Cory had taken a packed lunch, so I went back to the shack to have a PBJ sandwich. After opening the door, I was surprised to see Rapunzel on our bed.

"Can I help you?" I ask, my voice pregnant with annoyance.

"Oh no, but I can help you" was her cheerful response.

"You do know that this isn't your shack right? My husband and I payed for this shack, it's ours for the week"

"Do you you know where your husband is?" she ignored my questions.

"Of course I do, now, if you don't mind, I would like to eat in peace." I opened the door to show that it was time for her to leave,

"I wont bother you. I just came to look for my friend, Cinderella. I thought she would be here." She giggled. Disney princesses can be so annoying with their over enthusiastic smiles and giggles.

"Why on earth would Cinderella be here?"

"Well, your husband has been hanging out with her all day. I though they would-"

"What? Cory is out fishing, we are going to have shark for dinner if he catches anything" I
defended. This couldn't be true.

"Little fun fact, did you know that your sweet Cory and Cinderella used to date in high school?" She said as she twirled her hair,

"No, but it doesn't matter, because he is now married to me, and I am hungry, will you please go?" My voice was starting to rise, when Cory came crashing through the door, with non-other than Cinderella.

"Hey sweetie, this is Cin-"

"Cinderella, I know, nice to meet you. Your friend has been waiting for you, Cinderella, you guys may leave now, I want to eat." Just as I finish that sentence, Cinderella giggles. What could possible be so funny about that?

"Cory invited me to eat with you, I hope you don't mind" was she winking at Cory?

"Of course he did." I glared at Cory to make a point, but he never saw it. He pulled out a chair for Cinderella, and they started chatting away. Rapunzel gave me a meaningful stare from the bed. I really wanted to punch her, and cut off all her hair. And the meal went as such: Everything Cory said, Cinderella would giggle, and Cory would light up. Everything Cinderella said was so obviously flirtatious that made me gag, but made Cory blush. I wanted to stick her in the ocean and see how she would survive the sharks. A phone rang, interrupting my fantasy of watching Cinderella die.
"Hello?" How could she be in her 20's but still sound like a five year old. Ugh, it was gross. "Oh, no! We will be there right away! Rapunzel, Ariel and Belle need our help, we need to leave now!" You have got to be kidding me. Ariel and Belle? But to my relief, they left, but not without Cinderella blowing a kiss to Cory.

"What. Was. That?" My voice was really starting to rise.

"What? I haven't seen her in forever" Came his response.

"You do realize that WE are married, and that you flirting with her is wrong, don't you?"

"I was not flirting with her! Sara, this is not a big deal. We are just friends. I think you are making this a bigger deal than it really is." Maybe I was. After all, she was the one flirting. The words coming out of his mouth weren't flirtatious. I was just jealous. He married me, not her. I win. So we go to bed (I know, it was only lunch, but that's how magical dreams are.)

The night was way too short, and the next day brought a romantic evening out with just me and Cory. I unpacked some clean clothes, and headed for the showers. The showers were NASTY!!!! There were buckets of water just in case the water stopped running, you could rinse off with the water inside. Not like I would even think about it, it looked with the water hadn't been changed in days. There were dead bugs floating at the top, there was a green slime on the bottom...not going to happen. After my shower, I turn off the water, and hear giggling. Ugh, not her again. I slide the curtain away to find my clean clothes and dirty clothes dripping wet. You have GOT to be kidding me. Cinderella standing there pulling my bra out of the bucket. Great. Now not only are my clothes wet, but they are nasty too. What am I going to do now? I reach for my towel, the only thing halfway dry, wrap it around me and step out of the shower.

"How old are you, Cinderella?" I asked, my voice full of bitterness.

"23" came the up beat response.

"Are you sure you aren't 14? Because I'm pretty sure that getting someones clean clothes soaking wet after a shower was only funny in the 8th grade. You aren't as nice as you seem in your little movie." People were stopping and laughing at me. People I knew. They were just watching this, as if it were some comedy. And Cinderella was there laughing too. I could bury myself in the sand and die. MOVE ALONG PEOPLE! Gosh! I could feel my face turn red, and Cinderella noticed.

"Awe, look, Sara's embarrassed." I had to force my hand not to punch her in the kidneys. Oh, but I wanted to so badly!

"Cinderella what did you do?" came another voice. Still high pitched, but it was stern. Belle was standing here. "Oh, Sara, I'm sorry! We told her not to do anything to you. She is just jealous. She still has feelings for Cory. Here, take my cloak, and go change into clean, dry clothes."

"No thank you, I have had my fill of Disney Princesses for a life time. I'll just go in my towel"

"Oh my gosh! It was just a joke, golly, cant you take a joke?"

"Shut up, Cinderella! Sara, there are dead bugs on the towel, dear. Please take my cloak."

"Fine, but just remember, I don't like you guys!" I grabbed the cloak, and threw my dirty, nasty towel into Cinderella's face. That was very satisfying. I stormed off to the shack. I could hear the people laughing behind me as I walked. Glad I could give them a show.

And then I woke up. I want to make a few things clear: I have no bitter feelings toward Cinderella. I still love all the Disney movies. Cory has never dated Cinderella, he hasn't even seen the movie. Notice how Belle was the nice one? That is because Belle rocks!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this. Stay tuned, and remember, God loves you!