BFF's

Michele and I go WAAAAYYYYYY-BACK! Like... "coodie-shot" days...like crimped hair and fluorescent plastic bangles...like New Kids on the Block and shrinky-dinks! My mom and I met-up with Michele (who flew in from Vegas), Nicole (her sister who flew in from Virginia), Danielle (her other sister who flew in from Virginia), and their mom (who drove from Lodi) at the Oakland Temple this last Thursday 6-18-09. Danielle went through the temple for the first time! The day was beautiful and it was wonderful to reconnect with the girls! Growing-up, Michele's family was an extension of our own. Michele was like another sister to me (as were Nicole and Danielle). I always felt that Eileen (their mom) was another Aunt of ours. Eileen always had the most positive outlook on life and it was contagious! It was fun to find out that Michele is living in Vegas with her hubby and teaching 2nd grade. Nicole doesn't look old enough to be the mom of a college freshman! Danielle looks so happy and absolutely beautiful. And Eileen hasn't aged a day and still brings a smile to the faces of all around her! When it was time to leave, Michele and I didn't want to say good-bye. So we've agreed that Dan and I will have to drive-on over to Vegas soon and visit. Congrats Danielle! Michele, miss you already!

Stanford or Bust

NO, NOT REALLY...
I need my CLAD certification so I can teach in CA. Stanford offers an online program with graduate level courses for teachers to complete the certification! I get to earn graduate credits while earning my CLAD certification...And I'M TAKIN' 'EM! (how many apostrophes can you put into one sentence?!) Stanford's program looks to be the best around and they are ranked #1 in the nation for Education training! I don't think I'll be singing the Stanford fight-song anytime soon, but maybe I'll cheer for them when Dan and I watch college football this year! (here's the link to the program: http://ellib.stanford.edu/?q=california-teachers-english-learners-ctel-clad-program )
In other news...Check out the TOMS One-for-One link on the right sidebar of my blog. They are a great organization (I'm sure you've seen the commercials) For every pair of Toms shoes purchased, 'Toms' donates a pair to a child in need= the One-for-One approach. Perks include: Helping out kids around the world, the shoes are ADORABLE so you'll have happy feet, AND I wanted to help spread the word about Toms so much that I taught myself how to create the picture link you see on my blog for TOMS!(apparently they don't have blog buttons yet).

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day was great! Dan and I surprised some of the women in our lives with flowers, which I LOVE to do! There is just something about flowers that brings a genuine smile to a woman's face. Almost pure contentedness! It's beautiful!
The Priesthood at church took over teaching Primary and although I missed my class, it was fun going to Sunday School and Relief Society. Relief Society served a brunch for Mother's Day and we all snacked as we listened to the lesson! I love snacking!
We had the moms over for dinner. I had so much fun planning for this!(as I'm sure you can see from the pics). I found a great set of sheets from TJMaxx and turned it into a tablecloth. The napkins were on clearance at TJ as well! I couldn't believe it! Who would clearance pink paisley napkins?!! The centerpiece is silk flowers placed lovingly in a vase. The piece de resistance ...the floating pom poms! I found them in the Martha Stewart craft section of Walmart! Fell in-love? ABSOLUTELY! They were so much fun to make and matched the tablecloth= we have a winner!
(Oh- ps- the termite situation seems to be under control for the time being. The exterminators came and couldn't find their "usual" mud-tubes. So they think it may have been a one time thing.)

Dan, those aren't flying ants...those are termites

I'll keep this brief. Arrived home from church. Took nap. Woke-up. Finished dishes. Sat at computer. 'What just flew in front of my face?'. Look-up. See termite terror covering the window treatments. Call for Dan. Pray they are very large flying ants. Dan with vacuum. Pile of finely powdered wood-dust at termite entry location. Search 'flying ant vs. termite in google. HORROR. Me- run over to John and Janella's place. Janella follows. Surveys the scene. Dan with caulk. Exterminator to come tomorrow. Will keep you posted. (oh and the quote about looking on the bright-side was from my awesome husband! Always keeping things in perspective!)

Bacon + Brown Sugar + Oven = you do the math!

I love watching the foodnetwork! (I know what you're thinking..."and you're doing Weight Watchers, Whitney?") Honestly, watching food programs doesn't bother me anymore(wow that sounds wierd saying it out-loud, doesn't it?). I simply came to terms with the fact that the fattening foods will always taste better and that's ok...it's just food. I've lost 11.4 lbs. so far and I've been doing it for a little over a month. Still going strong.
On that note, I found this absolutely delightful recipe from Paula Deen last September and made it for General Conference Sunday in October and decided to make it again for this Conference Sunday...Dan now says it is tradition. I don't endulge in bacon very often, but I felt that General Conference was a special occasion. Here is the recipe:
Oven to 400F.
1/2C brown sugar.
1/4 lb Lean sliced bacon (I do lean...Deen does not).
In a large plastic zip-top bag place brown sugar and bacon. Toss/Shake to coat.
Line a baking sheet with foil. And I mean LINE-IT, unless you want to be chipping molten brown sugar off of your baking sheet and gouging metal in the process!
Place a wire cooling rack on the lined baking sheet.
Put bacon on the rack and roast in oven for 20 min.
Let drain for a few minutes on the rack and serve. YUM!
We loved watching General Conference! The general authorities always know what we need to hear and when! I am so thankful for our prophet and all he does!

A day without chocolate is a day the sun forgot to shine!

So, I know that I'm a bit late on being "in-the-know" about blogs of note. My cousin, Diana, has introduced me to many blogs(which I am so grateful for! She always finds the best ones!) I've been trying to catch-up on all of them, now that I have way-too-much free-time while "patiently" waiting for a job. Don't get me wrong...I've been busy doing all the necessary steps on the job-hunt. Now, I'm in the waiting phase and I don't tend to be a 'waiter'! Well, I have finally caught-up on the NieNie Dialogues and I can't get enough! I know that Stephanie and her family are going through a down-right jerky trial right now, but she has brought me such hope for the future. She has inspired me, brought me to tears, and has painted a picture of the kind of mom I hope to be someday. I have also decided, through reading her blog, that I need to post more. I completely missed March and I DID things! Fun things! I should have posted them. So, I commit to posting on my blog, from here on out. AT LEAST once a week. (what's the point of having a blog if I never post anything?!? although Dan was the one that suggested I start in the first place...I wonder how he'd feel about posting each week? j/k).
Some of you may have heard that I've decided to go back to teaching and indulge my inner designer as a side job. I have missed working with kids since being away from the profession. I teach the Valiant 10 class at church and that has guided me to get back into teaching. California is not in the best shape for teachers right now, but I am faithful and hopeful that something will work out if that is the Lord's will.
I think the most difficult part of the "faith" concept is the "nothing-wavering" "nothing-doubting" parts. I have such a difficult time giving control over to the Lord (even though he's always in control in the first place). I have come across numerous scriptures that have truly driven home the reality that I need to leave it in the Lord's hands and he will guide me. The scriptural account in the following: Matthew 9:18-19, Luke 8:50, Matthew 9:23-25. This account is of the daughter of Jarius who was dying. He knew Christ could heal his daughter with just the touch of His hands. When Jarius found Christ, he explained the situation. Jesus started home with Jarius and found people to heal along the way.
A man found Jarius along the way and informed him that his daughter had died. Christ looked to Jarius and said, "Fear not: Believe only, and she shall be made whole." Christ makes it back to heal the daughter of Jarius from her brief passing. What hit me in the heart was the peaceful statement "Fear not: Believe only..." It reminded me of Alma 32:27 "...awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, EVEN IF YE CAN NO MORE THAN DESIRE TO BELIEVE, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words."
What a promise! And I believe that it is not only for faith on his words scripturally, but his words in revelation we receive personally. We must have faith to trust our revelations will come to pass.
I know that this was long (the posts will most likely become shorter as I post more often) Hold to Christ's words of: "Fear not: Believe only..." and "...even if ye can no more than desire to believe..." They are true. I also found a poster that is a reproduction of a WWII propaganda poster from Great Britain at that time. You can purchase it on Etsy.com. I posted that along with a tribute to Stephanie Nielson. Her love of good chocolate cake is contagious and I've caught the cocoabug from reading her blog. So, in her honor, last night after our bbq'd pizza for dinner, I made chocolate cupcakes (they were a weight-watcher recipe, because that's what I'm doin' now...so not as satisfying, but tasty!).

I know it's past the date...but the cookies I made for Valentine's Day were so labor-intensive that I had to show them! Martha Stewart had some guests on her show last week...or the week before, that own a cookie shop in NY. They deomonstrated how to make their signature Valentine heart cookie and I was hooked! The cookies looked so cute and the cookie shop "The Jewels of New York" sells the cookies- 4 for $25! So, I thought I would take-on the challenge of baking these confectionary gold mines. The sugar cookie recipe was a bit different from your average recipe for the kind, HOWEVER, I am now hooked on this recipe for sugar cookies! I altered the jam topping a bit...instead of canned lychees (which, by the way, I have only seen at Trader Joe's one time and that was about a year ago) I used canned peaches and instead of prosecco, I substituted gingerale. I chose to frost the other sections of the cookie with cream-cheese frosting instead of royal icing (who likes the taste of that anyway?). I also baked some for my primary class that were the smaller cookies with just jam...and I think they are better than the sugar overdose of the larger size. All-in-all, it was fun baking them and they present well, but I don't think I'll ever be making the pinwheel hearts again....spreading frosting with a toothpick is not how I want to spend my evening!