catching up

has it really been a month? for the last couple weeks i've had ideas of things i should share on here, and then.... well, as you can guess, i don't do it and then i forget. i'm going to try to make a list of the random things that have happened in april.
1) my young women are doing awesome! i love young women. just this morning i even worked on my own personal progress value experience.
2) bret's thumb is nearly totally healed. he wouldn't let me share photos, but just a couple weeks ago he nearly lost his entire thumb print to a mandolin slicer. we now own a protective glove. and we are now the new spokespeople for neosporin and the power of band-aids.
3) i've mastered the art of sourdough baking. today i made pitas and they are perfect! luckily bret loves all things sourdough.
4) last week i went on a hike, that wound up being a snow shoe excursion.  we went to doughnut falls and the snow was seriously four feet deep.  it snowed down on us the whole time and it was wonderful!  there were quite a few bugs out, which i thought was odd.  i wonder what they will morph into eventually - they looked like the morphing kind.  are there morphing bugs?  i don't know, but i killed a few - couldn't help it - snow shoes are big!
5) i'm a fan of drying my clothes outside on the line. so much so that even in this crazy utah weather i risked it on monday. they got rained on. oh well. today i've seen rain, hail, and sunshine. seriously.
6) my new favorite quote: we become what we want to be by consistently being what we want to become each day. - richard g. scott.

Attack of the geese

This picture doesn't do it justice. We went to the columbia river to feed ducks and these huge geese were there instead. They eventually came up on the higher ground and chased the kids around. They even grabbed bread right from their hands. It was pretty scary.

Just so you know, bret and I came to washington state (tri cities) for the week to visit his brother's family. We have had a great week but have to head home tomorrow. We have his uncle's funeral to attend saturday morning.
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The New "Secret"

Bright-sided: How the Relentless Promotion of Positive Thinking Has Undermined America by Barbara Ehrenreich

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I was alerted to this book by a friend on Goodreads.  As an optimist I couldn't help but want to see what it was about.  My husband, the pessimist, thought I was strange for wanting to read it.  I couldn't help but hear his voice throughout the book.  I once read and was moved by "The Secret."  This book bashes it, along with other motivational books and speakers I've admired.  It gave me reason to really think about the pros and cons of positive thinking.  In the end (she did a good job of bringing it together at the end - but I did struggle through a couple chapters wondering at her negativity) I realized that there must be something out there better than just having an optimistic outlook.  As she said, it's not about being negative either, at least I like to think she said that.  I remember advice my father used to give - you don't have to like it you just have to eat it.  I guess in life you don't have to think all is rosy and you don't have to think the sky is falling, you just have to work.  A willingness to work hard may be what's undermining America, and the trend toward positive thinking is a nice way to justify our laziness.  Anyway, it was a quick read and gave some added insight into the recent market crash, as well as a renewed desire to be hard working and realistic.  But I'm still determined to be hopeful!



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Gardening

I worked in my garden today. I finally pulled up the last of my carrots. They weren't all this ridiculously small. Now hopefully I will get around to planting my peas and onions this week.
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Pumpkin salad

I made it again. Bret can't get enough of it.
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roasted pumpkin salad

it's another recipe post!  a few months ago i was reading a blog where a woman was talking about her family's new food addiction.  i can't remember exactly what her kids were inhaling, but she said it was inspired by a recipe she found on 101cookbooks.  it involved a pumpkin and since i had two in storage i was pretty determined to try my hand at it.  finally, yesterday, i did.  while searching for the blog i had read, i instead came across the recipe on 101 cookbooks, so i did that one.

sorry i don't have pictures, but i do have a link to the website where i got the recipe and that has pictures. and hers are pretty!  much prettier than how my dish turned out, but according to bret, taste is what matters anyway, and this was a winner.  he nearly ate the whole bowlful by himself!

By the way, what I'm posting here is my version of the recipe.  Feel free to follow the original.

Roasted Pumpkin Salad

3 cups of diced and peeled pumpkin (obtained from Mother's garden last fall)
2 large onions cut into large chunks (basically quartered)
olive oil and salt - no measurement - enough to coat the pumpkin and onions.

Toss the pumpkin and onion in oil and salt and then bake on a lined cookie sheet for around 50 minutes at 375.  Every now and then try to stir it up a bit so they can bake on new sides.  The goal is to have them caramelize a bit.

While that is baking, make two cups of brown rice.

While rice is cooking, blend the following in a food processor to make the dressing:

1/3 cup sunflower seeds
1/3 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons warm water
1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

When everything is done, mix them all together and enjoy!

Guess where I went today

Last free day of the season. Bonded with nieces and nephew. Good times!
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In other news

I went short! I think it's been 10 years. My how time flies. So far I love how it is out of the way. Wonderful!
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Finally it is finished!

I started this afghan over Easter break on a trip to California visiting my sister's family. My niece, who is an expert crocheter, showed me how. I made a goal to have it finished by Christmas, but you know how things go. Bret went with me on the trip and on the drive home we read a book about finding the mate of your life. Well, it was productive and we finally got married, thus delaying my afghan work. When I got back to it I didn't have enough yarn. You can't tell, but it has two different whites. I'd like to point out that this is only the second afghan I've ever made and both wound up being made with two yarns that are slightly a shade off. You would think I would learn my lesson. Always buy way more than I think is necessary. At least I figure this way I won't be afraid to use them. Mother always says a mistake or two shows it is hand made.
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Guess where I am

Yep I'm at monster jam. We got free tickets through the tightwadinutah blog. Bret refused to join me so it's a girl night. So far it's pretty fun. Right now someone named bobo is telling us how much horse power (1600 hp) his truck has. Thankfully some neighbors had extra earplugs to share. I'd be miserable without them. Take note - when you get free tickets to monster jam remember to bring ear plugs!
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making dinner

do any of you struggle to have just the right ingredients on hand for the recipes you want to make?  i plan a menu, i shop accordingly, and yet i still find myself, time after time, missing an ingredient when it is time to make dinner.  take tonight for example.  i've wanted to try this thai beef noodle recipe for a while.  it called for sprouts, cucumber, and cilantro.  not to mention noodles, beef, and flavorings.  anyway, i couldn't find sprouts for sale in the stores i normally go to so i finally decided to grow my own.  i bought cucumbers and cilantro.  well, by the time the sprouts grew enough to make me give up on having them be long tall sprouts like i've seen at salad bars, i decided i needed to make the dish.  i dove into the crisper only to discover the cucumber was slimy.  yep.  well, by this time the beef was thawed and i was determined to make it.  i decided i could use celery and carrots in their place - after all, it's basically a noodle stir fry type dish - all vegetables are good.  as i got making it i discovered it also called for fresh ginger.  i had some on hand at the time i first decided to make this recipe, but apparently somewhere in between it went bad and i threw it out.  so guess what i used instead?  pickled ginger - like the kind you eat with sushi.  i figure it's just a bit more flavorful, and being pink won't matter much since there are carrot shavings in there too.  it all blends.  and truth be told, it's rather delicious.  i just hate thinking of the fresh produce i wasted.  i really need to be better organized with my menu planning i think.

beauty

in my last post i said i was going to floss my teeth and clean the bathroom.  but then i remembered i had a good experience last week that bret said i should blog.  he's not big on blogging, so if he suggests it i figure i better.

last wednesday i got home from grocery shopping feeling totally defeated.  my bad mood continued on through the night.  i think i'd also been listening to too much news about the egyptian revolution and that added to my depression.  i figured after a good night's sleep i'd feel better, but the next morning i still felt grumpy and sad.  since it was bret's day off we were scheduled to go to the temple.  i knew that would do me some wonders, but i wasn't feeling very motivated.  luckily with bret's motivation we headed down town.  while in the session all was fine, i felt fine, i wasn't sad, but i wasn't exactly feeling great either.  about half way through the session, after changing rooms, the woman who sat next to me turned to me and said, "you are just beautiful, absolutely gorgeous."  or some such excessive compliment.  it really made me smile.  in fact, it made me feel so good i couldn't help but notice every other person in the room looked beautiful to me.  i mean seriously - they were all beautiful.  after that, the rest of the day was great.  there was beauty all around me.  it's amazing how much difference a random compliment can make.  if anything it was a lesson to me on how important it is to tell people how beautiful they are.  compliments are miraculous.  i'm still feeling good from it!

gardening

i planned my garden last week. planning is the easy part. luckily i get to put off the real work for another couple months. i decided to write a blog post about it for my other blog - tightwadinutah.

by the way, i still haven't flossed today.  maybe i should do it right now!  then i'll clean the bathroom.

flossing

i just want to report that i flossed today. went to the dentist earlier this week. again i was painfully reminded of why i should floss. i brush with no trouble why is it so hard to also floss? i figure if i've learned to brush twice daily then i can learn to floss once a day. right? and yet i forget like the wind. any tips on how i can make it more of a habit? i have the floss sitting right next to my toothbrush so i can see it and yet i've managed to see it - much like the dust in the house.

if you haven't flossed today - maybe you should. it only takes a minute. now to exercise. something else i've managed to learn to do despite many many many years of not wanting to.

behind in blogging

i don't seem to make enough time for blogging anymore. not sure of my excuse - i feel like i sit at the computer way too much as it is and i don't know what i have to show for myself. yesterday i finally made myself put together a post for the "tightwadinutah" blog i contribute to and the thought occurred to me that i should get credit for blogging over here too. so, here's a link to my latest post. i'm a bit pleased with it if i do say so.

Vision

Look what I finally finished! It has a list of our values and goals along with pictures so we can visualize all we want to accomplish in 2011. Bret found the pictures and together we wrote the goals then today I glued it all together and hung it in the office.
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hope

i was talking to an old friend today. we were talking about hard things. when i got off the phone with her i felt really sad that i was unable to lift her burdens more. i immediately sat at my computer and searched for some message of hope. i intended to find something i could share with her, instead i realized i needed a message of hope. i needed to be hopeful for her and trust that god would care for her where i felt i had failed. anyway, i watched this clip on god's "tender mercies" and it did my soul some good. maybe it will do you some good too. we can always do with a bit more hope can't we?

navel gazing

that title makes me a bit uncomfortable. maybe it's the word navel.  anyway, i'm afraid i got caught up a bit in doing just that this morning.  i've heard the phrase used in terms of doing absolutely nothing.  i'm using it in relation to too much purposeless self reflection.  i went looking for a blog post on being frugal for something related to my tightwadinutah blog when i got distracted by a bunch of my old posts.  it's strange going back in time of your own life.  i got busy looking at all the posts related to my bunion surgery a couple years ago. my husband and i had just barely started dating.  our second date was on the weekend i got home from surgery.  so it was fun just remembering a time long ago.  anyway, later this morning i came across a blog post from my good friend julie - my ultimate blogging hero.  she used to be my teaching hero, but now i don't teach so she is my blogging hero.  she's still the best teacher i know, though.  for the record.  anyway, i decided i needed to follow the lesson she gave her students.  i decided i need a sentence for my new year.  i came up with "she made her family's progress a priority."  last week my husband helped me come up with about five basic values.  then we generated a few activities related to each one that we wanted to work on this year - trying to be specific.  i decided that i really need to make those values and activities a priority in my personal life to see true progress in our lives.  i love having someone to share my "visions" with and i love that he is so supportive. 

yummy cheap dinner

i'm not sure if i've mentioned it on here before, but i've become a blogger for tightwadinutah.  it's a kick in the pants since i enjoy being frugal.  the trouble is coming up with posts that are about saving money that don't go something like "stay out of the stores."  good posts use pictures.  there aren't a lot of pictures that go with staying out of stores.  anyway, my mother says i don't blog on here enough.  this post is an effort to please mother (even though she is out of the country and won't see this for weeks anyway) and also a way for me to make record of a really delicious recipe.  maybe it will be on tightwad some day but i have to take photos before that happens.

so anyway, i should first mention that i got this recipe from a book from the library called "dinner for a dollar" - what a great idea for a cook book!  but keep in mind i think it takes the approach that it's a dollar a serving.  i don't know - math isn't my thing.  anyway, this is a cheap yummy recipe.

sweet potato and peanut stew
3 large sweet potatoes (2 1/4 pounds) peeled and cut into bit size pieces (1"ish)
1 Tb olive oil
1 crushed garlic clove
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp red pepper
2 cans garbanzo beans rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 oz) broth
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes
1/4 c peanut butter (creamy best)
1/2 c loosely packed chopped cilantro (optional)
1) Place sliced potatoes in 2 1/2 qt microwave safe dish.  Cover and nuke until they are tender, about 8 minutes.
2) In 5-6 qt pot heat oil over medium high heat.  Add garlic, cumin, salt, cinnamon, and crusehd red pepper, and cook stirring, 30 seconds.  Stir in beans, broth, tomatoes, and peanut butter until blended; heat to boiling and cook, stirring occasionally, 1 minute.
3) Reduce heat to medium-low; add potatoes to bean mixture and simmer, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes.  Stir in cilantro if using.

thoughts of happiness

i have two unrelated thoughts.  but both have made cry and smile.

i think i've written before about the girl i tutor as a volunteer at my local elementary.  last week she was in a terrible mood and did even less than she usually does during our session.  it was frustrating and i'm afraid i left in a huff and a bit rudely when our time was up.  so monday, when i went to tutor again i strained my brain for some way to make a connection with her.  i had taken her a sticker the day i got fed up and she was disinterested in it totally.  i couldn't take another sticker - i wasn't up for further rejection.  i finally decided that all kids like gum.  i took a stick of my favorite gum, not knowing for sure how or when i would give it to her.  for one thing it was boring silver paper wrapped kind of gum - nothing that would make a kid smile.  finally i had an epiphany - but really it was revelation.  really, i truly believe that the holy ghost prompted me in coming up with that solution.  i decided to tear the piece of gum in two and let her choose a half, all the while explaining that we needed to work on her math together - i couldn't do it without her and she couldn't do it without me - we had to share.  well, she took the gum and slowly did her part.  for all of about two minutes.  then her mother came to take her to a doctor's appointment.  well, this morning i was really dreading going in.  i was worried she wouldn't be happy.  i was worried that the gum idea wouldn't work a second time.  i was worried that i would come away feeling like a failure again - for really, that was the overall feeling last week, and that doesn't do a body any good.  i took a piece of gum, but i put it in my pocket, deciding i would pull it out when it felt right.  well, she came out with her workbook, sat down as happy as could be, and willingly and easily did everything.  she even smiled and kept trying when she got stuck.  she was excited to do her math.  she asked about a sticker, so i found the one i had given her last week (it was in her math bucket) and she put it on her hand.  (i just have to interject a funny thing about the sticker.  i don't own a lot of stickers.  when i got called to teach sunbeams at church i bought a bunch of little christian type stickers at the dollar store.  i found one that had a picture of a lamb on it and it said "love."  i figured that was not too religious and would pass for a school sticker.)  by the time i left she had laughed and made friendly conversation and had done her work and felt proud of her accomplishments and she told me she would miss me.  she even gave me a hug on my way out.  now i'm tempted to say it was the magic of the piece of gum.  they say when you break bread together you create bonds of friendship - maybe with a fifth grade girl breaking gum is just as effective.  really, i think she felt love.  i think she felt the spirit - the same one i felt when prompted to share a piece of gum and give a sticker that said "love."  the tutoring miracle of today far outshines the beautiful sunrise miracle of yesterday - but both were gifts from god.

okay, now in other news.  i've been discussing gift giving with a few people lately.  after all, tis the season, right?  in processing my mixed feelings of yesterday with bret he suggested i do some reading and pondering on service.  how can i have the right feelings in relation to service.  well, this evening i came across an excellent talk by president eyring, forwarded to bret from his father who got it from his sister.  i love being a part passing on such good talks.  maybe you'll enjoy it too.  http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=6756&x=-47&y=-85