la vita è bella

Christmas 2011!

2012-01-09T23:43:00.001-07:00

Brent and I loaded up all these gifts and spent Christmas Eve night at my parent's with my brother and sister. As is tradition, we woke up early (6 am) and got crack-a-lacking!

We admired all these gifts and then we teared in to them!

Melissa, Marc, Brent, Mom, Dad, and I all opened our gifts bright and early. We had a great time at church and relaxed until it was time to go to Brent's parent's house.

Later, Michelle and Jeff came over and opened gift's at my parents' house.

Preston slept through many festivities, just like last year.

We ate a lovely Christmas dinner, then Matt and Kathy showed up with their kids.

Which meant...more presents!

Preston finally woke up to enjoy the festivities as well.

We all spent the next several days together: eating, laughing, playing games...

...and getting schooled by Kathy at Monopoly!

Cousins played and got to be friends, especially these two.

And everyone got to see Grandma Tibbitts:

We were all sad for Matt and Kathy to go home and for the festivities to be over. We can't wait until next year.

2011 Christmas Letter

2011-12-24T21:35:00.000-07:00

2011 has been a great year for us! Brent started working for a great company, Wise Foods, in January. He's been moving on up in the company and will be helping develop a new department at the beginning of the year. He's still going to school for English Teaching at USU. He's been doing classes online for the past several semesters and in January he will be going to the distance ed campus in Tooele.

M'Recia was working for Kneaders and doing a Social Work internship at South Davis Community Hospital. In may, she graduated from USU with a Bachelor's in Social Work. She quit kneaders and started working for St. Joseph Villa in June. St. Joseph Villa is a Long Term Care Nursing facility (more commonly known as a Nursing Home) in south Salt Lake. M'Recia is one of 2 social workers for about 150 Residents. Most of the Residents in this facility are elderly and many have dementia. Being a social worker in a long term care facility can be challenging, but it's very rewarding. M'Recia loves the sweet residents she works for. Every day is different and full of laughter.

We are still living in North Salt Lake in our 2 bedroom apartment. We are currently looking to buy a home in the same area.

Brent is serving in the Elder's Quorum and M'Recia just got released from the primary presidency. We are enjoying our callings (and the break as well) and look forward to a new year.

We had the opportunity to do many fun things this year. We've gone on several vacations, including to Yellowstone, and have enjoyed the luxury of two paychecks!

We're hoping that you all had a great 2011 and that 2012 is equally exciting.

Love,

Brent and M'Recia Seegmiller

It's almost Christmas!

2011-12-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

Our tree looks great! However, Brent is still recovering from his surgery (tonsils) and we're hoping he'll be better in 6 days to enjoy all this!

Getting Ready for Christmas

2011-11-27T16:29:00.000-07:00

It's time to decorate the tree!

The Best of the Past 6 Months: Yellowstone

2011-11-06T14:09:00.000-07:00

*cricket sounds*

Well, I have to say I'm somewhat ashamed of myself. My last post date was in June. JUNE! Well, I think I pretty much killed all interest anyone had in following me.

For anyone who is still out there following me, here's a little review of the last 6 months.

Right around the time we went out to see Wicked and my graduation, I had a few interviews.

On May 25th, I got hired at St. Joseph Villa.St. Joe's is a long term care facility, or more commonly known as a Nursing Home. I'm a social worker there and I have about 60-75 Residents that I look after. The social workers are responsible for most of the family contact and the resident's mental and emotional well being. I've really enjoyed working with the elderly. Most of my residents are very sweet.

My new job has kept me VERY busy. I really haven't had time to make things any more. It's quite sad. But, Brent and I have been doing a lot of fun things whenever we can.

In July, we went to Yellow Stone with my parents. Neither Brent nor I had ever been before it was really spectacular.

Saturaday @ Sea

2011-06-15T22:36:00.000-06:00

2011-06-02T11:29:00.002-06:00

Nie Nie on Glenn Beck

Our Fun Anniversary Trip

2011-05-30T21:38:00.000-06:00

Last year Brent and I were working for Platinum. That job had some serious ups and downs. One of the "downs" was their attendance policy. You had to pay them to take days off. Brent was working Monday-Friday from noon to 11:00 pm and Saturdays from 9:00 am to 11:00 pm. So, we didn't get around to celebrating our anniversary last year. This year, we celebrated x2 to make up for that.

Brent left work a a little early. We were planning on going straight to Logan, but we decided to go look at the puppies at Bird World, just for fun. Those puppies were very cute and we got to play with them for a few minutes.

We drove to Logan and checked into the Best Western Weston Hotel.

We actually had a pretty decent Hotel Room.

We got dressed up for dinner. (We packed at separate times. We didn't mean to match, but that's just what happens when you've been married for two years.)

We went to Olive Garden

Enjoyed a lovely dinner. We had the NICEST waiter.

We went back to our hotel after dinner. We went swimming in the pool, took a walk down the street we used to live on, watched some TV, ate our take out dessert from Olive Garden, and drank sparkling cider in plastic hotel cups.

We woke up Saturday Morning, took SERIOUS advantage of the free breakfast, checked out, and went antique shopping at some of our favorite old haunts.

We drove to Lava Hot Springs via the Scenic route. I didn't realize what a cute little town Lava was.

Lava was lovely. We had dinner at a cute local diner and had another fabulous waitress. We soaked in the hot tubs, watched some tv, and passed out in our beds due to exhaustion. We drove home the next morning and went with my parent's to visit the grave site of my Grandma and Grandpa in Morgan.

This is my Grandma's grandparents.

This is Indy in the car, keeping us all entertained.

My grandma and grandpa.

It was a lovely memorial day. Here's to many more years with my darling husband!

2 Years!

2011-05-27T15:19:00.000-06:00

It's been two years since our happy day.

Then and now

We've had a lot of ups and downs, but I can't think of anyone else I'd could do it with.

We actually get to celebrate tonight. Last year we were working a crazy schedule and our anniversary kind of went by uncelebrated. We're making up for it this year!

Shirt Refashions

2011-05-26T15:48:00.000-06:00

I just got two shirts at old Navy for $2.50 each. I thought this would be a good opportunity to try my hand at some refashions I'd had my eye on.

Ruffles and Stuff

From my Aunt Alane's Blog

Little Birdie Secrets

Sugar Cookies

2011-05-19T18:11:00.000-06:00

Brent and I made sugar cookies last night. Brent had a ball making his into crazy shapes. We have a crown shaped cookie cutter that Brent manipulated into a few dinosaurs. I have had a few requests for the recipe. Here it is!

For the Cookies: (I suggest cutting this in half, I ended up with about 70 cookies)

2 Cups Sugar (I always use raw sugar/organic sugar)
1 Cup Softened Butter
2 Eggs
1 Cup Sour Cream
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
5 Cups Flower (I used White Whole Wheat, I also threw in a tablespoon of Vital Wheat Gluten)

Cream sugar and butter. Beat in eggs, then sour cream. Add 1 cup flour along with soda and salt. Beat well. Add the rest of the flour. Mix well. Chill for 1 hour before rolling out on a well-floured surface. Cut in desired shapes and bake at 350 for 11 minutes.

These made very moist and just sweet enough cookies.

Then I frosted with this buttercream:

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
4 cups powdered sugar
2 TBSP milk

Cream butter, milk, and shortening. Add a little powered sugar at a time until desired consistency.

Wicked Weekend

2011-05-18T16:33:00.000-06:00

This weekend I had the opportunity of a lifetime.

My fun aunts and cousins planned a Wicked Weekend for moms and daughters.

On Friday afternoon, Mom, Melissa, Michelle, and I all piled into the Buick. We drove the 5 1/2 to Boise and met with the family.We had a fun night of visiting, manicuring, and snacking.

The decorations really set the mood

Saturday morning we went shopping and had lunch at the mall.

We went back to Breya's house and make some cute necklaces.

We got ready for the show and had a mini cousin reunion!

Debra made this little witchy hats for us. They were such a hit at the show! People were asking us where we bought them.

The hosts surprised us with this "broom" to take us to the show. It was so awesome. It really took this experience to the next level.

The inside was just as cool as the outside!

Grandpa got a sneak peek of limo. We'll have to get him inside next time.

We were quite the spectacle when we arrived

The matching witches hats made it easy to find the members of our group. We actually had people stop and ask to take our picture.

My many attempts at getting a decent picture with Melissa....

We were being "wicked" in this last picture

The awesome stage.

My hat and special green fingernails.

Our post-show quiz for newbies.

(I'm more like Elphaba)

Sunday Morning we were gifted with these cookies from Alane.

Who was sad it was all over....

This weekend went above and beyond my expectations. I was just blown away by the show and I really enjoyed the atmosphere and the company of my extended family.

I can't wait for wicked to come to Salt Lake.

Light Scoop

2011-05-09T12:08:00.002-06:00

Awesome giveaway at Tatertots and Jello! Check it out!

Graduation!

2011-05-08T16:10:00.001-06:00

Linda's Birthday

2011-05-08T14:53:00.000-06:00

Gideon's Baptism

2011-05-08T14:42:00.000-06:00

Last weekend we all hopped in the car and drove to Dever to see Gideon get Baptised. It was lovely.

Eden looked adorable, as always.

The Jones Family

Matt and Gideon

Gideon: I have never seen someone SO excited to get Baptised.

Brent being flocked by children

Larke and Eden feeling proud of Gideon

With Grandma and Grandpa Christenson

With Brent and Me.

With his Mommy

Grandma and Grandpa Jones

Aunt LeAnn, Lolo, and Gideon

The kids just could not resist riding on Grandma C's Walker

Eden looking crippled with Grandma C's cane

This is about as close as I got to Rush this weekend.

Kathy explaining how to play a game.

The iPad is apparently perfect for young children.

Playing Liebrary

Larkey lovin' on Grandpa J.

Rush playing peek-a-boo

More ipads

Rush Playing ball with Grandma

Larke Dancing

and Rush having a meltdown

Gideon in his "handsome suit"

The 5 minutes Rush let Brent hold him

The kids in Grandma's bed.

Easy Shepherd's Pie

2011-04-20T20:19:00.000-06:00

image courtesy of Kraft

1 lb. ground beef

2 cups hot mashed potatoes

4 oz. (1/2 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, cubed

1 cup KRAFT Shredded Cheddar Cheese, divided

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups frozen mixed vegetables, thawed

1 cup beef gravy

Brown meat in large skillet; drain. Mix potatoes, cream cheese, 1/2 cup Cheddar and garlic until well blended. Combine meat, vegetables and gravy; spoon into 9-inch square baking dish. Cover with potato mixture and remaining Cheddar. Bake 20 min. or until heated through.

Instead of buying gravy, I made some with beef bullion and thickened it with flour.

Beef Noodle Bowl

2011-04-20T20:11:00.001-06:00

Beef Noodle Bowl

8 oz linguine (or whatever you have around)

3 cups broccoli florets

3 carrots sliced (about 2 cups)

2 tsp. Oil

1 lb beef sirloin steak, cut into strips

¼- ½ cup Kraft Asian Toasted Sesame Dressing

1-2 TBSP Teriyaki sauce

Cook pasta as directed on package, adding vegetables to boiling water for the last 2 minutes of cooking time. Meanwhile, heat oil in large nonstick skillet. Add meat; cook until browned on all sides, stirring occasionally. Stir in dressing and teriyaki sauce; cook 2 min. or until sauce is thickened, stirring occasionally. Drain pasta mixture; place in large serving bowl. Add meat mixture; toss to coat.

This was pretty straight forward and delicious. Next time I'm going to throw in some snow peas.

Orange-BBQ Pulled Pork

2011-04-20T20:01:00.000-06:00

Image courtesy of Kraft

1 boneless pork shoulder (3 lb.)

1 bottle (18 oz.)barbecue sauce

Juice from 1 medium orange

Place meat in slow cooker; top with barbecue sauce and orange juice. Cover with lid.
Cook on LOW 8 to 10 hours (or on HIGH 4 to 6 hours). Remove meat from slow cooker; cut into small pieces or shred with fork. Return to slow cooker; stir to evenly coat meat with sauce.

Serve on toasted rolls with cheese and dill pickles if desired.

This is another recipe from that Kraft mailer I got a few years ago. Brent and I loved this recipe and we ate it FOREVER. We ate sandwiches and put this on lettuce and called it a salad.

Double-Cheese Chili

2011-04-20T19:50:00.001-06:00

Double-Cheese Chili

1 lb ground beef
1 small onion chopped
½ cup green peppers, chopped
15 oz can kidney beans
15 oz can black beans
14 ½ oz can tomatoes
8 oz tomato sauce
1 Tbsp chili powder
Shredded cheese to taste

Brown meat in large skillet on medium heat; drain.

Add onions and peppers and cook until tender.

Transfer to large pot

Add beans, tomatoes, tomato sauce and chili powder

Mix well

Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Sprinkle cheese onto bottom of each bowl and top with chili and more cheese.

This recipe came to me in the mail. I ripped up the magazine that it came in and only kept the good recipes. 3 years later, I can't remember where it came from. This was so easy that Brent made it without much help while washed dishes. It was divine with cornbread. This should serve 6, but with my husband, we got about 4 servings out of it.

That's the

2011-04-05T22:55:00.001-06:00

second biggest cinnamon roll I've ever seen.

Pizza

2011-04-04T14:47:00.001-06:00

Here's the pizza I made for lunch using my pizza dough recipe about to hit the oven.

I used some Ragu Garlic and Parmesan sauce, grilled chicken, asparagus, and garlic.

Right out of the oven:

Stuff I intend to make

2011-03-24T22:41:00.000-06:00

Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basil Pasta

I made a skirt!

2011-03-21T13:52:00.000-06:00

After seeing this cute skirt on say YES! to hoboken, I decided I needed one of my own.

I've looked at a lot of tutorials and sewn a few patterns, so I had a pretty basic idea of how things should go.

To be sure, I made a quick paper prototype.

First, I measured my waist (40 inches). Then, I measured the distance from where I wanted the skirt to hit me on the waist to where I wanted it to fall near my knees (25 inches).

Now that I had those two measurements, I took my waist measurement, divided it by 2 (20), and added 1 inch to allow for a 1/2 seam allowance on each side(21).

I decided I wanted a 4 inch waistband, so multiplied 4 by 2 (because I was going to fold the waist band in two) and added 1/2 for a seam allowance.

I cut two pieces that were 9 inches by the measurement above (waist/2 + 1 inch or 21 inches).

I then subtracted 4 inches from the total length ( I wanted (because of the waistband, 21 inches), added 1/2 an inch for a seam allowance, and another inch for a hem (22 1/2 ). I cut two pieces that were twice the width of my waistband pieces and the length above. (22 1/2 x 42 inches).

I bought a 1 1/2 yards of fabric that was 58 inches wide.

I opened it up and was able to get everything out of it with some left overs.

If you look closely, you can see my pencil lines. I measured, drew lines in pencil, and cut!

I took my two waistband pieces (9x21 inches) and ironed them in half (4 1/2 x 21 inches) and then sewed along the bottom to keep the fold in tact.

Aft

After I had my two waistband pieces ironed and sewed down, I took the skirt pieces and pinned the edges and center down to the waistband pieces, with right sides together. The raw edges of the waistband and the skirt are lined up.

I kept finding the middle of each section and pinning it down to the middle section of the skirt.

I kept pinning until it looked like this:

I sewed right along those pins, giving myself a 1/2" seam allowance.

When you're finished, it should look like this.

Now do it again to the other side!

Lie the two sides together, right sides together, and sew up one side.

I then followed this tutorial to install my zipper.

After you've installed the zipper, hem the bottom, and you're done!

I wore it to a little dance we had the other night and had a lovely time:

Dyed

2011-03-14T11:16:00.000-06:00

These are all my white shirts that had ink all over them. You can still see the ink in a few places, but it's not that noticeable because the blue doesn't create the contrast the white did. I have been impressed with the dye so far. Brent snatched his pants out of the dryer this morning before I could see them, so I'm not sure how they turned out. We used Denim Blue dye. It looked like it would be a lot darker, but I'm still happy with it.

Dye

2011-03-14T00:34:00.000-06:00

Brent bought a pair of jeans at DI for about $3 and decided that he didn't like the wash. We picked up a package of RIT dye and I actually got around to trying it out tonight.

A few weeks ago, Brent's pen went through the dryer with a bunch of my whites. I figured things were ruined anyway, so I threw them in all together.

So far so good. I'll let you know how it all turns out.

Maybe I can sew one?

2011-03-06T14:58:00.000-07:00

This is a pipe dream. I'm not a very good sewer. But, it makes me feel better that there's a pattern out there for a dress I want.

Shirt Dress

Now I just need some pink and white striped fabric.

Two New Blogs to Swoon Over

2011-03-06T14:29:00.000-07:00

Oh Happy Day!

This woman has my dream life. She lives in Paris and plans parties. I am bursting with ideas from her blog.

A Dinner Party

Cute Party Hats

and much much more!

Ramblings from the Sunshine State is another blog I discovered today. She's a cute mom who does fun things with her kids.

I'm definitely going to be making this wreath. My front door looks naked.

I want this!

2011-03-06T13:54:00.001-07:00

This

AND

This

...AND

This one

I want to know where these ones came from:

Oh Happy Day

I'm trying not to hate everything in my closet now. Where do these people shop? I never see dresses like those in the stores. I would have bought them.

Pots of Chocolate

2011-03-05T15:50:00.000-07:00

We're having friends over for dinner tonight. I tried to make chocolate mousse. It feel kind of flat. I'm hoping that I can try this one next time.

Chocolate Pots de Creme

I'll let you know how it turns out.

That's it!

2011-03-04T21:32:00.002-07:00

I need a closet office:

Care Package

2011-03-04T19:41:00.000-07:00

My Poor Grandma just broke both wrists. That means she has both her hands in casts. Can you imagine?

My mom and I decided to send her a care package to cheer her up.

Here's what we did.

We did a black & white and blue color palate. The big package is a skirt we bought for her, behind that is a wedding picture that she's in, next to those are two books on CD I created covers for, the big envelope is a family picture, the long skinny thing is a candy bar, and the sack has some chocolate covered almonds in it.

I hear it cheered her up.

Lovely Package Inspiration

2011-02-18T20:24:00.000-07:00

What we did last night.

2011-02-11T20:02:00.001-07:00

My good friend, Danielle's, father passed away a few weeks ago. All her friends felt really terrible for her and wanted to do something for her. I had the opportunity to pool money from our friends and buy her a silhouette. Danielle's been entering giveaways for Silhouette's for EVER!

Everyone was REALLY generous and I quickly raised enough money to buy a silhouette.

It showed up on Tuesday.

And I wrapped it right up.

I was able to buy some vinyl and accessories with some of the money that was donated. I wrapped those up too.

Danielle was very cute and gracious. And, excited of course. She loved the wrapping paper and was very careful to pull it off without ripping it.

She was very surprised! (Mission accomplished!)

And very touched. We both got a little teary. (Ok, maybe a lot).

Brent and I had the opportunity to spend the evening with Danielle and her cute little family. She has the most charming little boy. His name is Logan and he's 14 months old. He loves his daddy, and to everyone's surprise, he LOVED Brent. He wanted hugs and kisses and love from everyone. I'm pretty sure it made Brent's night.

Here are Logan and Kimball being cute together.

This kid LOVES his daddy.

Logan giving Brent kisses. Despite the fact that Logan had a cold, Brent enjoyed the affection.

Logan and me. He came right up to me and wanted me to hold him.

We had a wonderful time with the Josephs and really felt like we made some wonderful new friends. We look forward to spending more time with them in the future.

And I'm looking forward to crafting with Danielle!

It's a baby shower!

2011-02-11T17:02:00.001-07:00

I went to Brent's cute cousin, Sara's, baby shower last week. Boy, did she ever get a lot of cute pink stuff.

Here's the present I put together. :)

I had fun with the pennant.

And all the beautiful gifts.

Here's the cute outfit we got. I wish I had a girl to put it in!

This beautiful thing is a blessing gown. Sara's grandma made it from pieces of her wedding dress.

The cute mommy to be and me.

Donations

2011-01-20T10:32:00.012-07:00

More Family Pictures (and out takes!)

2011-01-04T22:48:00.001-07:00

The girls

Out takes.

The Boys

Out takes.

Michelle's Family

Out takes.

Matt and Kathy's Family

Out takes.

Brent and Me.

Out takes.

Jones Family Pictures

2011-01-04T21:54:00.000-07:00

This was our last family picture:

Well, this is actually more recent, but it doesn't really count.

Anyway, this picture is missing two grand kids and my husband. It's very outdated, although cute.

For the past 3 times the Colorado Joneses have visited, I have desperately tried to arrange a family photo. Every time, someone had to work, or couldn't find the right clothes, or something.

We got it together this time. I asked everyone to wear dark pants and brightly colored tops. I got vetoed. I asked everyone to wear jeans and brightly colored tops. I got vetoed. I asked everyone to wear jeans and jewel tones. No one vetoed me.

Come picture day, everyone was complaining about Jewel Tones. I think what we actually ended up with was colorful tops and jeans. But, whatever, I now have a picture of the whole family.

There were some lessons learned here. #1: Family pictures on the day after Christmas is a bit challenging for the children. In fact, there was a lot of head swapping here in order to achieve the lovely photo above. It reminds me of the time I tried to take pictures of Michelle's family on Halloween day:

unhappy kids

#2: My camera doesn't like taking pictures indoors at 4:30 pm. It's just a bit too dark.

#3: Brent should not stand right behind me.

#4: Next time, someone else can arrange the color scheme.

Observe the originals:

Brent can't be seen behind my head, the kids in the front row are goofing off, Michelle looks frustrated, and Marc is missing.

I'm not sure what Michelle, Melissa and I are saying....

This one was pretty close to looking great....

I traded Larke's head for something looking the right direction, Dallin's head for something that closer resembles a smile, and Chelise's head and shoulders for something that looked slightly less bored.

A little crop and color editing...and voila! A pretty good photo.

Next time we will try to avoid the day after Christmas. And jewel tones.

2010 Christmas Letter

2010-12-20T10:50:00.000-07:00

It's true. I've hopped on the bandwagon and am doing an electronic Christmas letter.

2010 has been a pretty busy year for us. We moved from Logan to North Salt Lake and changed jobs a few times.

In January of this year, Brent was working for Utah State University part time and going to school full time. M'Recia was also working for the University as a Undergraduate Teaching Fellow, but VERY part time. M'Recia looked for a job all semester, but wasn't able to find one in isolated Logan. In March we heard about a Job opportunity in Salt Lake and decided it was time to move back to Davis County.

We found an apartment in North Salt Lake we really liked and moved in Mid-April. About 3 days after we'd moved in, we recieved a call from my parents informing us that my Grandma was in the hospital. We were able to visit her a few times before she passed away on April 22, 2010. We had our family come to visit for the funeral and enjoyed the time we spent with them.

In the meanwhile, Brent and I were both working for Platinum Protection. It's one of those security companies that sells alarm systems door to door. I was working in the office and Brent was knocking on doors. It was a pretty challenging summer. Brent worked Monday-Friday from 11:30 am to 10:30 pm and Saturday from 9:00 am to 10:30 pm. Needless to say, Brent was pretty exhausted all the time and wasn't really making any money. After 3 months, Brent started looking for another job and ended up working for AT&T. Brent's been with AT&T since August and has enjoyed selling cell phones for the most part.

M'Recia worked for Platinum over the summer in the office. She took phone calls and scheduled installs for the salesmen. In August, her hours got unexpectedly cut and she was back on the job market. In the meantime, she decided to go back to school. After a lot of coordinating, she enrolled for her senior year at Utah State and attended class at University of Utah. She is doing an internship at South Davis Community Hosptial , a nursing home that specializes in people with spinal cord injuries, tramatic brain injuries, trachs, and ventilitors. M'Recia loves working there and leaves each day feeling very grateful for her own health and the health of her family.

When she's not working at SDCH, M'Recia works at Kneaders as a cashier. M'Recia enjoys working for the nice management and the yummy food. She plans on sticking around until May when she graduates with a Bachelors Degree in Social Work. At that point she'll start looking for a social work job as well.

Brent and M'Recia are both enjoying their callings. Brent is the Elder's Quorum executive secretary. This ward is really strange because it has a tiny elder's quorum. Brent has enjoyed the close-knit dymanic of it.

M'Recia is serving as first counselor in the primary presidency and really enjoys it as well. She loves running into the primary kids outside of church and realizing that they actually know who she is.

We're just keeping ourselves busy and trying to get through school. We're looking forward to 2011.

Baking and Baking and Candy Making

2010-12-09T01:32:00.002-07:00

I was a pretty busy baker tonight, and I think I made quite a dent in my neighbor gifts.

First I made gingerbread biscotti. Biscotti is one of my favorite things and I am making three different kinds this year. I followed a suggestion in the comments on the recipe and used butter instead of oil. I think they turned out pretty great.

I also made a batch of deep dark chocolate biscotti.

My proudest achievement of the evening had to by the candy cane marshmallows.

I read a lot of the comments below this recipe too and made a few adjustments. I used a 9x13 pan as suggested by a reader and sprayed it with cooking oil and coated it with powdered sugar. When my marshmallows were set, the came right out of my pan.

Another reader mentioned that when the gelatin is mixed with the sugar, it has quite a reaction. This is true. I used a large pan and was glad I did. There was a lot of gelatin/sugar erupting when I poured the two together.

Another reader suggested mixing a little food color in the marshmallows when mixing in order to get more color distributed. I tried this and I am happy with the results.

When it came time to cut the marshmallows, I followed the advice of a few more readers. I lifted up the edge of the marshmallow blob and cut out rows using kitchen shears dipped in shortening.

It was a pretty slick process. I dropped the marshmallows right into a bowl of powdered sugar to coat the outsides a little bit and keep them from sticking together.

Making these marshmallows is quite the process, I had the gelatin in a double broiler with the sugar water heating next to it while my mixer was whipping egg whites. I had to monitor three things at once. To top it off, I was watching my biscotti in the oven too.

They're pretty tasty. And they look nice too.

I also packed up a few things I made the other day:
Hot Chocolate on a Stick

I added a little crushed candy cane to the bottom of my ice cube tray. I think it turned out cute.

And...

Peppermint Soap!

Here's to a productive evening!

PLUS: My Kitchen doesn't look that bad!

Look at what I made tonight!

2010-12-07T00:56:00.001-07:00

I followed this recipe for caramels. I was a little freaked out because I've never done candies before, but it ended up being fine. I made the mistake of using waxed paper to line my pan when I poured the caramel into my pan and the heat of the caramel melted the wax paper to the caramels. Needless to say, there was a lot of wax paper/caramel thrown away, but I feel pretty successful for my first time.

Every time I finish up something that came in a glass jar, I wash it out and keep the jar. I usually line my cookie pan with tin foil and turn candle jars upside down in the oven to get ride of the wax. Over the months, the jars add up, and now I have a cute neighbor gift. :)

Check out the tags for everything else I'm making.

I don't know I'll actually make all those different kinds of things, but I hope too. I think I'm so excited that I finally have an excuse to bake that I'm going crazy.

For anyone who cares, I used this picture to create the texture of my tags.

And the treat font is south pacific

The tag font is syphon spritz.

I made stockings!

2010-11-28T23:05:00.000-07:00

Christmas is on the way!

Christmas Gift Ideas

2010-11-15T00:18:00.000-07:00

This post is mostly so I can remember everything I was considering for Christmas gifts, but I'll put it out there in case anyone else is looking for something too.

Peppermint Marshmallows

Etched Glasses

Button Ornaments

Spiced Nuts

Neapolitan Coconut Strips

Gingerbread Carmels

Foolproof Holiday Fudge

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

Cupcakes

Carmel Apples

I hope you're as inspired as I am!

Fun Gift Wrapping.

2010-11-14T23:06:00.000-07:00

My friend just had a baby and I was putting her gift together. I wanted to wrap it in a cute way. I love to look at giverslog for ideas and inspiration about gift wrapping. I found this cute idea on her site:

I found the instructions for this cute little box on Black Eiffel via Giverslog. I think I have a few new ideas for Christmas wrapping!

Before and After

2010-11-08T16:31:00.000-07:00

In the top picture you can see the dresser and mirror before I redid them a long time ago. I just sprayed the dresser with red paint and followed this tutorial for the mirror.

This is also a different apartment, don't get confused by the space.

Our Home So Far

2010-11-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

We had a few friends from out of town come visit yesterday. Which meant they hadn't seen our place before and I had the opportunity to deceive them into thinking it's always clean. Brent and I cleaned frantically for about an hour and got the place about as clean as its ever been. I figured it was a good time to take pictures, (now that we've been here for 6 months +)

So, we'll start with the front door.

We live on the second floor, so we have a nice little porch outside that I forgot to take a picture of. I suppose I should do that soon.

This media shelf is in the midst of being painted.

Here's another angle of our living room.

This tree is something my grandma painted.

IKEA shelf obtained to accommodate all of Brent's stuff. (And some of mine)

Living room and a view into the hall and our laundry closet.

Our piano, a closet, and a bookshelf.

Another of my grandma's paintings.

I got this lamp at a thrift store in Logan for $3. I love it!

This is a view into the hall and our laundry closet. I broke the door on this the first time I used the dryer. Oops! I need a weekend and some woodglue and it should be good as new!

KSL washer and dryer. I love used stuff!

On the left you can see the Laundry Closet and we're moving into the kitchen.

Here is my lovely Kitchen.

Kitchen.

Here is our table from another angle. You can see the hall and our living room from this angle.

The "temple" picture was a wedding gift, I drew the SLC temple, and Brent sent the Logan temple picture to me as a gift. This is right outside the bathroom door.

Here's the bathroom.

Our Vanity.

Bathroom Storage.

In honor of our last apartment, I have put the toliet and shower pictures side by side. However, I wish to highlight that they are two separate functions now. Thank goodness.

Here you can see the edge of the temple pictures, another closet, and our bedroom.

Here's the bedroom looking in from the bedroom door.

My nightstand and silhouette. I painted my nightstand white. I think I like it better than Brent's.

Brent's nightstand and silhouette. His nightstand was a lot of work, and it's cool, but I don't know that I like it in this room. His might end up white too, or at least painted with cool colors instead of that black and cream.

I have a lot of DIY going on here. That chair in the corner was on the street in Denver and Brent and I hauled it home and I recovered it. The lantern was a white IKEA lantern I painted. The dresser was from DI and was missing a drawer. My dad and neighbor made two new drawers for it and Brent and I sprayed it red. The mirror I painted and covered with those clear flat floral stones from the dollar store.

Another angle of the bedroom.

This is another picture my grandma painted. I think it was just something she was doing to practice, but I think it's my favorite of the pictures we have. I might have to make a companion piece someday with a flower I painted.

In this picture you can see the door to our bedroom and the door to the "other" bedroom.

Someday this will be a baby room, but for now it's a bike/computer room.

Hey Brent! That nightstand I found next to a dumpster. I love free stuff. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with it yet, but I figured if I never decided I could just give it to DI and it wouldn't end up costing me a cent.

Here's the hallway. That's our place. We love it and I hope you enjoyed the pictures.

Look! I found our Wedding Video!

2010-10-29T12:17:00.000-06:00

M'Recia & Brent's Wedding Video from Marc Jones on Vimeo.

And one from last year.

2010-10-21T12:23:00.001-06:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-21T12:18:00.002-06:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Cool Halloween Costumes

2010-10-17T21:37:00.000-06:00

Guybrush Threepwood and Elaine Marley (10 Points if you know who this is)

Hellboy Hand

DOMO

And, some silly ideas:

Got Milk?

Wear a sign that says "Got Milk?". Paint a milk mustache over your lip with make-up or other non-toxic white substance.

Shark

Wear all gray or all blue. Make a shark fin out of cardboard and attach it to your back.

CD Burner

Just tie a computer CD around your neck and carry a lighter. When someone asks what you are, hold the lighter up to the CD.

Golf Tee

Attach a golf ball to a headband and wear it on top of your head.

Magic 8 Ball

Wear all black. Cut a large 8 out of white cloth, cardboard or paper and pin or tape it to your back. When people ask you what you are, tell them "reply hazy, try again," or "cannot predict now." Or tell them to shake you and ask you a question.

Chia Pet

Wrap yourself in duct tape so the sticky part is facing out, then roll around on the lawn.

Tic Tac Toe

Attach a pack of Tic Tacs to the tip of your shoe.

Self Portrait

Put a picture frame around your neck and sign your shirt.

Piggy Bank

Wear pink clothes and put a piece of black electrical tape on your forehead (coin slot).

Web Pages

Glue pages from a book onto a black sweatshirt and sweatpants. Add spider webbing to your hair. Voila! Instant internet!

Black Mail

Wear all black, and attach a postage stamp to your chest.

Headquarters

Hotglue some quarters to hairclips, and place in your hair.

Spice Rack

Wear an extra-large bra over your clothes. Stuff it with jars of spices.

Man Walking Into a Bar

Get a piece of pipe and attach it to your forehead

The Ant and the Contact Lens

2010-10-08T14:09:00.002-06:00

I remember my mom coming home from Relief Society when I was younger with a hand out that she put on the fridge with the image above on it. With it was the story that I have posted below. I really like this story because I feel it hits on one of the reasons we have trials in our life.

In light of the recent division in opinions over Boyd K. Packer's Talk at this past General Conference, a lot of people have been questioning why God gives us trials. This little example story does not correlate to why everyone goes through every trial, but it does give some perspective.

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was scared to death, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff.
In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took a hold on the rope, and started up the face of that rock. Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens. Well, here she is on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below Her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there.
Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to the Lord to help her to find it. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party, waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff.
She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that Bible verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole Earth." She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."
Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff. One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"
Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it? An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it!
Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know why you want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what you want me to do, I'll carry it for you."
I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and It's awfully heavy. But, if you want me to carry it, I will." God doesn't call the qualified, he qualifies the called.

An LDS Social Worker's View on Gay Marriage

2010-10-04T18:20:00.000-06:00

I'm going to be changing gears a bit for this next post. I don't usually like to get involved in heated political debates, but I feel like I should say something.

I have several friends who have lost their faith because of the issue of Gay Marriage. It has been something I've struggled with myself. I have several friends and acquaintances who consider themselves to be gay/lesbian/bisexual, etc.

I am also working on my BSW (Bachelor of Social Work). There is kind of an unspoken expectation for social workers to support gay marriage and gay rights.

I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The LDS church has spoken out against gay marriage countless times.

What's a girl to do?

The following statements and analysis are purely my observations and feelings. I do not officially speak for Social Workers or the LDS church. I do not mean to come off hateful or ignorant. I am not going to pretend that I don't understand the LDS church's stance a million times better than the GLBT community's. I am merely trying to share the information I have gathered and help others understand my position.

Please don't respond to this post hatefully. I welcome any comments that will help others understand the issues at hand, but any hateful comments will be deleted.

The first thing I want to address is Civil Unions. Below are snippets from several articles:

"Advocates for full marriage equality in Utah say they will focus on the fight for civil unions in the Mormon Church's home state of Utah, as they continue to press for full marital rights. The Mormon Church has said it won't block civil unions in Utah" (article)

" [The Church] does not object to rights for same-sex couples regarding hospitalization and medical care, fair housing and employment rights or probate rights, so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches."(article)

"The Church opposes gay marriage but has said it does not oppose civil unions or non-marriage legal rights for same sex couples." (article)

"LDS church leaders, however do not oppose civil unions or other limited rights for the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, as long as those rights don't infringe on religious liberties. In the fall, the church backed a Salt Lake City ordinance that made it illegal to discriminate against LGBT individuals in housing and employment matters." (article)

Now, I know what everyone is thinking, "Separate by Equal" doesn't work and proved to be unequal during the civil rights struggles.

BUT, I think it's important to understand why the LDS Church insists that Marriage is between a man and a woman.

Let's say that Gay Marriage was universally passed as being legal. At first that would probably be enough. But, say 10 or 20 years had passed and gay marriage was generally accepted as normal in a secular sense. Churches that did not offer Gay Marriage would be next to be addressed.

If you don't think it will go that far, check out these articles:

"The Church of England warned last night that it is under pressure to accept gay marriage" (article)

Gay Marriage was made legal in the UK in 2005 (source) and 5 years later churches are being targeted that don't allow gay marriages.

Unfortunately, it doesn't stop at "being pressured."

"Church of England clergy will be sued for discrimination if they refuse to “marry” homosexuals under a proposed law, a bishop has warned. Other religious leaders fear that churches that refuse to bless civil partnerships might be forced to close." (article)

Imagine if that happened in America; churches who don't conform to the morals voted on by the public being closed down. America is a country founded on the belief that churches should have freedom to operate.

If you go back and look at the statements above from the LDS church regarding civil unions, they usually include something like "as those rights don't infringe on religious liberties" or "so long as these do not infringe on the integrity of the traditional family or the constitutional rights of churches."

In my opinion, that is one of the big reasons the church is fighting so hard against Gay Marriage.

In my opinion, (and again this isn't endorsed by anyone of authority from the LDS church), the solution would be to do away with "marriage" entirely as far as secular organizations are concerned. From what I know about the history of "marriage," marriage has only become a secular concern fairly recently. It used to be a concern of churches.

In my opinion, that's the best solution. Let the government give everyone a civil union individual churches give marriages based on their beliefs. That gives the GLBT community equal rights with straight people are far as the government is concerned and places a distinction for marriage to be religious sanction.

I could go on about the churches stance on Homosexuality as a sin, but this post is very long as it is and I'll save that for another time.

Grandma's Book

2010-09-27T00:01:00.000-06:00

The Story of My Life

Make Your Own Book

Ready to order if you follow this link: http://www.blurb.com/bookstore/detail/1616925

Grandma Tibbitt's Birthday

2010-09-17T15:49:00.000-06:00

Sunday, August 1 was my Grandma Tibbitts's birthday. I have no idea what year she was turning; a lady never reveals her age. We had a little family get together.

Melissa's Graduation

2010-09-17T15:44:00.000-06:00

Melissa graduated several months ago, but I still found this little treasure lurking in my blogger drafts.

Here she is walking in, and taking this very seriously.

Melissa found my gown and I found my diploma from three years ago. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Melissa threw her hat against the wishes of the faculty.

Birthday Adventure

2010-09-17T11:04:00.000-06:00

I made this coconut cake and it just turned out strange. The batter was really thick and it baked really clumpy.

I also made that fondant a few weeks ago and failed too.

Leave it to my mom to combine my two failed attempts into something pretty.

There they are, 22 candles.

I got them all out in one shot.

This was in the super saver or something. It's for a place in North Salt Lake Yogi Berry. It was really fun. It's one of those places that let you buy the frozen yogurt by the ounce.

The man who owns it is very nice. We had a wonderful time visiting with him.

Here we are, waiting to get our frozen yogurt.

Delicious!

After Yogi Berry, we went on a tour of the Beehive House.

Brigham Young's Coat

A bracelet made from Brigham Young's hair...weird.

Brigham Young's original hat, hankie, and cane

These are his original Dictionary and Bible

The Beehive motif is constant throughout the home.

This is a wedding dress of one of his daughters

The family dining area

We got lunch on at a street taco stand

Delicious!

We ended the night by going to some antique stores and then to the planetarium.

After that we went to dinner at Stone Ground. We came home and watched a movie.

It was a wonderful birthday.

22 Years Ago Today

2010-09-13T10:27:00.000-06:00

This cute baby was born!

Here I am as bugs bunny on my first halloween.

I am happy to have been born!

Pirates of Penzance

2010-09-02T14:16:00.000-06:00

The movie that pretty much defined my childhood is coming out on DVD the day after my birthday!

I'm estatic.

Does anyone else know the Pirates of Penzance with Linda Ronstadt, Kevin Kline, Angela Lansbury, and Rex Smith.

Has anyone tried this before?

2010-08-22T16:03:00.000-06:00

Here is an instructable on how to make microwave popcorn yourself.

I am going to try this one of these days. Has anyone else tried this?

100th Post and Free Photobook!

2010-08-17T12:09:00.000-06:00

Yay! I've reached 100 posts!

Free Photobook to all new customers at Shutterfly. Details here.

Sunday Inspration

2010-08-15T14:32:00.001-06:00

I've really gotten to love the Mormon Messages on YouTube. Today's is titled "choose this day"

And if you haven't seen this one yet, you must. It's one of the best things I've ever seen.

Amazing!

2010-08-12T17:45:00.002-06:00

http://pogpog.com/v/autistic-girl-expresses-profound-intelligence/

Photos for the Fair!

2010-08-12T12:50:00.000-06:00

I'm actually going to do it this year! I haven't done it for a few years and I don't know why. I'm entering a few photos in the fair. Help me decide which one.

I get to enter 3 photos total, 1 in each classification.

1. Animals/Pets [Domestic]
2. Close-up/Macro
3. Flowers
4. Human Interest [Tells a story or evokes an emotion]
5. Portraiture [Formal, Candid, Wedding, etc.]
6. Scenic/Landscape
7. Sports/Action
8. Wildlife [In the wild or captivity]
9. Creative/Artistic
10. Unclassified [Does not fit any other category]

These first 3 are their own classifications:

Sports/Action

Portraiture

Human Interest

These next 3 are from the same category: Wildlife

These next 4 are also from the same category: Scenic/Landscape

See the little sailboat? If I use this one I might crop it.

10.

Let me know which ones you like best! Just try not to like 2 from the same category.

Spoon Me!

2010-08-12T12:30:00.000-06:00

Brent and I went to Spoon Me last night for the M'Recia 2 for 1 day!

Remember this?

I think this might be the only time I have a special name day, so I was excited.

Here's proof:

There it is! My name on the name board!

See?

Brent enjoying the benefits of my Spoon Me day.

Brain Freeze!

Thanks for taking that last picture, honey!

Whatever, this is too yummy to be upset.

Attempt #1 at self portraiture.

Attempt #2...

Attempt #3. It looks better small since it's out of focus. We failed! Oh well, the treat was good!

Ask and you shall recieve

2010-08-03T14:38:00.000-06:00

Does everyone see what it says on August 11th? I am so excited. I just went on their facebook page and asked that they do a day for me, and they did!

CUL-DE-SAC OF FIRE!

2010-07-24T17:17:00.000-06:00

Every year my family does a huge firework show in their Cul-De-Sac. Ever since my sister married into the family 13 years ago, we've been attending. About 8 years ago, they started getting REALLY serious about these fireworks. They started getting more and bigger fireworks, and then came the music and coordination. Stopwatches were added and the planning started earlier and earlier. This year's show was the best yet!

Brent was a pyro-tech! Here he is covering the fireworks with tin foil in order to prevent any accidental ignition by sparks.

A friend of the family brought their fire engine for safety reasons. The kids loved playing with it. The sirens were really loud, though. One of the neighbors called the police because of the noise. Oops!

Chelise and Dallin got to play with the fire hose.

All the fireworks set up pre-show.

Melissa and Annie getting ready for the show.

The show started with America the Beautiful and the National Anthem. We needed a little reminder as to why were blowing up the sidewalk.

It was LOUD!

This picture is my favorite.

Dallin feel asleep. He has a yearly tradition of falling asleep during the show.

Michelle had the two kiddos asleep on her last summer.

Photography Tips

2010-07-22T12:13:00.000-06:00

Photography tips from Kristin Duke at the Idea Room

I just stumbled across this today! If anyone has an DSLR that they're clueless about (me) she gives lots of great tips on how to use it, and how to use photoshop.

Body Image

2010-07-19T20:43:00.000-06:00

I'm a Social Work Major.

I got into social work because of a Psychology class I took in high school. I figured social work was like applied psycology, and it is in a lot of ways. It's a lot of other things too, but it's applied psychology.

I orginally wanted to go into adoption, but now I think I want to go a different route. I want to help girls and women combat the issues of body image in this world.

I've been reading Reviving Ophelia, a book about the problems that adolescent girls face. She's broken the problems down into different categories, indulding a category about what she calls "lookism."

However, body image comes up in every chapter of her book. It's that big.

Here are a few of my favorite lookism combating resources.

You know how Americans are obessed with being tan? We're convinced that tan is good and pale is bad.

Well, look at how the Easterners see it:

Makes you think, doesn't it?

The first time I saw these, it really opened my eyes and turned most of the concepts I'd had about beauty on it's head.

It seems to me that we all want what we don't have. It also showed me how culturally defined beauty is. Which means we could get over all this ridiculous body image stuff.

3 Elect Ladies

2010-07-10T21:06:00.000-06:00

I've lost a few people in the past few months. I lost a "mother," a friend, and a grandma.

Cherie and my mom at my wedding reception.

The day Brent and I moved into our new apartment, I was out shopping with my mother-in-law to get some groceries. My best friend, Wendy, sent me a text telling me that Cherie Petersen had died. Cherie had cancer and hadn't been doing well for quite some time. She was only supposed to live for a year, but she held on for 18 months. I grew up with her daughter Molly. We were born a few months apart and spent a lot of time together as children. My mom worked and Cherie babysat children, it was perfect. I went to the Petersen's everyday after school for a long time. Cherie was just an amazing lady. One of my fondest memories I have of her is giving her a birthday present. I bought a little bell from the dollar store that looked like a little boy in one piece pajamas. She was so gracious in accepting it. It made me feel so proud! Cherie was one of my "mothers" and I' m sure there are many who feel that way about her.

Brent and I moved into our apartment on April 17, and heard about Cherie's passing that same day. On the following Monday, we got a phone call from my mom telling us that my Grandma had collapsed and was in the hospital, unconscious. We went to see her the next day. I was really worried she would die before I got to see her, but she was still "alive" when we visited. She was hooked to a respirator and I could tell that even though she wasn't dead yet, it wasn't really her. I was really comforted that I got to see her one more time. I made her these flowers and felt like it was just what I needed.

Thursday we all went to see her and said our goodbyes. I was sad to see her go, but I was more excited for her than anything else. She'd lived a good, long life and had so much family waiting for her on the other side. My Grandpa passed away about 5 years ago, and it was time for them to be together again. I was able to put together a video for her funeral and sing "I Stand All Amazed" at her funeral.

Grandma at my wedding.

My grandma loved everyone in her family dearly. It always made her so happy when we came around. She was very generous and we miss her.

Liz Harris was a friend of mine from Farmington City. I counted at her funeral, and we did 10 productions together. She was just a year older than my sister and died from liver failure do to melonoma. She lived across the street from my very dear friends the Safeers. Her funeral was beautiful. She was supposed to get married today, so she was buried in her wedding dress with a beautiful engagement ring on her finger. She struggled with her health for a long time and was in a lot of pain when she died. I felt so bad for their family. We all know she's in a better place; we're the ones who need help now. But, I know that funerals always strenghten my testimony. I can really feel that the gospel plan is true and that I will get to see all these people I lost in the past few months again.

Our Piano

2010-07-10T19:49:00.000-06:00

This is our beautiful piano we got from my parents for Christmas.

Melissa was asking for an electric guitar, and I was joking that I wanted a piano. I didn't expect to get one. Right after I had joked about it, my parents found out that someone in the ward had a piano they were giving away, and they got it! My dad and I (mostly my dad) refinshed it. We love it!