tender mercies

So lately my car decides it likes to break.  I even finally added the Logan Midas into my phone so I don't have to look up the number anymore.  Okay.  It's only been two times up here....but that's more than I'd like.

Yet.  It always breaks when I'm in my parking lot.  Or at least that's when it's noticed or whatever.  I don't end up on the side of the road somewhere.  I'm not stranded in the middle of an intersection.  Or in the twists and turns of Sardine Canyon.

And then this morning was a struggle to get out of bed.  But I was finally able to roll out at the last second.  Thankfully it was only Zumba and I really didn't have to get ready.  I was already wearing my lovely Xela sweats.

And we did some of my favorite songs.  There's one in particular that we haven't done in weeks and we did it today.  It pretty much tops the list of favorites.  And then for our toning song she played Stereo Hearts which put a smile on my face.



I was kind of hoping for choreography, but I was still happy that it was played :)

Some days these things might seem like nothing, but today the small things made a difference.  It seemed to be God's way of saying "you are not forgotten."

Source: jengerbreadcreations.blogspot.com via Kelly on Pinterest

ray of sunshine

Sometimes, life is stupid.

You come home for a break from school that sounds like it's going to be too long and you're going to get sick of it.  But instead, Sunday arrives and you don't want to go back quite yet.

• Packing up sucks.
• I get the joy of talking to my teacher about the test that I've currently "failed"...but really, it's a technology malfunction.  I just hope she's understanding considering it wasn't even my fault.  I tried.  I think/hope she'll be helpful.
• I have a huge paper due next week.  Haven't started it.  Oops.  I guess I should get on that.
• I have a group project due sometime in the next while...mid-November...we should get on that too...
• I'm missing the niece's birthday party for work tonight.
• And then there are all the stupid little and not so little frustrations that go on inside and outside of my head that I don't really feel like expounding on.

But then there's a little ray of sunshine that makes your day.

Source: flickr.com via Kelly on Pinterest

You go online to check the calendar of assignments that are due tomorrow.  After all, Mondays are always killer.  And you are the queen of procrastination.  So you pull up the screen.  Look at Monday, October 24. And....

• You notice you don't have a computer science program due on Monday like you normally do.

And then you realize other things that make life a little better too :)

• I have people who listen to me and let me vent my stupid frustrations.
• It's pretty easy homework that's due tomorrow.
• I do like Logan.  Most of the time.
• It's the last day of work for me for the year :) {but maybe I'll go find a new job...unless I keep school as my only "job"}
• There are people in Logan that I miss.  Some I'll see right away.  Others will hopefully be seen soon?
• I got awesome cupcake stuff.  I don't even really feel like making cupcakes right now...but I'm just happy I have it :)

I need to make a giant to-do list and tackle it.

love

I was going to come up with some witty metaphor to put with this...but it's just not coming tonight.

Cinnamon Chex are delicious.  Go buy some.  And eat them.  And love them.  Lather, rinse, and repeat.

my week in pictures

So the last week has been pretty great. :)

Last Sunday Katie and I went to game night at the Trophy House.  We got there a little late...so we only played Lap Tag.  Katie bruised my arms with her "dagger hands."  I also ended up with rug burn, a broken toenail, and sprained(?) toe.  I don't think it was broken...but maybe it was?  Anyway, it was a poor little pinky toe - blue and gross and didn't like to be walked on.  I think it's almost better, although I can definitely tell it's not all the way there.  BUT it was worth it.  So super fun.

Monday and Tuesday nights were full of homework...and I have a feeling Disney movies too.  Oh and Tuesday Katie and I went over to the Trophy House to play Just Dance 3.  Those people are a bunch of fun :)  I felt pretty awesome when I beat some of the best "dancers."  That game is great.  And so are those boys.

Wednesday...hmm...I can't remember.  We probably watched. a movie?  I honestly don't know.  Our movie collection is quite embarrassing.  Except not really.  We just like having options :)  I think that's the night we watched The Hunchback of Notre Dame.  And I wrote some computer assignment while watching it...It was one of my favorites when I was little.  I still remember my family teasing me about it when I was little.  I would say it one way and they would say it another....and I would correct them the best little Kelly could.  "It's Dame!"  Yeah...only we would get that I guess.

We also went to free pie night at Village Inn with random neighbors that Shayna had met earlier.  Heather was making brownies when they came over...so we turned the oven off and locked our door on our way out.  When we got home, we stopped by to talk to Brian and Craig.  Sarah and Katie went home while the rest of us stayed a few minutes longer.  When we got home, we noticed a brownie sitting on a plate on top of the stove.  We pulled them out of the oven (who knows why it didn't click right then) and that piece was cut right out of the middle.  We just figured Katie or Sarah really like middle pieces and went about normal life.  So we're sitting around...and someone asks who cut the middle piece.  We assumed it was Katie since she was sitting there on the chair eating it.  No one would admit it.  If I had come up with the idea, I think it would have been pretty funny and I would have kept going with it too...so naturally I figured someone was lying - after all the windows were shut and the door was locked.  So we go back to I1 and start talking to them...and they broke so fast.  Apparently, they originally wanted to take our front door, but decided against it...which was extremely smart of them.  So they went to take our oven door...and discovered the pan of brownies inside and decided that was a better idea.  Anyway.  If they had to do anything I'm glad they did what they did...because I have a feeling if the door was gone there would have been police involved before we even found out who took it.  And now we deadbolt our door.

On Thursday Tyler brought her bunny Merv over.  He's a cute fluffy white bunny.  He's potty trained and can be on a leash.  But he doesn't walk (hop?) on the leash very well.  He likes to do his own thing.  People got into a big debate over taking him for a walk vs taking him for a hop.  Any ideas to what it is?  Anyway, our neighbors picked up a puppy for their family.  So Old Farm really was a farm that day.  That puppy was adorable.  I can't wait to have a dog again.  So help me if my husband is allergic.

Oh and I made my family's favorite chocolate mint snow-top cookies.  Let's just say my siblings weren't very happy with me...They got demolished pretty quickly...

And then later that night I went over to Blake's and watched How to Train Your Dragon on bluray.  It was pretty adorable.  For some reason Astrid reminded me of my roommate Tyler.  Plus.  Bluray is quite awesome.  Especially when you watch a VHS the next night...you can see a huge difference.

Friday.  Friday I went to my one class.  And found out that for fall break next week...since our Friday classes are moved to Thursday...she cancelled class!  Exciting! :)  That means I get an extra day!  I also got some homework accomplished - I had to go to the major fair for one of my classes.

The pretty sky on my way to school :)

As I was sitting home on my bed, my phone starts ringing!  Okay.  So the ringing part isn't that cool.  But it turns out it was one of my awesome friends coming to visit me!  Sometimes he's a cool kid.

Later that night we went to the hockey game.  I thought I didn't have a heart.  But apparently I do.  By our fifth point I just felt bad.  I felt bad to cheer.  I didn't even want to clap.  The cheers were mean.  It didn't feel like the basketball and football game cheers.  Those ones seem more general and not as mean-spirited.  These were all pretty directly aimed at the goalie.  And maybe because it was close enough that they could actually hear everything.  I don't know.   I wasn't a huge fan.  We left early...and on our way home we saw the Easter Bunny crossing the street.  And then we watched Aladdin.

He's by that car...

Driving a Zamboni might be cool. Literally. Haha.  Dad joke. 

On Saturday I felt super productive.  I decided to stay home while my roommates went hiking.  I figured I should do some of my Monday homework considering I have like 5 assignments due Monday (today...).  So I got a few of those knocked out of the way.  Then when they got home, Tyler and I went to Violet Hill Boutique.  I bought cute flower earrings and a really comfy brown shirt that has buttons on the sleeves.  It's pretty rad.  I like it.  There were some dresses there that I really liked...but were just too short, especially going into winter.  Oh well.

Later that afternoon, Heather, Tyler, and I went to deliver my visiting teaching assignments...I'm a slacker.  I had them almost a week.  One of the girls reactions was so funny.  It looked like she was heading out on a date or something...and she was like "Is that our visiting teaching assignments?!"  So she takes the pile (it had hers and all her roommates) and starts digging through it excitedly.  Needless to say, I know she'll get it done. I need an attitude more like hers!  I at least have an awesome partner named Heather!  We will be much better than I was last year where I only went a handful of times...because Shayna was the one who cared and got us to do it.

Oh and Tyler found a leaf bug on her truck.  She named him Ginko.  He lived on my nose for a minute.  And we had show-and-tell at I3 (Brett, Matt, and Cody) with him.  And invited them to a movie night.

Anyway, after we did that...we went to the store and I bought all the stuff to make my fabulous pumpkin roll, the treat for our visiting teaching training, and our (me and Heather) crayon art.

I really like Pinterest.  It's where all "my" great ideas come from.  It's the greatest time waster.  But maybe someday I'll make a dent in actually doing what I pin...not just look at it all pretty and forget about it.  You can see my boards *here*.  Oh and if you want to join the addiction, I'd be more than happy to send you an invite.

So anyway...to sum up Saturday night, Heather and I did our crayon artwork while Tyler and Matt and Sarah watched us.  For the gist of how to do it, click *here*  Then we stopped by some dance party the Pie Night boys were holding...for all of about two seconds.  And then played Just Dance 3 over at Brian's because his living room set up is more spacious than ours.

Sunday morning I woke up and started making the pumpkin roll.  I had never made one before.  Or seen my mom make one.  In fact, I had never had one until a supervisor meeting at work when Nikki made it.  Anyway, it was amazing so I figured it was worth a shot.  If I failed, I had at least tried.  I guess I didn't fail though.  Because before the night was over it had somehow disappeared...for the recipe click *here*

And I made homemade oreos (except they weren't really homemade...I bought a boxed mix) for the visiting teaching training we had last night.  I was little miss baker extraordinaire yesterday.  I wanted to make Halloween funfetti cupcakes...but haven't seen the mix lately.  What the heck?  It's not even  Halloween.  You can't be out Walmart.

We went to church...where I really had no attention span.  Except for Sunday school.  Normally it's the opposite.  I get distracted during Sunday school.  But we had a really good lesson taught by Shayna.  It went really well and there was lots of participation too which was nice.

I was all baked out when I got home...so I made soup and toast for dinner.  And learned how to use a toaster oven.  My roommates probably thought I was dumb.  But I've never used one.  I owned one for a minute when Heather (sister) moved to Maryland and gave me a ton of her stuff...but we just gave it to a guy at my dad's work haha.  Then we went to our visiting teacher thing.  And I taught my little rotation.  I always felt like I was rambling and saying the same thing over and over.  And would end early.  But I guess that's what happens when everyone else has two teachers and you are the only one for yours.  But it was cool.  I knew Kim had to work.  It was funny we had been paired together considering she was the only person I really knew beforehand.  I figure it went "good enough" for what I had to work with haha.

And now it's the start of another week....hopefully it can top the last, but the bar is set pretty high...so we'll see :)

Pumpkin Roll with Cream Cheese Frosting

So one glorious Sunday at work, Nikki brought a pumpkin roll to our meeting.  I had never experienced such deliciousness before.  The other day it sounded like a good idea to make...but I had one problem.  I had never made one, or even seen one made.  I figured I would find a recipe and give it a shot.  I think it turned out pretty amazing...and my roommates did too.  This recipe is sure a keeper!

I'm not a food-tographer so I don't laugh at my pictures :)

Cake
1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup walnuts (optional)

Filling
1 pkg (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature
1 cup powdered sugar, sifted
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
powdered sugar (optional for decoration)

For Cake:
Preheat oven to 375 F.  Grease 15 x 10 inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper.  Grease and flour paper (make sure you put enough so you don't have problems pulling the wax paper off later).  Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, and salt in small bowl.  Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick.  Beat in pumpkin.  Stir in flour mixture.  Spread evenly into prepared pan.  Sprinkle with nuts.

Bake for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched.  (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.)  Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel.  Carefully peel off paper.  Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end.  Cool on wire rack.

For Filling:
Beat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter, and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth.  Carefully unroll cake.  Spread cream cheese mixture over cake.  Reroll cake.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

Cooking Tip:
Be sure to put enough powdered sugar on the towel when rolling up the cake so it will not stick.

Source:  Very Best Baking

Crayon Art!

What you need:

• canvas (we used 8 x 10 I think)
• crayons (we used a 64 pack...)
• hot glue gun and sticks
• blow dryer
• and you probably want wax paper or newspaper...or something that can get messy

Basically what you want to do first is arrange all the colors in the order you want.  We used pretty much all colors.  I took out the ones that I thought were ugly because you will have some left over.  I've also seen some that are one color family or cool colors or whatever.  There are several options.  Just buy enough crayons to do what you want.

Then you will hot glue them to the top of the canvas with the points facing towards the middle of the canvas like so.

I also wanted all mine to have the logo facing the top.  Maybe it's OCD...but I think it looks neater instead of random.

Put your canvas on wax paper or newspaper and grab your blow dryer.

I started on high to get the crayons to start melting.  When they start melting, I switched to low.  It splatters a lot more if you keep it on high.  The splatters do look cool though.  I concentrated on a section at a time but would get impatient and switch around a lot.  Melt it down to wherever you want on the canvas.  You basically can't mess this project up.  That's the beauty of art. :)

You can hang it either way :)

scientific fact

A few days ago....

boy:  "There is nothing in this world more beautiful than a Mormon girl who carries herself well.  That's a scientific fact."
me:  "Really? Well...I guess I better work on that."
boy:  "You do well don't worth about it :)"

I guess I'm doing better than I thought?  Either way it renewed my will to do good and be good and to "carry myself well."  By no means am I anywhere near perfect.  Nowhere close.  But I don't have to be.  I just have to be my best.

And I'm pretty sure it's not too scientific...but I'm willing to go with it :)

cold fall days / bliss

Today is one of those cold fall days that takes me back to my childhood.

Coming home from school today I wanted nothing more than to go home,

Turn the heat up high, grab my favorite blanket, put on some comfy pjs, 

And lay down in the living room right over the heat vent 

Using the blanket to create a warm little cocoon.

The best was when Oscar would climb in too.

He was my favorite.  Today I kind of miss him.

Sometimes he would get too hot and leave.

Sometimes I would too.  But I learned how to fight that.

You learn to wear socks to cover up your feet {I hate socks...this was the exception}

And make sure your pjs came all the way down to save your legs from extreme heat.

It's amazing what a thin piece of fabric can do.

Those were the days when you'd watch TV super close.  Or take a nap.

Those days were bliss.

It's days like today that I want to go back in time.

To be at home with my lovely little heat vent

Instead of ~40 degree Logan with snow on the mountains

And promise of a cold winter.

I knew what I was signing up for coming to school here.

I've experienced it.  And I love it.

However much I'd like to go back in time I know I can't.

It's not physically possible.

Even if I drove home now it still wouldn't be quite the same.

The blanket is beginning to look worn with age.

Time has gotten the best of Oscar.

The siblings aren't there.  And the parents aren't half the time either.

You never seem to realize it in the moment

How truly wonderful the simple things in life are.

Heat vent blanket bliss.

Family all being together.

Bliss.

Lately I've been super happy.

I finally got a calling.  It's not anything big, but it shows that I'm needed.

I've made a few new friends.  I think they're pretty great.  And they make me smile.

And I have super roommates.  Sometimes we're loud.  Sometimes we're crazy.

We like to poke fun at one another.  And have really long talks.  And watch movies.

And be best friends.  And watch out for one another.

And my bff Angie was able to visit Logan last weekend.

And I was able to watch all of General Conference for like the first time in years.

And things are falling together quite perfectly.

Bliss.

i like those days

sometimes someone can make your good day turned crappy back into a good day.
i like those days :)