Stove Saturday

Today my Mom cooked for me with love. Yep, love. And delicousness :) We went to Errol's basketball game this morning, Go, Errol!!! Was greeted with a huge hug by Wick, Mom charmed Cora with Smarties and saw Errol score a basket. Awesome!!!!

On the way home, I was thinking a cheese quesadilla sounded really good. I don't know why that is such a comfort food for me but it IS. We looked for a taco bell on the way home but didn't see one so Mom cooked one when we got home! She didn't have a lot of time, but she made a big one anyone and we shared it. When I make a quesadilla it's cheese sliceso on a tortilla nuked in the microwave for 42 seconds. Yes, 42 seconds.

Mom's was much more high class. Cheese, 2 tortillas, bacon bits, hashbrowns. Cooked not in the microwave, but on the stove. Hence the blog title :) Mom didn't have a whole lot of time but she really gave of herself. Thanks, Mom!

Babysitting at the Broadhead's that night? LOTS of fun. Watching Annie get ready for Sweethearts Dance looking absolutely beautiful in a red dress handmade by her Mom, snuggling with Lexi, Brandon & Johnathon on the couch while watching Toy Stor y 3. Chillin' with Sara. Helping Davey & Ethan with their Valentines Day boxes-loved reverting to my childhood memories, creativeness, living the childhood excitement of it all through my nephews, having them ask for my ideas but really thinking outside the box themselves! Ethan made a chuckwagon with a toy horse and Davey made an airplane. Got the kids in bed (and according to Jeff, Brandon woke up the next morning saying "Where's Heather? I want her to come stay with us!") and after Annie got home and before Mel & Jeff got home, she got me hooked on Psych, with us watching it together.

Also had a chance to visit with Katie and Addison yesterday. LOVED hearing about Katie's college dates and ward callings, class adventures. Addison getting a tie that will match his date's dress for Sweetheart's, arranging his work schedule, taking the ACT. So awesome watching them grow up for little kids that I used to babysit to competent teens and young adults!

Frozen Friday

Tonight I went with the Folks to a BYU concert. LOVE the BYU fine arts dept and the shows they produce. Seriously love it a LOT. This night it was the "Living Legends" which featureddances from Polynesia, Native America, Latin America. The costumes were original for each dance-no repeats!

A few insights/highlights-Polynesian have an amazing sense of rhythm! In one of their chants they even added "B-Y-U COUGARS!!!!" They also have great abs! Just sayin...... I liked how men in the Native American dances had bells on their legs-it kind of made me want to walk around will bells on me, I like the sound of them :) They had the most beautiful white dresses for a Hawaiian dance, and yellow fringe for a Tahitian dance that shook gracefully at the slightest movement.

My favorite dance? The Native American "Hoop Dance" watching two talented men pick up 6-8 hoops, spin them on arm AND legs, fashion them into a ball, into wings, etc. and doing it quickly while still keeping the rhythm of the song. Truly amazing. We overheard after the show that one of the hoop dancers had only been doing it for about 4 months!!!!

A bonus? We were looking at the program and saw that one of the girls was from Bloomfield where sister Cristine and family live!!! I texted Cristine to see if she/they knew her and she knew her well! We made a concerted effort to find this girl after the show and just as we were about to leave the fine arts building, Mom spotted her! We had a great visit with her and Mom took pictures of her in the costume :)

We then went to BYU Creamery on 9th because hello, we were in Provo so how could we pass that up?!?! I got chocolate fudge mousse ice cream because I really have a thing for chocolate mousse in any form and..... it was delicious :) Good times with the show, the ice cream and the folks. Really good times.

Tortilla Tuesday

Tonight was a stake Relief Society activity, all about Patchwork quilts and "lives pieced together" Well, actually first Alli & I stopped at Article Circle on the way home to let food take our mind off of work for awhile...... Corn dog and fry sauce totally took care of that!

I brought my Grandma Litster's pink patchwork quilt to display and as soon as I get my camera battery charged I'll share a picture of it but for now the story will have to do..... I don't know the story behind the patches of the quilt but it's significant to me because of all the memories associated with it. When I was a little girl, visiting Grandma at her home in Huntington, I was too scared to sleep in the spare room downstairs by myself, so every night grandma got a foam pad, pillow, fitted sheet and the pink quit to make me a bed on her bedroom floor. When I grew older and she moved to Provo, I was OK sleeping in a room by myself but Grandma still made me a bed on the couch with the pink quilt. It reminds me of days with Grandma spent watching the sound of music, eating her special tuna-fish sandwiches, and drinking ruby red grapefruit juice which I still don't like, but never had the heart to tell her so!

The evening started off with some beautiful music from Linda Mansfield on the piano who I've known for years through the Messiah, and Aleena Hatch on the violin, whom I've heard about from Mom and Aunt Elizabeth-that she plays beautifully and they are right! I introduced myself to her :)

There was a taco salad/tortilla bar of sorts for dinner-delicious!!!! It's funny though, from a distance the bowl of olives looked like blueberries and I thought, "Who eats blueberries with Mexican???" then I realized they were olives :) My claim to fame is that this time I did NOT stuff my tortilla so full that I couldn't roll it up!

Sister Zillner was the speaker, I had never met her but I'd heard about from Grandpa, husband Josef Zillner was one of his good friends. She shared various life experiences like serving a mission in Germany/Switzerland, meeting her husband, etc and how those "patchwork pieces" influenced her life.

We also took time to look at the quilts and the stories-some heartbreaking, touching stories! Quilts made by a mother who passed when the daughter was only 14, quilts made by a ward when a family moved, quilt square inherited by a grandmother, etc. Truly touching.

What a good night I had!
Tortilla/taco dinner @ stake RS, quilt display, went with Kerri, grandma litster quilt displayed. Greeted sisters in the stake, aleena & sister mansfield music, sister zilner-guest speaker.

Merciful Monday

Don't you love it when your prayers are answered in a unexpected, beautiful way? Personally, I find the idea rather amazing :) I have been needing to get to the bank for awhile but with recent work changes, the time I get home, sometimes I stop at the gym, etc.... it makes it much harder to get to the bank! Today was a day when I was able to get a ride home with a coworker who is a neighbor of mine-she doesn't often have her car but today she did! And.... she goes to the same bank which she gave me a ride to, sweet and so grateful! My bank account is happier, too :)

Then Kerri came over for dinner-I made chicken noodle soup & Kerri brought rolls and we began to plan our spring trip to Boston. Boston bound-yay!!!! My favorite part of the trip planning? Choosing a restaurant to eat at while we there. We consulted the Guy Fieri, "Diners, Drive In's & Dives" and chose Sam La Grassas- a family business since '68. We watched a youtube clip from the show where they made a pastrami sandwich with special mustard dressing, freshly smoked pastrami and coleslaw. Never been a fan of coleslaw but LOVE pastrami and it looked legendary and delicious!

Finally, wore my new pair of skinny jean leggings today "jeggings" Find the name atrocious but seriously, they are SO comfortable to wear. They have "fit" of jeans to they are slipping or falling down but they are so soft and feel so good on my legs. Seriously, forgot I was wearing them at times today.

Found Friday

About a month ago, somewhere being get out of my friend's car and walking in the door at work..... I lost one of my gloves,didn't realize it until a couple days later. (Brown, faux-fur lined, matches my coat.... Yep, really liked those gloves!) I generally looked around on the school playground to see if I could find my glove, but nuttin'...... At home, I decided I should keep the other glove-just in case I guess?

But I came to be VERY glad I kept that glove. Last Friday getting back to work after a meeting I stopped by a 7-11 next to the school, got some fruit and some chocolate and then walked along the fence back to the classroom. Along the fence I found my other brown glove-yay! Feelings of happiness and gratitude followed :)

Shouting Saturday

Had a VERY good Saturday. Got my hair cut & colored by April Judd, stylist extraordinaire. Mom dropped me off so I didnt' have take the bus out there so early in the morning. Loved how my hair turned out and then stopped at Kneaders for a bacon, turkey, avocaod on focacia sandwich while I waited for the bus. The turkey was really moist. Mmmmm........

Then headed to the mall to get some new jeans since I have pretty much been wearing the same 2 pairs since August and they are looking a bit ragged...... Went to my favorite store, Vanity. Got one pair of regular and my first pair ever of "skinny jeans" so that I can now wear boots over my jeans! Yeah, I got to admit, I'm pretty excited about the new fashion possibilities.... :)

Took a quick nap at home and then got ready to to my first NBA game!!!!! My friend Amy Jensen recieved some tickets for her birthday and was kind enough to share them with me. We had planned to go out for dinner that night but then her Grandma surprised her with the tickets so we went to Plan B.

LOVED my first NBA game experience! I felt like it was my birthday, instead of Amy's :) We had dinner at a mexican restaurant in the arena (of course Amy's dinner was on me) and my smothered sweet pork was satisfying until the point at which I simply could not eat any more! My stomach was too full and happy :) More stomach space was available though for some red mango yogurt during halftime! I got my yogurt with strawberries and blueberries. It was so. refeshing. and so. delicious.

Got a free poster of the Jazz which I forgot to take with me after the game-left it under my seat, cheered, yelled, (I do like to yell. Loudly and sometimes a lot). watched the Lakers coach get ejected from the game in the 4th quarter. Watched the Jazz bear interact with the crowd and an awesome bmx stunt bike show during halftime..... and saw when the final buzzer sounded and the scoreboard read.....Jazz 96-Lakers 87!!!

Fake Spike Friday

Dec 28, 2011. A very important day. BYU bowl game!!!!! vs Tulsa. Some of the family was still in GA, but the Neerings, Broadheads & Litster's joined as at M&D's so the kids could play together, the adults could watch the game and we could all. eat. good food. Dave & Sabrina had a veggie tray, Melanie had a 7 layer dip (and you can never go wrong with that!!!) I blue BYU football shaped tortilla chips and I got some Inca Cola soda from M&D's stash in the garage..... Oh, yeah and I also made a batch of salsa chicken in the crockpot. And there were those who had some/a lot of 7 layer dip with their chips but everyone got plenty to eat! Oh, yeah. I was also a big fan of the "cheese puffs" that Derbs brought.

As a sidenote, Carter decided he wants to be a Ute fan now, not so much because he is passionate about college football, but like as he said to him Mom, "I just think the family needs a UT fan." There was some initial ribbing from his cousins but it all got sorted out with help from Mom's and Dad's......

To sum up the game, BYU beat Tulsa, 24-21. Cody Hoffman scored all 3 touchdowns for the Cougars. There was also a field goal scored. There were memorable plays-like Matt Reynolds making a helmet-less block and leveling a Tulsa defender giving Nelson the time to complete a touchdown pass to Hoffman. Also, when it was 4th & 9 at the end of the game, Nelson kept the ball and made an awesome 14 yard run to keep the Cougar's victory hopes alive.

The game was won in the final 20 seconds with some awesome plays from Riley Nelson QB and Hoffman. BYU lined up like and Tulsa believed that BYU would spike the ball in the final seconds to run time off the clock, get a better play off, etc. A spike was the call from the coaches. But Nelson recalled a Dan Marino play he saw as a kid where Marino did a fake spike and won the game. So Nelson acted like he was going to spike the ball, then brought it up and then a pass to Hoffman in the endzone who had a defender behind him but wasn't heavily guarded because of the supposed spike/end of play. Then all merriment, yelling & cheering exploded. Yep. Awesome.

About a week after the game, when M&D were home from GA and I was visiting them, we were watching a dvr recording of the game highlights. Mom and I both had the same thought,"Ww know what a fake spike is in theory, but how is that a great play to win the game???" So we paused the dvr and moved it forward in slow motion. Dad was kind enough to walk us through step by step. Nelson looking to spike the ball, Hoffman casually jogging into the endzone, Nelson bringing the ball back up, etc. Thanks, Dad! It was memorable :)

Birthdays

We celebrated some of our January family birthdays at the Neerings over dinner. Mom, Carter, Saige & Ashley all have birthdays within the same week. Yay for birthdays!!! Not too long after I got there I went into Ashley's room to see what she was doing. She was working on a birthday card for "Grandma" (my Mom) I was helping her spell the word, "Excited" and at one point she said to me,"Not so loud! I don't want Grandma to know what we are doing!" Right...... because Grandma could hear the word "excited" and automatically think, "Someone's making a birthday card for me!" Nevertheless, I lowered my voice :)

Dinner was lasagna and garlic bread & a cake with lots of creamy frosting. Mmmmmm...... Then Ashley decided she wanted to have a "program" So with her Mom's help she lined up the kitchen chairs in the living room for an "audience" Carter played a song on the piano and Ashely? Well, once the "stand up there & giggle at the audience" phase she whistled a song beautifully. Love Ashley and her giggles!

Overnight Babysitting

This past weekend Mike and Deborah chose "cash in" on part of my Christmas gift to them, overnight babysitting! Had a GREAT time with the kids, they were truly, as my Mom would say, "good as gold." It was already decided before dinner that we could watch a netflix movie that night so when I was trying to get Carter and Ashley to help with dinner prep and I used the phrase, "C'mon guys. We're all in this together!!!" Carter said, "I do NOT want to watch High School Musical tonight!" Dinner was taco salads and after cleanup and Saige was in bed, they decided on the Netflix movie, "Phineas and Ferb-the 2nd Dimension." Fine with me! I much prefer that over "Power Rangers" anything.....

Then there was the movie prep. And I do mean prep. Carter popped 2 bags of popcorn and he and Ashley each brought in 2 pillows, 2 blankets and 2 stuffed animals into the room to be comfy while watching the movie. I loved it! It truly made "watching a movie" an "experience."

I tried valiantly to get cute pics of Saige this weekend but I was largely unsuccessful. Now that she is fully mobile it's much more difficult to get pics of her from the front & to get her to pause long enough to "pose and smile" for a picture. Ah, well. The kids all slept through the night and were total rockstars about getting in and getting their jobs done. The next morning we went to Carter's b-ball game @ the rec center. Carter had asked the night before to please not "cheer" for him and say stuff like "Go Carter!!!" because it could be embarassing and I respected his wishes. Just watched the game as a bystander and played with Saige while Ashley colored.

One more thing, not too long after I got to the house, I picked up Ashley for a hug. She didn't say much but was just moving her hands. I thought, "what is going on? Is she entering a mime phase????" Thankfully, Deborah was still there and clued me in that Ashley was trying to sign to me, "You're pretty!" Love those kids. Each of them.

Celebrating in Style!!!! Part 2

Had New Years Eve Day dinner @ the Morleys. Uncle Russell & Paula were there, along with Nate & Wendee-Brockston & new baby Jamison, Marchelle & Jon, Jake & Al, Maegan & Rocko (the dog). Marchelle & I exchanged gifts she gave me the games scrabble and uno so I can actually have games to play with friends when they come over. So I don't have a repeat of, "Hey, lets play some games! Oh, wait.... I don't have any...." I gave her a gift card for a pregnancy massage. All around it was win-win. And I LOVE visiting Uncle Russell & Aunt Paula's house. I have spent lots of time there since I was young and feel very comfortable there.

For dinner, everyone brought a different kind of pizza-yum! And there was the usual holiday fare-cheese balls & crackers, chips & dips. And it was all. very. good. I also really liked the homemade grape juice mixed with sprite. I think I had 3 or 4 glasses of it :)

After dinner? Telestrations time!!! Telestrations is a game where there are cards with 5 words on them. Someone rolls the dice and everyone draws the corresponding word on a piece of paper. So if you rolled a "2" and mice was the #2 word on your card-you drew a monkey. Well, actually the paper was part of a book-cut sheets of computer paper stapled together. You draw a picture, pass it to the person next to you. They look at your picture, try to guess what it is, right the word/phrase on next page in the book, pass it to the person next to you, who then tries to draw a picture of the word you wrote. And I do mean "try" one of the most fun parts of the game is seeing where the word/pictures end up by the last/10th page of the book. It's all up to artisitc interpretation!!!

For example, on one page there was a bowl of something, with steam rising above it, some mice, and something else... And I put down earmuffs for the picture. Have no idea about the connection! Except that there was hot food and when it's cold you wear earmuffs, right? Earmuffs vs teriyaki rice bowls. Those terms are interchangeable, right??? For "chin" I drew a picture of a face with several arrows pointing to, I thought, the chin. However, Maegan thought I was pointing an Adam's apple which then led to pictures representing Adam, the tree of life, etc. After seeing the last picture, Uncle Russell wrote, "crying boy pear tree" Um, OK. But as he said, "It would make a great Indian name!" Yep, it was one of those games that makes your stomach hurt and you have to remind yourself to take a breath because you are laughing so hard :)

Then, to conclude the evening, we bundled up into coats and headed to the driveway where Jake and Nate set off fireworks. They were awesome to watch but I am not a fan of starting fires/flames, except with an aim & flame, I dont' even like lighting matches.... So I did not volunteer in any way to set off the fireworks.

Celebrating in Style!!! Part 1

I had a GREAT New Years Eve & Day this year. Here are some highlights.....
-Spent new years Eve with the Neerings clan. As a quick sidenote, for Christmas my parents gave several of the granddaughters velour adidas track suits. Very cute. Ashley esp LOVED hers, she changed it right away and wore it consistently for the next few days. By consistently I mean, sleeping in it and still wearing in the morning. One of these days I babysat Saige while Deborah took Carter & Ashley, each with a friend to Jungle Jim's Playland. Ashley's response when Deborah suggested she change her outfit-"But Mom I'm going to be moving around a lot @ Jungle Jim's and it's the perfect moving around outfit!" It is now dubbed her "moving around outfit" I tell you, Ashley is destined for BIG things in fashion. She even has notebooks where she draws outfits for different occassions. And the first day back to school after the holiday? She wore her moving around outfit and to school in the morning. Anyway......

When I got there, Ashley was NOT wearing her "moving around outfit" but it was laid out on her bed for her to change into later :) Instead, she had picked out matching outfits for her & Saige, jeans & white hooded tops. Adorable. I got to love on Saige and chat with her Mom during dinner prep. So awesome. Carter was also kind of enough to let me borrow his book, "Lightning Thief" the first book in the "Percy Jackson" series.

For dinner, we had bbq chicken, squash, ham, green beans,..... I tell you it was a feast! And have I mentioned how much I like eating ham? I like it a lot :) And candy & flavored popcorn for dessert :) Then when Saige was in bed, it was time for..... games!!!!! We played apples to apples jr, one of my faves. Ashley was very particular about choosing the "right/best" card to put down and took her sweet time, but in kindergarten and reading apples to apples cards.... Impressive! Ashley won a round & Carter won a round.

After that, we watched a Jackie Chan movie via netflix-The Spy Next Door. The kids chose it and was great for an hour, but after the kids were in bed, neither Deborah nor I wanted to finish. Bless Jackie Chan's heart, he has great kung-fu moves but as a general actor..... don't love him so much. Then we still had some time to kill before bed so Derbs was kind enough to let me choose a netflix episode, I ended up choosing up an episode from Numb3rs. Came home feeling very happy & very loved :)

So..... it's been awhile.....

So.... it's been awhile. For now, let's hit some December highlights :)

-For the family Christmas this year, my Mom added a new twist, a grandkid Christmas recital of sorts! Jake, Addison, Davey, Faris played the piano. Ashley and Ethan played the violin. But my favorite moment? Jake got up to introduce his number-he proudly said, "I'm going to play 2 pieces. 'Dashing Through the Snow' and 'Jingle Bells'" Love it!!!!

-For Christmas this year, Santa brought me a portable speaker-a surprise-yay!!! It's one of those where you can plug in your ipod and broadcast music anywhere. And I may or may not have sponatenously burst into Karaoke song at a party before, so..... it will come in handy! The rest of my recieved gifts? Clothes and shoes. Sweet. And God bless my Mom who accompanied me on two lengthy shopping trips to pick out the clothes and shoes!

-Gifts to family? Tickets to Mom and Dad- for BYU young ambassadors & living legends. For Mike and Derbs-tickets to BYU ballroom (they like to ballroom dance together) and free overnight babysitting

-Mom and Dad spent about a week in GA visiting Angela and family so I got to house sit for them. I ended up sleeping in their large comfortable, kingsize bed each night. I didn't intend to at first... but the first night I slept there because I was alone and I could watch tv from their to help me relax. And then the next night I wasn't feeling great and after that, my own bed just wasn't as appealing! I did however, remake their bed with freshly washed sheets. And that was an act of love because their bed making skills are immaculate and professional!

-While at Costco with Mom, I picked out the dvd "Amazing-BYU basketball 2010-2011. Mom got one as well to give to McKay for Christmas. Then the day after Christmas at a quick trip to Costco.... I got one for me! I just couldn't resist/wait much longer :) AND..... while watching it with the Rawlings clan in GA..... we discovered that Jenson has a cameo in the dvd!!! He's a fan holding up a sign in the Gonzaga NCAA tournament game, holding up a sign that "Superman sleeps in a white jimmer jersey" Yay, Jenson!!!!

-On Christmas eve, M & D and I carried what on I think.... is the 3rd year in a row.... Watching "It's a Wonderful Life" on channel 5. Love that movie! Like, a lot.

-Helped with the folks' 3rd annual Nativity Open House. This year the attendees were those my parents knew from working in the temple.

-sang in 2 Christmas programs this year! My own ward and my Mom's. My ward choir, bless them, only does music by the same composer, consistently and I wanted some variety, and.... I got it!

-Funny story about Cora & Saige. Saige recieved an interactive storybook for Christmas, but it took awhile for her to get into it so Cora took it over for her, carrying it around the room. At one point, she passed by Saige who was just chillin' on the floor, muttered, "Hmph!!!" And held the book that much closer to her chest.

-For my sibling gift I recieved a beautiful dress from Downeast-love the orange/rust/peach color.... and a book.

-Probably more to follow but for now.... YAY for December and Christmas!!!!