In Love..... With a Food Dehydrator

As previously mentioned, I recieved a food dehydrator for Christmas. And I absolutely love it!!! I love that it preserves fruit and veggies. I love that it is easy to clean. But most importantly...... I love that it is easy to use!!!! I just wash, dry, cut the fruit, put it on the trays, put the lid on, plug it in and let it go!!!!

Of course, there are a couple of catches: You have to have enough food to dehydrate or it kind of defeats the purpose because the pieces get smaller when they get dried. And.... I have to plan out time to dehydrate, (ie- be home in time to turn it off so that it doesn't get too dry......)

Still, I love it. So far I've done apples, apricots and tomatoes. Next up: bananas!!!!
I just don't see "canning" in my future, but I see lots of dehydrating!

I've Always Wondered.....

I LOVE the show, "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" Seriously, I do. Each week the story seems to get better than the week before. But I've always wondered something...... How do they manage to build such a large house/yard on what may have previously been very small property???
Do they buy existing/neighboring properties and tear them down? Is having a big property a requirement for the show in the first place? Do they build up really high to compensate?
Does anyone know the answer to this? Or want to venture a guess????

More Holiday Mems....

Here are more holiday mems for you blog reading pleasure......

• Playing the Wii. Dad gave Mom the entire Wii package and we had a lot of fun playing and a lot of time playing it! I'm best at bowling, Ok at baseball, stink at tennis but I'm OK with that...... Plus, it was a lot of fun to create our own "Mii"
• Speaking of the Wii, Carter was very entertaining to watch bowl. He has a very distinctive style. Wind the arm up several times, like pitching baseball, jump and down and back and forth before letting go..... But his style totally works! The ball gets just enough of a curve... My favorite Carter Wii moment was on New Years Eve, when all the adults were upstairs and I ran downstairs to get something and saw him playing tennis. One human, two players, one remote for each hand.... How anyone managed to serve the ball is a mystery to me...
• Actually sitting down with M and D and watching the entire "It's a Wonderful Life" on tv. Usually one of more of us is busy doing something and/or, I fall asleep :)
• Santa brought me a head massager this year. Ahhhhh...... It's basically built like a wire whisk without ends attached. We took turns passing it around, we tried on Sara's hair, but couldn't get it through her hair. Grace thought it would be fun to plop it on people head's her Dad's included, like a hat, clap her hands and say, "Oh, SO cute!!!!"
• Other fun moments: watching Mr Bean's Christmas (we're big fans of Mr Bean)my neices introduced me to "Black Knight" but I was too sleepy to stay engaged in it. Sorry, girls! Ashley wearing a matching outfit, Grace wearing her "swim shirt" over her clothes, Wickman trying to get Uncle Jim's swedish fish
• It was a culinary themed Christmas for me, with gifts such as food dehyhdrator, crockpot, Biggest Loser Cookbook, from M and D, worldwide ward cookbook from Ang and Dave. Gave the Susan Boyle Cd and real simple magazine subscription to Cristine and Shawn. All of the siblings got 2 books from Mom and Dad: the peacegiver (LOVE that book) and Joseph Smith Papers, volume 1.

• Christmas Eve breakfast with Marchelle. I love our monthly breakfasts!!!! We ate at Jason't Deli, shared a breakfast pizza, omelet and fruit. Exchanged gifts: a journal (with personality) for me and a Macey's grocery store gift card for Marchelle. Went clothes shopping for gifts for her Mom
• Watching BYU basketball, esp the game where Jimmer Fredette scored a record 49 pts vs AZ!!!!!
• Sleeping, napping, more sleeping.........
• Time with my friend Taresa, who moved to Midvale from BYU I to do her student teaching. We played the Wii, went for a walk, watched movies (Holiday Inn and IQ) and visited- the most fun of all!!!!
• New Years Eve with M and D and the Neerings. We played the Wii, watched the ball drop and had melted chocolate chips with marshmallows, apples, and pretzel sticks. And maybe more things that I forgot...... Oh yeah, and hot chocolate was involved, too..... Made dinner with my new crockpot and ward cookbook, made a chicken pot pie-type dish, except there was no pie crust.......
• Reading lots of good books from the library, including the 700+ pg "The Undaunted" (Lund) "Before the Dawn" (Hughes) "On the Street where you Live," (Higgins-Clark) and "Cream Puff Murder" (Fluke)

Happy Holidays, All!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Holiday Mems...... Part 1

So, though, technically the "Holidays" have passed, the happiness of it all is still fresh in my mind and I wanted to make sure I recorded the memories. PLUS I have really missed updating! Granted, some of these you "had to be there for" but I hope you enjoy regardless!
Oh, and by Holiday's I mean "anytime in December" and the events are not necessarily in chronological order!!!! Again, it's long. Don't say I didnt' warn you......

• Mom and Dad's Nativity Open House for the neighborhood- I lost track of how many navities my mom has.... over 100? The majority of the nativities came from the Philippines (Christmas is HUGE there) but they also come from Germany, Israel, New Mexico, homemade, and Italy. There's also a collection of specially made Santas from place's anyone in the family has lived, served a mission, or where our ancestors hail from: the Santa's include: Norway, Denmark, Chile, Argentina, USA, Taiwan, Peru and Ecaudor. Plus the refreshements were fabulous: Costco muffins, cheese and crackers, Mom's special wassail, chocolate truffles, etc. MMMMMMMM..............
• 25th Annual Midvale's Handel Messiah: Mom directed, David and Deborah both sang solos, Dad, Aunt Suzan and I sang in the choir, David, Mom, Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Joe played in the orchestra. I really felt the message and spirit of the Messiah and the life of the Savior sink into me, especially singing about how he was despised and rejected of men and yet took all of our sins upon him. It was beautiful..... And, as has become tradition, Hot chocolate and toast with Mom and Dad and Depot at M & D's that night
• BYU football Las Vegas Bowl game: I really get into BYU football games. When they are playing well, anyway. When they're losing, not so much....... Thankfully, this time they were playing well early on so me and my stomach were completely relaxed and I didn't even have to wait until halftime to eat!!!! The guest of honor was 3 week old niece, Coralea Elizabeth Litster, baby sister to 3 older brothers. She is absolutely precious with lots of dark hair- but I didn't hold her too much because I tend to yell, loudly and a lot, during games and I didn't want to scare her..... Another highlight was seeing 14 month old Lexi walking and signing things like "please, more, and cracker" The best part, besides a dominating 44-20 over a PAC-10 team???? Having all the family together :)
• Another highlight from the bowl game- sending my nephews into hysterics! During halftime my sister and husband had to deliver neighbor gifts, they took Ashley, I told them I'd keep an eye on Carter. I went downstairs to the family room and found about 8 of my nephews ages 7-12 gathered in a circle on the couches, being led by Bennett, talking about...... something. I teasingly asked Carter if he was behaving himself, Bennett asked, with a glint in his eye..... what if he's not? To which I said, "Then I'll have to hug him and kiss him!" I then proceeded to go around the circle trying to hug and kiss each boy. Jacob and Errol were receptive, but the rest of them covered themselves, shrieking and curling into balls- but we were all laughing, too!
• Attending cousin Brent Morley's fabulous Jazz Christmas concert, "Not Forgotten Carols" Loved the music, loved see so many family there, loved it all!

• An AWESOME trip to Moab with my dear friend Kerri. She totally rocks! And we packed a LOT into a 2 day, 1 night trip. We went to the Moab temple, saw the sights at Canyonlands and met a straightfaced ranger who suggested we "drive down the road.....and look at the sights" , ate at an "off the beaten path" diner with good but very interesting clientle, got amazing ice cream cones and new Moab hoodies, saw tons of arches: double arch, shoe arch, delicate arch, the 3 gossips, survived a serious spray of salt from a snow plow on the road home. Seriously, I don't think more fun could have happened!
• AND..... I ran in the the Moab 10k and beat my previous best my 10 minutes!!!! My new best is 1 HOUR, 32 SECONDS! For real! It was freezing, though, somewhere in the 20's, I think.... Even though I layered it took me until about mile 3 to feel like my toes and fingers were not being pinched by lobster claws- how's that for a vivid description??? Kerri supported me and met me and the finish line- that's the kind of amazing friend she is!
• Christmas Eve Breakfast with Marchelle- we have a tradition of going out to breakfast together once a month to catch up. We take turns choosing the restaurants. So far we've been to Kneaders, Ihop, Village Inn, Denny's, Belgian Waffle, and this time, Jason's Deli. We usually get two breakfast entrees and share/split. I loved going out and catching up with her, love that she listens to me and laughs at my jokes, love her insights into the Gospel and Life. And, not to be sappy but.... everytime we do this, I like to think that Grandpa and Grandma Morley are watching and that they are happy we are together. Grandpa always seemed to be the happiest when his family was together. And..... got a fabulous new journal from Marchelle, she has such a knack for picking out one that I'll like- one with "style".

The end for now.... stay tuned for part 2!!!!

Random Things I have done lately

A list of Random Things I have done lately.... While being knocked out with a nasty cold..... Is it funny how something like a cold can suddenly make you feel so tired and un-energetic.... Or is just me??????

1- finally got my bill pay account straightened so that the money from my bills will come from my checking acct instead of savings. At first I didn't realize that's where my bills were being paid from, (including a large tuition bill) so I had too many withdrawals, major overdraft and my account closed, so I had to go re-open it. Yeah. Good times. I'm human, it happens :)

2-Continued the inner debate about whether or not I like my new haircut. It's not bad, but it's more of a bob and I wanted an A-line. Right now it's a bit too "fluffy" for my liking. It's the same stylist I've gone too and loved her work so who knows why this time was different? Sigh.

3-I'd post a picture and let you be the judge of the hair but I need a new camera and I have a lack of motivation to take only halfway decent pictures. Perhaps I'll get a new camera during Black Friday sales. The important thing is that it's better to have a full head of hair than to have no hair at all, right???? Perhaps I'm just picky. Or vain. Or perhaps both :)

4-Endured the stomach knots as BYU finally pulled out with a win against NM

5-Sat in my nice comfy IKEA chair. Often.

6-Managed to find a missing glove so now I no longer have to go out in public with mismatched gloves. But I might do it anyway. It's kind of fun :) I was born with some of "glove repellent" I can never keep track of a pair for more than a couple weeks. The same with watches- which is why I havent' worn one in YEARS. A cell phone doubling as timepeice works just fine for me! Now I need to find my missing white hat with the awesome ear flaps and tie- all I want to do is be warm for the winter!!!!! Seriously.

7-Blew my nose with a lot of force from my diaphragm (sp?) and gone through LOTS of toilet paper. Perhaps next time I should invest in a high-quality handkercheif?

8-Thought about spell checking diaphragm but then decided against it because perhaps it's one of those classic misspellings that adds character to a blog post.

9-Enjoyed some graham crackers and dark chocolate chips. I like to eat dark chocolate-chocolate chips because it's good for my health, right?

10- Made out a Christmas list for my mom- (at her asking) Usually I just go shopping for chlothes and shoes and jewelery with my mom (there's the vain-ness again) but I decided to add variety to the list this year: a food dehydrator so I can save from buying dried fruit at the store, a journal with personality (no solid colors with a "journal" label for me!) the biggest loser cookbook.

11-Rubbed lots of lotion on my dry palms that now strangely resemble roadmaps with lots of white lines and cracks. Hmmmmmm........

The End. Thank you for reading.

29 Things About Me

In honor of my 29th birthday- here are 29 things about me...... A mix of things you may have not known and things that I just really like about me!!!



1-I have never dyed or highlighted my hair. (I'm scheduled to get auburn highlights on Nov 5th-we'll see if I go through with it)

2-I have lived in Taiwan and the Philippines and have visited: Canada, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia. Still really want to visit: Mongolia, Hong Kong, and Switzerland

3-I love making people laugh

4-It's important to me for people to know that I care about them

5-I spend more money on sneakers than any other item of clothing


6-The first book I reccomend to people to read is: Letters for Emily

7-I love running because it requires less athletic skill to be able to do it!!!!

8-My favorite childhood book: Calico Cotton (probably out of print by now, it was an OLD book)

9-I have run 6 5ks, 2 10ks, 1 half marathon- and plan to do more!!!!

10-I love being an aunt to 28 nieces and nephews, 29 in December!!!!!

11-My dream job is a motivational speaker for teens with disabilities and their parents

12-I (tried) ballet for four years when I was younger. Loved it, but never made it past the beginning ballet class

13-I enjoy eating BBQ squid on a stick but detest jellyfish

14-My favorite movie is: Remember the Titans (I love most any movie based on a true story)

15-Diagnosed at 21 with having sustained a brain injury at birth

16-Have 28 journals

17-Completed life histories for 3 of my grandparents

18-Theme songs for my life? Two of them: Defying Gravity (Wicked) My Little Girl (Tim McGraw/Flicka)

19-Never ate sauce with my spaghetti until I was 12 years old

20-Played the violin and piano. Piano stuck (kind of) vilion didn't)

21- In my last year of grad school (For real!!!!!)

22-Have been in 2 car accidents (only was my fault)

23-Have yet have my own car (borrowed or bought)

24-See life optomistically

25-So grateful for my friends!!!!

26-Have dated several young men, have yet to become officially engaged or married

27-Love different colored pens (more fun to write in my journal that way)

28-Have a thing for stilettos and high wedge heels

29-When I was little, I was convinced that "bad guys" lived behind the hot water heaters in the basement and would grab me whenever I went down to the basement to get something. So..... after I retrieved the item from the basement, I would barrel up the steps (loudly) and sing "I am a Child of God (also loudly) to scare off any would-be "child grabbers"

And as a bonus......
30-Have started writing a book about my experiences of living with a disability, "The Ultimate Poster Child for Optimism" Hope to give it out at Christmas time-so if you don't want one, let me know!!!!

Love to all my family and friends!!!!!!

Book of Mormon Teachings Applied in Preschool Settings

There is a boy in my parents stake who also happens to be in my Head Start class. He's a lively child so on occasion I try to redirect him with comments such as, "What would Jesus do?" However, while telling him "sit like you sit in Sharing Time" has got him to stop kicking under the table, it has backfired in other situations....

A few days agao when he hit a friend, I asked him "what would Jesus do?" His response: "Jesus wouldn't do anything. He's up in heaven with all the old people waiting to be resurrected."

Today he and a friend were playing with plastic linking cubes, he wanted some of his friends cubes. Asked the friend, friend said no. Boy took them anyway. His explanation for his behavior? "It's just like when Nephi took the brass plates from Laban." (They say no, take it anyway) I don't know what my response was- I think I was too shocked to respond!

Another story, non-gospel related, but equally entertaining! We were making popcorn at circle time. I was doing everything wrong- putting in only one kernel, forgetting to put the lid on, putting the bowl in back of the popper instead of in front. It was fun and kept them engaged. But a boy appeared to have reached his "teacher entertainment quota" when he turned to his neighbor and said, "She doesn't know anything!!!"

It's moments like this that keep me going- I love my job!!!!