10:44

{It all started around the early hour of 10:44 pm}

Caramel...

Plus pumpkin...

Plus dance...

Plus friends...

And you're ganna get some crazy results.

I don't even know how many parties have begun past 10:44 in the evening.

Ingredients for the food may change,

but ingredients for fun pretty much stay the same:

FrIends

Nutz

Saturdays are my shopping days.

I could seriously spend hours in Sunflower Market.

Today's creation was trail mix.

This is a happy concoction for me because it involves three essential ingredients...nuts, fruit and chocolate.

I used:

~walnuts

~Almonds

~banana chips

~Cranberries

~Ghiradelli dark chocolate chips

Hard to go wrong there.

Tomorrow's experiment???

Chocolate Walnut Meringue Cookies

{I'm teaching my first R.S. lesson tomorrow, so I'm hoping that bringing a treat for the girls will make the whole experience all just a little sweeter}

Remember

For some reason, there are faces I remember

and people I think of quite often

for months and years after returning home

from my trips around the world.

This little man is one of those 'remembering' ones.

He is the one from my post, "Hands."

After having this man come to my mind so many

times, I asked my friend Raegan, with me here,

if she knew how to track down this photo.

~Thank you forever Raegan~

{An excerpt from "Hands" where I talk about meeting him. For complete post, click on

the highlighted "hands" above.}

Before we left I had the chance to work deep in the colony. Three others and I took our supplies and went to two people who couldn't make it out to us. The first little man. No words. We found him sitting on the cement floor with a cloth wrapped around him, no hands, swollen 'feet', and bones of knees and elbows practically visible beneath the paper thin leather skin of his failing body. Miserable. Just miserable living conditions. I just wonder who he used to be and what it has been like to see his body, his life, and his dignity as a human being just slowly crumble away from him. Sitting there. Just sitting there on a cement floor, in the depths of a maze like community as the flies come and feed on his sores. He doesn't even move. I don't know what to make of some of the trials people of this world are made to

suffer through in this life.

Hat-trick

In soccer, a hat-trick is when you make three goals in one game.

I'm not Ty...so...this wasn't exactly what I did.

However,

I did run my first 1/2 MARATHON!

(You can just see me and Brooke's heads behind the girl in red)

The last .5 mile runway was just packed with people

lining both sides. There were just under 3,000 runners and

lots and lots of friends and fans.

We finished in 2:03:27 and

ran the WHOLE 13.1 miles!

Chugged a water bottle then

immediately fell to the ground.

It was so fun to have my roommate to run next to

and pace with me.

This had been a New Years resolution and something

I've wanted to do for SO long.

Seriously, it was one of the most fun physical

activity things I've done. Running through the canyon

with all the leaves on the trees and ground, snow on the

mountain tops, and 3,000 fellow runners

all around me (some very much in costume, since

it was halloween and all)...

At one point I turned off my ipod and just listened

to the river we were running along and the

rhythmic pounding of thousands of shoes

on the pavement.

BEST TIME!

Three of our friends came to cheer us on.

Thanks guys!

Then I went to Ky's to watch the Giants game

while she got ready for a party.

Let's just say I was a little too tired to join her.

So instead of partying, I went home and made

a casserole with Kaitlin and Trevs....

and then homemade Oreos with orange frosting...

and then peanut butter bars...

and then...just kidding.

So my day was a three fold plus, or hat-trick!

Marathon, friends, and cooking.

~Can't wait for my next run~

A sparkly new job

I got a second job!

Now, three days a week, after I put my little preschoolers on the bus, I go to Lehi and do ABA (applied behavior analysis) therapy privately with a little girl in her home in the evenings.

Today was my first session with her, aaaaannd

as part of one of the reward sessions, we painted her nails...

and then mine. haha. Doesn't everybody know glitter nail polish over acrylic is the new wave in fashion?!?!

I'm getting them done again soon enough, so I didn't care.

And, I'm quickly learning that nothing I wear to either job is going to stay 'nice' for long. My once-nice-shoes have now lost 4 of the 12 gems thanks to having my feet stepped on only about, um, I don't know, maybe 20 times a day. And I frequently come home with food, snot, slobber, and bubbles on my clothes and in my hair.

Today, I came home with banana down the left leg of my jeans; I found rice in my hair from the girl I helped to feed lunch, bubbles on my shirt, and play-dough under my fingernails.

So...

it's not glamorous work, or all that sparkly, but I love the little ones.

.

~~~At least I'll go into motherhood with my eyes wide open and at least a small idea of what to expect!~~~

115 is an insane #

I drove down to Vegas last weekend to support daddy-o on his ride.

He and his brother, Uncle Kevin, rode 115 miles on their bikes.

Insane. Exhausting. A once-in-a-lifetime-experience...

or so I thought.

The night before they were all pumped full of pasta, water, and had everything out ready to grab at 5 the next morning. I came downstairs and surprised them around 4:45 am to see them off. They had tons of gatorade, 'gue' (some electrolyte pudding-type stuff which I actually like), electrolyte chews, cliff bars, etc.

That night, after coming in the house and immediately falling to the floor, we heard nothing but "Ah", "Oh", "That was crazy!", "I can't stand that gue!", "Oh that mile 67...or 90...". I guess someone named Bernie asked my Uncle Kevin if he would ever do something like this again. He said, "Bernie...tomorrow this bike is on Ebay!" And daddy said, "I told Marie to shoot me if I ever talk about doing something like this again!"

This was Saturday.

On Monday, daddy texts me saying he's already thinking about doing something like it again.

I guess it was fun!

Brought them a curb-side lunch.

Then, of course grandma took us out for food, multiple times!

With grandma, you can always count on food and shopping. LOVE it~

Costco

...they always have the most amazing things.

One of my favorite lines from that new show "Modern Family" goes something like this:

"I'm like Costco...I'm big, I'm cheap, and I dare you not to like me."

How true that is. I mean, who doesn't love a good taster from Costco???

Thank you Costco, for the joy you bring to my life.

State Fair

New Year...New Friends

We all went to the State Fair in Salt Lake

I have this thing for pigs...

don't know when it started...

don't know why I do...

but I just love them.

So this was obviously a picture I couldn't pass up.

I want this BBQ when I grow up.

~Wilber~

I felt a special connection with him :)

Then we saw the rabbits.

Made me miss my two little ones I used to have,

"dots" and "fluffy"

Fun night, fun friends, and a fun fair.

23/100

Today is my 23rd Birthday

Yeah!

Ya know how some people ask if you're having a good birthday,

and you say 'yeah' when maybe it felt just like a normal day?

Well, that wasn't today. It totally felt like my birthday!

It was so great.

Today I...

1) Let myself sleep-in till 8:00

2) Woke up to Ty's phone call saying he wanted to be

the first one to wish me a Happy Birthday.

3) Walked out my door to a heart attack. All the hearts said things like: purple, costco chocolate milk, long blonde hair, glitter nails, Africa/Peru/India, steak salad, psychology, salt, singing, greatest laugh, running, etc. All things I love. Mostly I just love them. (And the missing balloon popped and scared me to death early this morning).

4) Went for a long run with just me and my ipod. 12 MILES!

5) Hung out at the mall with Kaitlin and Brooke.

6) Opened mama and daddy's birthday package. Woo hoo!

7) Had friends come over, piled in the car, then followed Call and Whit up the canyon for a birthday BBQ. Call and Whit planned everything!

All I had to do was invite whoever I wanted, then show up. He had lots of chips, drinks, burgers, and Marie Calendar's chocolate pie complete with candles. He manned the grill the whole time while we girls just talked and ate and laughed.

Kylie, Sally, Tori and I (past roommates)

Jenny, Brooke, Me and Kaitlin (my girls)

8) Came home to Trevor (Kate's boyfriend) carrying an amazing chocolate ice cream cake to the door. YUM! Sugar high for sure.

{and in my defense, for my birthday I got a new camera which needed to be charged, so...the pictures today are with my old one. bummer.}

9) Chilled with friends.

One of the most fun birthdays while away from home.

Didn't have to go to work, got to do anything I wanted during the day, was with friends all day, and didn't have to plan my own party. So blessed. This 23rd year is going to be great I can just feel it :)

23/100 was for my 23rd birthday and my 100th post!

Setting out a Fleece

Oh great God, be small enough to hear me now.

There were times when I was crying from the dark of Daniel's den,

and I have asked you once or twice if you would part the seas again.

But tonight I do not need a fiery pillar in the sky,

just need to know you're ganna hold me if I start to cry.

Oh great God, be small enough to hear me now.

Oh great God, be close enough to feel you now.

Oh great God, be close to me.

There have been moments when I could not face Goliath on my own,

and how could I forget we marched around our share of Jericho.

But I will not be setting out a fleece for you tonight,

just want to know that everything will be all right.

Oh great God, be close enough to feel you now.

All praise and all the honor be

to the God of ancient mysteries.

Whose every sign and wonder turned the pages of our history.

But tonight my heart is heavy and I cannot keep from whispering this prayer,

Are you there?

And I know you could leave writing on the wall that's just for me.

Or send wisdom while I'm sleeping like in Solomon's sweet dreams.

But I don't need the strength of Sampson, or a chariot in the air.

Just want to know that you still know how many hairs are on my head.

Oh great God, are you small enough?

Be small enough to hear me now.

~Mindy Gledhill~

Tonight I took a walk up to the temple.

Listened to this song and it stuck with me.

Particularly,

"But I will not be setting out a fleece for you tonight"

This is a reference to Judges 6:36-40,

the story of Gideon who was a leader who delivered Israel from the Midionites.

We are counseled to not be a sign seeking people, as this story is of seeking a sign...but I think there is wisdom in remembering that our Father is a God of miracles.

Elder Boyd K. Packer:

If you are helpless, he is not.

If you are lost, he is not.

If you don't know what to do next, he knows.

It would take a miracle you say?

Well, if it takes a miracle, why not?

Sometimes we may need the strength that comes from setting out our fleece and seeing the hand of the Lord create a miracle. But most times, I think that our miracles can and do come through the miracle of prayer. We are children of a God. He has given us our intelligence and minds to think and act for ourselves. Further, he has not left us comfortless. He has given us the gift of the Holy Ghost to guide us in our feelings and decisions.

He is not helpless, lost, or unknowing of what to do next.

And He is a God of miracles.

But for those times we aren't setting out our fleece...

remember He is small enough to hear us.