lovin' summer

Summer is here in all it's glory. And I am lovin' it. I've been super excited for summer to come. And now that it is here I've been thoroughly enjoying all the long-anticipated events and activities of the season. Swimming, grilling, summer nights, camping, fireworks, fresh food, bare feet, outdoor concerts, sleeping under the stars, anticipating the Summer Olympics....

Even with all the busyness, activities, and events. I've had this nagging feeling that something was missing. This feeling was almost causing me anxiety. My number one goal is to take advantage of every single summer moment and not miss out on anything. I really did not want to get to the end of summer and think, "oh man, I should have done that." I kept running through my head all my plans and all the many summer possibilities there are to fill the summer moments. Still, I had no idea what I could possibly be missing out on. Last night after someone asked me if I was going on any trips this summer, it hit me. For the first summer in a many years I don't have a major trips planned. It feels a little weird. And a little sad. But really it is o.k. Most of what I've been looking forward to and anticipating this summer is right here at home. And part of the fun of being out of school is I don't have to wait for summer to go on a trip. Nope, I can go anytime. I just have to wait for the vacation days to add up.

Good news. Thanks to my cousin's crazy wedding plans, I will be taking a quick trip to Canada. And since I've never been to Canada it gives me a new place to check off my list. And I would hate for the summer to go by without checking something off my list.

Happy Summer!!!

5 years

I was in a interview a few weeks ago. An interview I felt pretty good about. I was able to express and present myself soundly and eloquently. Something that is always a relief. There was only one question that caught me a little off guard. “Where do you see yourself in five years?” I know. Weird. That is the most basic of interview questions and frequently used in interviews. I’ve been asked it before. But that was five years ago and I am no where near where I thought I would be five years from then. And it’s been a while since I have thought about five years from now. I kind of don’t want to think about it. It just sounds old. And I have no idea where I will be five years from now. I know where I would like to be. But the last five years have taught me not to plan on it, just be prepared for anything.

After a moment of feeling tongue-tied I was able to formulate a sincere and profound response. I surprised even myself. I said I hope to be progressing. Whether it is in a career or with a family. I hope to be progressing intellectually, spiritually, socially, and even physically. And then I added. Similar to what I am striving to do now with my life. Progressing. I liked that thought and it was comforting to know I am striving to do now what I hope to be doing five years from now.  

I didn’t get the job. It was close. They were impressed with me but they chose to go with someone internally. It was disappointing. Fortunately, I have a job. And it did feel good to know that I had good interview.

Casa do Senhor

If I could've been anywhere on June 10, 2012, I would've been in Manaus, Brazil participating in this long awaited event.




I am so happy for the people in Manaus, Brazil. They hold a special place in my heart. My first mission companion in the field was from there. She was Amazonian to the core. We worked so hard. I didn't know missionaries were allowed to stop to eat dinner my first transfer because we never did. But we were blessed with so much success. We saw miracles happen. I love her so much .
She gave birth to her first baby last month. A girl. She named her Sarah. :)

Best. Strawberry. Birthday. Cake. Ever.

Guess what…It’s that time of year again. The lovely month of May. And you know what that means. May Day. May Flowers. May Rain. May Sunshine. May fun. May Birthdays. My Birthday. My sister’s were super stars and threw me a surprise birthday party which was absolutely amazing that they pulled it off. I usually catch on to such things. My mom also indulged me this year by going above and beyond her motherly duties and made me the best strawberry birthday cake. Ever. Even better than the Barbie cake my grandma made me for my fourth birthday. And that cake was legendary. This year is off to a great start.

Inspiration for this beauty came from here.

In my oodles of spare time lately I've been trying to cut down on the unnecessities of life. You know those things that you really don't need but you keep around because who knows, you may need them one day. Like...

Clothes. They are sometimes tough to discard, especially if you don't know when you'll have the $means$ to replenish. But I've been doing it. Anything I haven't worn in the last year...maybe two... Is a goner. See ya, would't want to be ya. There is no room for sentimental value here...ok there might be a little. I will probably keep the hard rock cafe shirt that I bought in Paris.

Shoes are little harder to eliminate because no matter how out of style those thick black Dansko Mary Janes that I wore on my mission are, they still fit. And they always will. You can always depend on shoes. No matter how many inches find their way to your hips, the shoes will fit. Thus shoes are begging for a spot in the keep pile. No matter. I am cutting back. The Danskos and others have been sent to a better place.

My paper collection has been drastically minimized. I said good-bye to old bank statements (they're all online now), recipes magazines (once again...online), old ensigns (online), electronics' manuals I no longer own (I'm sure I could find them online if I needed to). Old school papers I kept because I was sure I would need to reference them in my promising career. (Outdated and most likely online.) A huge thanks to the world wide web for helping me simplify my life.

Textbooks from my freshman and sophomore years of college. Gone. I decided since I haven't read them in the last ten years, or even referred to them, I was probably safe to discard them.

DVD cases are out in the big blue bin. Yes, I paused to think about this toss. But I decided that it would make my transient life so much easier and I would rather have the DVDs zipped up in a case rather than looking cluttered on a shelf. So I tossed the cases.

Books. Yeah, they may always have a place in the keep pile. I love them too much. But I have gotten rid of a few I've read once and probably won't read again. I have also gotten rid of a few the duplicates. I guess I only need one.

Music. The elimination process has not been limited to just the physical materials, it also includes the clutter in the digital sphere. Like the tunes in my iTunes that I can't remember why I thought they were cool are an obvious "delete". There is also the music that I have grown out of. Who knew that it could happen to more than just clothes. The recycle bin has been emptied so there is no going back to see if they still fit. Hopefully this doesn't come back to haunt me when I go looking for a specific song I knew I had at one time.

Throwing things out feels almost as good as losing 10 pounds. And it requires a lot less effort. I like it.

what's cookin' honey lime?

For a couple weeks I was on a honey lime kick. Two yummy flavors that I can't get enough of. The first honey lime experiment was inspired by the fabulous grilling weather we have been having. Grilling is always a good idea.

Honey Lime Grilled Chicken Marinade

from Six Sisters Stuff. With a tweak of my own.

Ingredients:

4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup lime juice
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3 Tbsp honey
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp dried rosemary
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp black pepper

I also added a bunch (I say bunch because I have no idea how much it was.) of chopped cilantro. I am a huge cilantro fan and something I learned while living in Brazil is that cilantro and lime go together. You can't have one without the other. Ok, you can. But only in rare situations. 

Directions:

Combine lime juice, oil, honey, thyme, rosemary, garlic and pepper. Pour it over chickens in a ziploc bag. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours up to overnight. Grill until done and juices run clear. 

I think that this marinade would also be good if you wanted to bake the chicken in the oven or dutch oven even. Why limit yourself. Then you would have the yummy juices to serve with rice. I'm going to try it some time. 

My next Honey Lime craving is a recipe I have actually wanted to try for a while. And since I was on a honey lime kick I decided why not. You can find it nearly anywhere on the internet, but I my inspiration came from here and of course I tweaked it just a bit. Lets see if you can figure out what that is. 

Honey Lime Enchiladas

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs pork or chicken, cooked and shredded (I didn't measure this exactly.)

1/3 c honey (use less for a more tangy taste)

1/4 c lime juice

1 Tb chili powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

A bunch of chopped cilantro. ;)

2 (10 oz) cans green enchilada sauce

equal parts mixed together of: mozzarella cheese, shredded cheddar cheese, shredded

flour tortillas

Directions:

Mix together sauce ingredients then add to shredded pork or chicken. Let the sauce soak into the meat for about 30 minutes. Lightly spray 2 pans with non-stick baking spray. (9×13ish) Pour green enchilada sauce into pans to coat the entire bottom. Fill tortillas with shredded meat and desired amount of cheese. Roll and place in dish.

Pour remainder of sauce over enchiladas and sprinkle more cheese on top – don’t be stingy! Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Then turn on broiler and place enchiladas nearer the top of oven. Let it broil until cheese is slightly brown and crispy. 

I mixed it up in the morning and let it set while I thought about how good it was going to be all day long at work. I might or might not have left work a little early in order to get home and finish it up. I couldn't wait any longer. Yes, I was super excited and it did not disappoint. 

as adventurous as I am…

I am finding that I am not always a big fan of change as I would like to claim to be. I have the fortunate, and sometimes unfortunate, habit of getting comfortable and being happy with where I am. Even if it isn’t where I would love to be in life, I usually find a way to be happy and make a difference.  Then when the frequent visitor of change comes to the door, even though I am eager for a new adventure I sometimes want to close the door and dig in my heels. I think it is getting worse with age.

Yes, I welcome change, adventure, starting fresh. But I dread the good-byes. Sometimes I’m not quite ready say good-bye to the things I’m doing, to all the hopes and dreams that could’ve, might’ve happened there. And the people I’ve met.

Then I remind  myself I get to take all my hopes and dreams with me. I can keep doing what I love to do. I will meet new people I will most likely love. And I will probably love where ever I go to next. I usually do.