Facebook Deprived

Well I have given up facebook for lent. It is the end of day 2 for me. And it hasn't been TOO hard. The only problem is when I get on my computer, I almost immediately type an "F" in the web address bar for it to predict facebook.com. But don't worry- I've caught myself in time and have remained strong. And I'm thinking that it will only get easier from here. It is actually quite refreshing. I feel so liberated! Anyway, since I am giving up facebook, I was told that I need to keep my blog updated. So here I am, updating. A lot has happened since I last wrote! My roommates and I threw the most fabulous valentine's day party on Saturday, the 13th. Our friend Adam came and was cupid. And he was the hit of the party! Here he is below with a boy begging for love! We had different stations. There was a photo booth with cupid, where he would find you a match. There was a match making profile station, a kissing game, a love fortune teller, a truffle making staion, love songs, and love charades. It was such a huge success! Everyone was just loving it. Seriously. There was just a love vibe going on throughout the house. And some of the couples matched up by cupid might actually turn into something! Exciting, isn't it? To me that is the definition of a successful Valentine's day. Wouldn't you agree?

It was also a 3 day weekend! So President's day was the Monday after. Our FHE group played presidential jeopardy. These guys in our group (shown below) dress up as mount rushmore. haha! Oh and yes- one of them is a mannequin. haha. So overall it was just a fabulous extended weekend!

So yeah, life is definitely good. Now I am watching the male figure skating in the olympics..... so I'll have to update again later!!

By Popular Demand

Well here is a picture of the cupcakes that I made. And here is the recipe::

Ingredients

For the Cupcakes:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs, at room temperature
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 2 cups chopped salted roasted peanuts, plus more for garnish

For the Nougat Frosting:

• 2 13-ounce jars marshmallow creme (about 4 cups)
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• Pinch of salt

For the Chocolate Frosting:

• 6 ounces milk chocolate, chopped
• 4 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
• 2 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar
• 1/4 cup whole milk
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

Make the cupcakes: Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F. Line two 12-cup muffin pans with paper liners. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

In another bowl, beat the eggs and both sugars with a mixer until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in the melted butter and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, add half of the flour mixture, the milk and then the remaining flour. Fold in the peanuts but don't overmix.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared cups, filling each about halfway. Bake until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean, 20 to 22 minutes. Let cool in the pans 10 minutes, then transfer to racks to cool completely.

Make the nougat frosting: Beat the marshmallow creme, peanut butter and salt with a mixer until smooth; set aside. Make the chocolate frosting: Put both chocolates in a large microwave-safe bowl and microwave on 50 percent power until soft, about 1 minute. Stir, then continue to microwave until melted, 1 to 2 more minutes. Add the confectioners' sugar, milk, butter, vanilla and salt and beat with a mixer until smooth and creamy.

Spread nougat frosting over each cupcake, then top with chocolate frosting, leaving some of the nougat exposed. Garnish with peanuts.

the nougat will be super sticky- just a warning... i zapped it in the microwave a bit to soften it up so that it was spreadable. Enjoy!

February begins

Well an entire month as already passed in the year 2010. And boy did it fly by! I know it's quite boring to talk about the weather, but might I just comment on the lack of snow that Utah has had this winter? And it has been super warm. I have barely worn a coat this entire season. Maybe I've just become immuned to the cold, who knows. As nice as it is for it to be "warm," I do really miss the snow. But oh well...

Either way, January was a pretty decent month. Here are a few highlights of the past month:

- one of my roommates got a life size cardboard cut out of Obama! haha. So we've had fun with him. He's actually in our roommate picture for the semester. We get a lot of weird faces from all of these Provo conservative, which really only makes it better.

- I have been subscribing to food network magazine for a while now, and I decided to use some of the recipes! I hosted a dinner party and made a white chili, which was pretty good. Not as good as my mom's.... but still good. Then it was my friend Zach's birthday, so I made two different kinds of cupcakes. One was based off of a butterfinger, and the other on a snickers. The butterfinger ones were pretty good, but the snickers ones were heavenly. I will def be making those again.

- I went and got my hair done at the beauty school. It took over 4 hours.... yeah i know.... but the result turned out well! I just put blonde highlights in. I haven't put blonde in my hair since high school, so I was a little nervous, but it turned out really well!

I think that's all I have time for now, so I'll have to update again soon!

W.W.M.D.?

The title of my post stands for "what would melanie do?" I am in no way saying we should ask this question as opposed WWJD, but this is just what has been on my mind as of late. Some of you may ask "Who is Melanie?" Well I provided a picture for everyone asking that question. She is a character in Gone with the Wind. And we could all learn so much from her. I watched this movie a little while ago, and this time, just like every other time that I've watched this movie I was so impressed with her. For those of you who aren't too familiar with the story- I'll do a quick recap.

The story is set in the south right before, during, and right after the civil war. Scarlet O'Hara is the main character, and is a fiesty southern belle. She is madly in love with this man, Ashley Hamilton, who (gasp!) actually ends up marrying Melanie. Scarlet for the rest of the movie has bitter feelings towards Melanie and does many questionable things. No matter what kind of antics Scarlet comes up with, however, Melanie loves her dearly. She never has anything bad to say about Scarlet. In fact she doesn't seem to have anything bad to say about anyone. The part of the movie that I would like to focus on, however, is what has made me think WWMD? Scarlet is alone at night with Ashley and basically comes onto him. The next night is a party at the Hamilton's. Scarlet's husband Rhet forces her to go to this party because he thinks that Melanie deserves to be able to throw Scarlet out of her house for her inexcusable behavior. Upon arriving at the door, Rhet then leaves Scarlet to fend for herself. Scarlet, dressed in a red cocktail dress looks upon the party crowd, not knowing exactly what to do. Among the crowd is Melanie, the hostess. At this point she has a choice. She could throw Scarlet out and kick her to the curb. She could think "this harlot has been messing with my husband!!" I often find myself choosing this path in life. Somehow I feel like I deserve to treat others this way because I have been wronged. Revenge is ever so sweet, right? That's the whole problem though- it isn't. It makes you feel better at the moment, but it always ends up biting you in the butt and ultimately just making you unhappy. Melanie must have known this because how she handles the situation is how I want to be one day- hopefully soon. She warmly welcomes Scarlet into her home and selflessly includes her in all the night's activities. For the remainder of the movie Melanie continues to selflessly love Scarlet. Some people might think that she is just oblivious to Scarlet's selfish, petty behavior, which is why Melanie is able to love her so unconditionally. I must admit that at first I felt this same way. But Melanie is a smart woman. I know she must have been very aware of Scarlet's true motives and schemes. And yet somehow she was able to look past it all and love her unconditionally. How? That remains a mystery to me, unfortunately.

Sometimes I feel that it's just a personality thing. I think "Well its just easier for people like Melanie to be like that because they are naturally that way, and I'm not." But is that even true? Why does it have to be harder for me to unconditionally love everyone? Or is it even in fact harder? Maybe I just don't try as hard to overcome this weakness as Melanie does. I often fall into the trap of playing the victim. I feel bitter towards others because I feel that they have wronged me and therefore deserve for me to be cold to them. They were mean to me, dang it! But as I sit and ponder on Melanie's actions, I realize that no one deserves that. Everyone has their struggles, just like I do. And no one is perfect, however unfortunate that may be. That is why I need to ask myself WWMD more often. When faced with awkward situations I need to do what she would do. Warmly accept all around me, which will only lead to me being happy, so why not do it? There have been many a Scarlet in my life up to this point, and there will probably be many more. So I am faced with a choice. I can choose to bitterly cut them out of my life and hate them for all eternity (because they deserve it, right?!) or realize that such bitterness will only end up hurting me in the end. Which is why I need to choose to be warm and accepting of everyone unconditionally. It will be hard, but when face with these situations where I have the choice to act one way or the other, I hope I can remember to ask myself "What would Melanie do??"

My Guilty Pleasure...

Team Edward???

REALLY?!

Silent Night

I have found it quite difficult to catch onto the Christmas spirit this year. And I'm not really sure why. I've made the gingerbread houses, created the christmas cards, watched the christmas movies, made the christmas countdowns, listened to the christmas music, and yet nothing seems to register the "christmas feel" into my soul. I look around my house with all of its decorations and still feel that somehow, it just isn't christmas time. It can't be. Wasn't it just August?

The previous paragraph describes how I have been feeling every single day since Thanksgiving ended. But something changed yesterday. Yesterday was the christmas program at church. It was full of music, which was so wonderful. I woke up in the morning and felt like it was just any other Sunday morning. Since I'm the ward choir pianist, we were practicing for the final time before church. The choir was singing Silent Night and The First Noel. As we practiced Silent Night, a calm feeling came over me and for the first time this season, I started to feel the christmas spirit! I was quickly reminded of the beauty and miraculous circumstances of the night of the Lord's birth. Had I just forgotten that Christ is the reason for the season? Apparently so. Tears were brought to my eyes as I pondered on the words of this sared hymn. And that is not something that occurs often, trust me.

I picture myself being there on that holy night. Time must have stood still. The humble shepards must have stood in awe as they viewed this wonderful baby that would one day serve a mission that only He could serve. He would perform miracles, serve everyone around him, teach the gospel, and ultimately atone for every single person's sins. As I look down on the Christ child with these shepards, the entire world is still going on around us, but somehow we are all unaware of anything else that is going on outside of this stable. Whether noise was being made or not, we didn't hear it. For in this small instance, everything is perfectly silent. Everything. What a powerful and mighty moment, for without it, the world would not be the same.

Silent night, holy night

All is calm, all is bright

Round yon Virgin Mother and Child

Holy infant so tender and mild

Sleep in heavenly peace

Sleep in heavenly peace

Silent night, holy night!

Shepards quake at the sight

Glories stream from heaven afar

Heavenly hosts sing Alleluia

Christ, the Savior is born

Christ, the Savior is born

Silent night, Holy night

Son of God, love's pure light

Radiant beams from Thy holy face

With the dawn of redeeming grace

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

Jesus, Lord, at Thy birth

This song has slowly made a biggere impact on me every single Christmas. And this year I have finally realized that although I have never actually recognized it consciously, it is my favorite sacred hymn. Although there are so many other good ones, somehow this one is always in the back of my mind, reminding me of that sacred moment in time. Before I sign off, I'd like to share a story with you that really touched me as well. It's written by an LDS missionary about his first Christmas away from home in St. Petersburg.

"It was Christmas Eve around the world, but just another frosty December night in St. Petersburg, Russia. This country celebrated no such holiday.

Our zone had just presented a Christmas program in the huge Kazanski Cathedral, where we sang Christmas songs and read from the book of Luke. It seemed as if our words and notes drifted up to the lofty ceiling and were swallowed by the darkness. But the sparse audience, mostly members and investigators, had partaken of the Spirit.

Our missionary work hadn’t been going well. People didn’t want to listen to two humble young men give them a message of redeeming love. Perhaps because of my discouragement, the Christmas celebration planned for later that evening didn’t hold much appeal for me.

My boots kicked up some new fallen snow and I shoved my bare hands deeper into my pockets. My gloves had been misplaced at a hotel a few days earlier. In this country, you don’t just walk into a store and buy gloves. You need to search.

Suddenly, Elder Redd sat down on a bench in the small park in front of the cathedral. I thought, Oh, now what? I just want to go home where it’s warmer.

Home was not the right thing to think about. It brought a flood of memories I really didn’t want to ponder right then. This was my first Christmas away, and I was feeling down. Where were all the decorations and the hustle and bustle of the holiday season? What about stockings, Christmas trees, and nativity scenes?

We hadn’t been able to get through to the international operator, so it looked as if I couldn’t make my phone call home either.

Tears welled in my eyes. I turned around so my back was to the wind. As I faced the cathedral, everything began to grow quiet. I looked at the majestic structure in front of me, bathed in pale, green light. The stars above were pin dots on a black shade, radiating calmness and peace.

“Silent night, holy night; all is calm, all is bright. …” The phrases softly entered my mind and drifted in whispers from my lips. “Sleep in heavenly peace, sleep in heavenly peace.” Elder Redd heard me and joined in a little bit louder. There was a feeling of reverence.

As we sang the second and third verses, a warm realization came to me. The joy, happiness, and peace at Christmas come from within. The material things and outward symbols of celebration bring sweet feelings, but only for a short moment.

Instantly, the thought of sharing Christmas with the other elders became appealing. It would be a gathering of friendship and love. We missionaries all needed to strengthen each other.

Christmas is what you make of it. It doesn’t matter if you’re with family and friends or halfway around the world. The real gifts at Christmastime are the fruits of the Spirit. Paul said, “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith” (Gal. 5:22). Could one ask for anything more during the celebration of Christ’s birth? "

Until next time! Merry Christmas!

I'm officially old

Yes- that's right. I am officially 22 years old now, therefore making me old. I have felt old every year since I turned 17 though- so I guess this year shouldn't be any different. My birthday was on Tuesday. The day started out kind of rough actually. It might have something to do with the fact that I'm very sensitive on my birthday in the first place, but here's what happened: I have institute every Tues and Thurs morning at 10, as you all know. I got to institute that day in plenty of time to get a parking spot and everything. The parking lot was entirely full, however. This is not uncommon, so you usually have to drive around for a bit to wait for someone to leave so that you can take their spot. I was not so fortunate this time, however. I drove around for 20ish minutes, trying to find a spot. At this point my class was already started and going, so I ended up just leaving because I could never find a spot. I love my institute class, so this was most upsetting. Then I had some time to kill so I decided that it was time to get my Utah driver's license. I kind of had to anyway because my Missouri one was expiring that day... haha. So I go to the licensing office in Provo, only to find out that I had to go to a different one in Orem, where they offer the written test. The lady gives me the address and I leave. I put the address in my iphone and route the way. At the end of the route on my phone however, I am sitting in front of a residential home in Orem with no licensing office in sight. I then decide that this address must be a typo or something, so I look up the office on my phone, which gives me a different address. After routing the way to this new address, I quickly realize that this was also a mistake, for I end up in the middle of a construction zone. At this point I am extremely frustrated and find myself yelling at my phone, other cars, etc. When I look down at the address I had originally put in my phone, I realize that I had put South intead of North, which is why I was taken to the wrong place originally. I finally find the place and end up having to take the written test to get my Utah license. Good thing it was open book, because I definitely would have failed had it not been. This test seemed much harder than the one I took when I was 15 in MO. But hey, that was ages ago. But hey- at least I have a valid license once again.

After this whole fiasco, my friend Justin came down and we went shopping for candy, graham crackers, and icing ingredients for my gingerbread house party that I was having that night. Afterwords we went to the mall to shop around and then had dinner at PF Changs- my favorite! During this time I was able to relax and get in a better mood, fortunately. When we got home, I made icing and prepared my house for gingerbread house making. I'd say it went very well- and everyone seemed to have fun. Below is a picture of the house I made.

Making gingerbread houses is one of my favorite things to do- so I was able to be in a great mood by the end of the night. I also got some great gifts from the fam- including a camera from my mom and the Edward Cullen barbie from my dad. haha! I must say that was truly unexpected! Well hopefully I'll be able to make many more gingerbread houses before the season is over!