New Year Resolutions!!!!

I NEED to be MUCH better this New Year in the following areas:

1. I have really neglected my relationship with my Heavenly Father for years and really want to get that back on track! So to fix that I will:
A. Read my scriptures at least 3-5 times per week.
B. Read the Ensign on the days scriptures are not read.
C. Say at least a morning or night prayer or both.
D. Go to the temple more than last year... so 6-8 times this year.

2. In addition to other neglected things? My body. Some idiot 'helped' me sprain my ankle a second time 3 years ago at our annual turkey bowl. It was a BAD one. (Let's just say I fell on my ankle and someone fell on me. So twice the weight on it. It seems like it will never be the same.) But I don't want that to be an excuse anymore. So, I will:
A. Walk at least 3-5 times per week even if it's just leisurely. (Seems to be the only thing that doesn't kill it!)
B. Make a menu for meals for the week to avoid snacking.
C. Carry healthy snacks with me at all times so when a hypoglycemic attack hits I won't be tempted to shove anything and everything in my face!

3. Spend less money!
A. No more quick trips to Target. 1-2 stops per month only!
B. Make a list and stick to it! If it's not on the list it shouldn't be in the cart!
C. Delete all saved credit/debit card info from all accounts.

4. Find a new doctor and GO! ... We moved over a year ago and I should go for multiple things I just don't since old one is in long beach and I tell myself it's too far away. :/
A. Get referral for dermatologist (Chances are pretty much 100% that I'll develop skin cancer.)
B. Get referral for podiatrist...for Ankle obviously & since I'm on my feet all day at work... couldn't hurt.

5. Stay close with family.
A. Schedule visits with each family. At least 2/family/year.

That's all for now. I'll be updating once/week or at least trying which means my blogging habit should be better this year also. I'll try ot to make the updates too boring! :)

Baking update...

I had every intention of trying out my Lightened-Up Monkey Bread recipe... I just realized I bought regular yeast instead of quick-rise. Ugh! I did whip up 3 batches of cookies last Friday. Frosted Ginger, Ultimates (named by Bro. Regnier), and Chocolate Chocolate chip. The Frosted Ginger are my new ABSOLUTE FAVORITE!!! I think I ate all but 2 out of the 10 or so that we didn't give away. I LOVE THEM!! They have cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and molasses and are topped off with a powdered sugar frosting that has a hint of lemon! SO YUM!

Don't they look delish!!!?

I'm probably rethinking the nutella cookies also. I hate recipes that look simple but require a lot of menial work. I refuse to knead dough after mixing it in the mixer. I might try it over Christmas break when I have more time on my hands or next time I'm super bored and want to spend time kneading dough. :(

Anyhow, back to the market to exchange my yeast. I guess I'll make the bread saturday... I'll let you know if it's super yum!

UPDATE: 11/15/11 Okay, I tried my Monkey Bread recipe! I've actually made it twice so far! 1st time... I don't think I let it rise enough. The completed product was really short out of the pan... It still tasted yummy, just looked funny. 2nd attempt was AWESOME! The bread rose beautifully... I made it my way instead of all the steps they put you through. I mixed the butter & milk w/ the 2 sugars and cinnamon and just used additional cinnamon/sugar mix to roll the bread in. It's much quicker and easier! It's sooo good I can't believe it's light!!!]

YAY! NOVEMBER!!!

I LOVE this month!! Seriously! I love that the nights start to get oh so cold and I just wanna snuggle deeper into my warm, comfy bed... [only on weekends :( ] I recently had an offer for a free trial of Cooking Light magazine and I have so many NEW recipes that I want to try! Since it's cooler I can bake away to my hearts content since I don't have to worry about the house getting hot or myself getting hot!! (Have I mentioned how much I hate being hot?)

New recipes that I want to try this month:

1. PB and Dark Chocolate fudge
2. Triple Chocolate Cake (Chocolate cake, chocolate mousse filling and chocolate ganche to top it off... YUM!)
3. Nutella Sandwich Cookies (I recently discovered Nutella and how yummy it is!!)
4. Lightened-Up Monkey Bread (This is already a favorite! This is made w/ homemade wheat dough only 2g of fat/serving as opposed to 13! Can't wait!)

5. 14-layer chocolate cake... (Have had this recipe for awhile courtesy of Bakerella.com and she makes it look so easy... you should look at the picture it looks AMAZING!)* I pasted it here for you, so you don't have to do any work except maybe wipe the drool off your face!

That's it for now. I'll let you know when I bake all these... Once I find the time and money!

The Lovely Little Girl & the Bathroom...

Alrighty. Since Halloween is in 4 days I'm going to tell you a VERY scary story!

About 2 months ago, a lovely little girl was feeling tired, so up to bed she went. She was a very good girl so, of course, she brushed and flossed. It was while she was brushing the girl noticed little spots on her bathroom ceiling... they looked like someone had dirty hands and flicked their hands all over the wall. The lovely girl decided to look closer... AUGH!!!!!!!!!!!! The little dirty spots were actually baby SPIDERS! I know what you're thinking, baby spiders? What's so bad about that? They're BABIES!! Well, this lovely little girl suffers from severe arachnophobia (that means fear of spiders) and it wasn't so much the baby spiders... she was wondering where the mama spider was that just hatched all those baby spiders! So, this lovely little girl (really trying to keep it together) went and grabbed her spider spray, and then turned into John Goodman from Arachnophobia! She sprayed and sprayed and sprayed and sprayed AND SPRAYED! She sprayed so much that her throat was hurting for an hour afterwards! She sprayed until there was nothing left to spray and then sprayed some more! Then the door was shut, a towel was pushed under the door so nothing could get out (everything had to die in there!!) Then the lovely little girl let herself have a moment of pure breakdown! After a quick cry (no really, it was quick) she tore her whole room apart checking for escapees and other creepy visitors before she was finally able to relax a little ( a VERY LITTLE)! The lovely little girl had a terrible time trying to sleep, but finally, she was able to drift into an uncomfortable sleep (she left the light on, of course!)

The next day, the lovely little girl, put on her BIG GIRL panties and OPENED THE BATHROOM DOOR! The spots were still on the wall and ceiling but they were plastered to the wall and ceiling b/c of all the spray (DIE SUCKERS!) Everything was taken out and that bathroom and spider carcasses were vacuumed and scrubbed away! Then, the fan was sealed off b/c that lovely little girl was smart and realized that was where all the babies came from and she never wanted to meet Mommy and Daddy Spider. The lovely little girl now sprays her room and bathroom about every other month to keep anything and everything away... and so far so good.

THE END...

FOR NOW...

Oh October...

Took my niece to Disneyland Wednesday w/ Soni. Her birthday wasn't until Saturday so she still got in for free. It was SO HOT 102 at least. Ugh! It was still fun! We went on a bunch of kiddie rides, had lunch, saw Dolphin tale (super cute movie), then ended w/ Haunted Mansion. I'm hoping it was a fun day for her, b/c I sure missed all the adult fun rides!!

More later...

Nutshelling August... *sheepish grin*

August! August! August! Is it sad that I really do not like the middle 3 months of the year? It's summer, it's hot, the electricity bill goes WAY up! Sigh. Summer gets such a bad rap. I've liked it better this year, since I've been living at the pool, but I JUST. CAN'T. STAND. BEING. HOT!!

The RS lessons have been going way better after that first one where I had an extra 15 minutes that I was struggling to fill! I taught Chastity last month... *giggle* I think some of those RS ladies are wondering where the heck I came from! I used gum as my object lesson... I asked if I offered them gum would they rather have this (wrapped/packaged gum) or this (gum I took from Soni's mouth as she was chewing it)... they all were giggling. But when we are chaste we are still "wrapped" or pure. No one wants to chew used gum unless you are Buddy the Elf! The ladies are still talking about it.

This month our water line to our fridge developed a leak!! There was water on the floor and the line was making a spritzing sound. I pulled out the stove and found where the line had a tiny hole... I tried to kink it like a garden hose, which only accomplished making the tiny leak a geyser!!! I yelled at Soni to turn the water off and then our cousin's plumber, Francisco (ooo! That's fun to say!) came over the next day and fixed everything for us... so all is well at the money pit!!

Soni & I are planning a vacation/35 birthday celebration for me the week of Thanksgiving in San Francisco! Whoo! We already booked our hotel and we want to go to Chinatown, Ghiradelli Square, Alcatraz-at night- *Freaky!*, and loads more places! I'm excited! I've been working LOADS of extra hours to make extra money so we can have a GOOD TIME! You only turn 35 once, right!! :)

I'm already doing better for September! YAY!

July in a nutshell too!!

I'll try to be better for August, but no promises!!

4th of July, you ask? I think my sister and I went to the movies and shopping. No fireworks. We didn't care this year... I've seen fireworks at Disneyland, the Hollywood Bowl, Lake Arrowhead-my favorite, by FAR!), Big Bear, Vet's Stadium, the Queen Mary, Dodger Stadium... What's left? I mean really?!

This month I went to my nephew's baptism/8th birthday party. That sounds funny. The birthday party was not at the church. 1st the Baptism. Then Birthday party at the house. At the baptism Soni & I sang 'I wonder when He comes again'. Unfortunately, I had just booked it to my car to grab my mini primary songbook and booked back, so I was COMPLETELY out of breath and couldn't control my diaphragm enough to squeeze out those high notes. (And they are REALLY HIGH NOTES!!) Oh well, not like it was for money or a singing contract right?!

Here's the handsome little devil here!!

He's just so adorable! It's hard to believe he's 8!!!

I'm struggling to remember what else I did this month... that's probably why I should blog more consistently, right?! Anyhow, I'll be way better for... September... since August is gone now!!!