baking disasters and delights

So I'm basically in love with baking. I have been feeling more and more confident with my ability to cook as I've been cooking for a dinner group for the last year and I'm in a foods class this semester. I also had learned to trust pinterest... I still kind of do, just not completely. Saturday night Bec and I decided we should go to the store and get stuff to make a good Sunday dinner for us and Sam because it had been a long time since we had all been home for Sunday Dinner. We decided to try a new recipe from pinterest. It had good ingredients so we thought that it must be good. It was called "melt-in-your-mouth chicken." I made it just how the recipe told me to and then I put it in the oven. We were all really excited because it smelled good and looked just like the picture on pinterest. Here it is in case you haven't seen it:

It looks delightful right?

Wrong! What it actually tasted like was this...

Yep, salt! It was SOOO gross. Bec even got the chills when she took her first bite! Such a disappointment! Luckily, we had some awesome potatoes and an incredible salad so that we didn't die, but still it was kind of depressing for me. 

Then we had decided to make churros for dessert and I messed them up by leaving the dough out too long, but I thought Bec had saved them until when we took them out of the oven they were all burnt on the bottom. Although I have to admit that they weren't that bad and everyone at dessert night loved them, it was just depressing to have two failures in one day!

So today I had my foods class and we were all making our own apple pies to take home. I was feeling like I was a horrible cook, but I decided to try my best anyways. Everything went really smoothly and I decided to try a lattice crust. Here's how it turned out...

pre-baking

post-baking.

I can't lie. I was very pleased with how it turned out. The lattice crust even turned out looking decent. And most importantly, it tasted SO GOOD! We had it with some boys from our dinner group and they brought ice cream and I'm a sucker for hot pie with ice cream. It's probably a good thing this pie turned out or I would have sworn that I would never bake again. Turns out that now I'm hooked again... big shocker there.

the media today = filth

I've been thinking a lot lately about how good Satan is at reeling people into his traps. He knows just how to do it so that you don't feel like you're doing anything wrong at all and then all the sudden you find that you're rationalizing everything. I think Satan's main way to reel us in at the moment is through the media. It seems as though there is so much filth on TV, in movies and in songs that sometimes I think that I should never watch/listen to anything again, but that is not the case. The media can be a positive force too. There have been several movies and songs that have literally helped my testimony to grow and I'm not talking about church related media either. There is some good out there. You just have to sort through a lot of bad to get through it.
It breaks my heart to see how many FABULOUS people watch garbage! They have been lulled into Satan's trap. Don't worry, I completely understand that I have been there done that. This past fall semester I had a professor who pointed out something that I have not been able to stop thinking about. He told us that one of the main reasons that really good people break the law of chastity is because they watch bad things. I know, I know you've heard it before and it doesn't feel true, but let me finish. He then pointed out that when you watch bad media a lot you begin to stop recognizing when the spirit leaves you. This presents many problems, one of the biggest being when you go to far the spirit will leave, but if you don't recognize that you can get into trouble that you wouldn't have otherwise. When he told me this I decided that it was a big deal and that I need to do something to make sure that I wasn't desensitized. My professor challenged us to go without media for 30 days and then go back and see what things bother you. I decided to do it and the effects were amazing. I realized so many things that I had been watching or listening to that I shouldn't be. Now that I have cut those things out of my life I have felt a HUGE difference. I have been happier and I can literally feel the spirit with me more often.
I wish that everyone would try this so that they could see how much happier and safe that they can be. It has blessed my life more than I could have ever imagined. I think this is something so crucial because the media is getting so horrible. Remember when "Brokeback Mountain" came out and everyone flipped? Yeah well now in shows that EVERYONE, including really, really good people watch there are gay and lesbian couples are MAIN CHARACTERS! That is so sad to me. This is something that needs to be stopped. We can't keep thinking that this is ok. We have to become re-sensitized.

the joys of family

When I was in High School I was very focused on friends. I always wanted to be with them because if I wasn't with them then I would probably miss out on something and then I would never understand the inside jokes from that night and so on. I wanted to be with my friends basically every minute of everyday. Don't get me wrong, I still LOVED being with my family. I have always had really good relationships with my parents and siblings, but I definitely didn't view them as the most fun option on a weekend. When I look back at those times it's sad to me. I think of all of the bonding time that I missed because my friends were doing something that was "really cool" so I skipped out on family time. Or even if I was there for family time I was usually texting someone the whole time.
Now I don't feel that way at all. This weekend my whole family was together for Thanksgiving and it was the best weekend I have had in a long time. And sometimes I even forgot to unplug my phone from the charger. I loved being with them. Especially with my nieces and nephew around. I love that when I'm with family it's completely different than being with friends. It's tons of fun with no pressure. I don't have to ever put on a show for my family. For instance, I only did my hair twice this week and I only wore make-up a few days. It felt so nice to know that it didn't matter how I looked for my family because they love me no matter what. I also don't have to worry about all of the competition that there can be among friends.
I think the thing I love the most about my family is how much we laugh. We are always laughing at something. There were several points this weekend that many of us were in tears because we were laughing so hard. I love that. Laughing is probably my favorite past time.
There were so many adorable moments with all of the kids too. Livvy says the cutest things. One of the best was when she would let out a little toot and say "root-a-toot-toot!" She always had a little mischievous look on her face with it which made it all the more cute. Then there's Luke who is big in to wrestling. He finds so much joy in climbing on top of people and snuggling his cute face into them. He also loves being chased. He laughs and laughs and then chases you back. Then there's Kami who is always making the best facial expressions. She wrinkles up her nose and puckers her lips. Although my personal favorite thing about Kami is that she snuggles with me. Alan and Alexis said that she pretty much doesn't do that with anyone else which makes it even more special. Maybe she just knows how much I love that. I find very few things more satisfying then having an adorable baby snuggle up on my chest. Kami did that today in church when I took her out of Sacrament meeting so I had Kevin take a picture. Look how adorable she is...

Yep, she's precious. They all are. All in all, I love my family and I'm so glad that I am realizing more and more just how much I really do love and appreciate them. I am surrounded by truly incredible people.

my gratitude list

Since Thanksgiving is right around the corner I thought I should probably make a list of things that I am grateful for. It's always amazing to look at all that I have been blessed with. I'm sure I won't even close to remember everything that should be on my list, but even making one is a good start for me.

• Of course I have to start with my incredible family. They are amazing and inspiring to me. Every time I'm with them I realize how wonderful they are. I'm so glad that I get to be with them for ETERNITY!
• My roomies. They are so great. We are always doing ridiculous things and mostly just laughing our heads off, which in my opinion is the best way to live.
• My co-workers. They have become like my family. They are all so kind and very patient with me. I tell them pretty much everything about my life and they listen to it all and then they even remember what I tell them. They're amazing.
• My bishopric. They are all so nice. They are all willing to do anything for anyone and they make me want to be a better person.
• My ward. Everyone I meet is so fun and nice.
• Aside from the boys in my ward, who are all very nice, I have met some other boys that have helped me remember how wonderful it is to have truly kind boys in my life. They are great friends and even though I haven't known them for that I long I already feel a strong bond with them because they are genuine.  
• Father's/Brother's blessings. I have recently had a blessing from my dad and from my brother. Blessings have always been very special to me because they are a strong reminder of God's love and knowledge of me. He knows what I'm going through and wants to help me. 
• The Gospel. My list could never be complete without this on it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the biggest blessing in my life. It is my way of life.
• The Atonement. I always thought that I really understood the Atonement, but this summer and this year I have felt the power of the Atonement in my life in a whole different way then I ever had before. The more I learn about it the stronger my testimony of it grows and the more I can feel my Savior's love for me. 
• A living prophet and apostles. It's incredible that I can hear the words of God through them. They bring much more peace and security in my life, just from listening to them speak. 
• My religion professors. They have changed my life. Every time I go to their classes, I leave wanting to be a better person. 
• My apartment. I love it. It's adorable and oh so homey. It's a joy to come to it everyday:)

Those are just a few of the things I'm grateful for. I am glad that we get this time of year to focus on the things that we are grateful for, for me it's the quickest way to happiness.

signing sam

So I'm taking an ASL class this semester. I have loved it and because of that I am always teaching my roommates new signs that I learn. Tonight Sam and I were talking about ASL and she made this awesome sign and asked what it meant. Of course the first thing that popped out of my mouth was "Sam." This is entirely untrue because there aren't typically signs for general names, in the ASL community you are assigned a "name sign" by a deaf person. Lucky for me I hadn't told Sam that yet. She didn't believe me at first, but I could tell that there was a part of her that thought it just might be true. So I tried to make it seem more legitimate. I made up other signs for other common names and I even got our other roommate Becca to pretend like I had already shown them to her so that she could play along. To Sam's credit She was very skeptical of us for a long time, but the longer we went on the more I could tell she was wondering if we really were telling the truth. So then I told her to call up our friend, that has been helping me with ASL because he served an ASL mission, and ask him if that was right. (Right before this I text him and told him to agree with me with whatever Sam might say) So, she called him and tried to explain to him the sign... this was definitely the best part. We were all laughing our heads off because it was such a weird thing to describe and we could only imagine what he was thinking on the other end. He told her that he didn't understand what she meant and to send him a picture. This is what she sent...

It was soo funny. Our friend text back and said that was it and at this point we basically had Sam convinced, although she says otherwise. Then she was really distraught because she didn't want to believe us but Scott had just told her that it was real. The conflict going on in her head was hilarious. So she texts him one more time to see if it really was and he said, "I plead the fifth." So then she knew, but it was really funny while it lasted and we got such a good picture and laugh from it.