It doesn't matter if it is the small and simple things of daily life, the seemingly minor things we will remember most. What makes a great shirt AMAZING, or all the many reasons I love being a MOTHER and a WIFE. It is in the DETAILS.
I grew up in UT, Now reside in FL with our family of 6. I am a fitness trainer, a volunteer, an O+ blood donar. I'm a Mormon. (click link)
Yikes! Yikes! Yikes!
I did it....I made my "I'm a Mormon" profile.
Last night I happened upon a friends profile just before I was headed to bed.....maybe 10:30ish.
I thought, what is my problem?
What is the hold up?
You are a Mormon.
You have a testimony.
Your words are just as valid and pertinent as anyone else's.
I ended up staying up long past my bed time, thinking, pondering, typing, re-typing, re-reading, contemplating....and finally feeling happy and satisfied with the way I wanted to share a few of my beliefs, and more spiritual thoughts here with you.
I was not expecting it to be sent through and published so quickly.....sweet surprise.
I do not have time.....but I am so disappointed I have to vent....
again....just blabbed to T.
But this will be the end of it and I will move on.
About an hour ago I was finally ready to sit down and make a shopping
plan. I had cleaned up the house, done some of this and that.
Organized and trashed old coupons, got my desk in order and at last
I was ready to buckle down and pull my thoughts, coupons, and sale paper
together.
I got about 5 - 10 minutes into my project,
when I was really, really wanting a baked good.
A chocolate baked good of some kind.
Home made.....good thing because other than Choffy there is nothing
chocolatey in the house.
I decided that the kids would be super happy as well if I would set aside
this shopping trip for a few minutes more while I baked up a few trays of goodness.
I hurried through my recipe books,
found the Nieman Marcus cookies in a cookbook V had given me sometime ago.
I was loving the recipe soooo much because it had 5 cups of ground up oatmeal in it.
I LOVE that because the kids cannot complain about what they cannot taste or see.
They would never know there is a little bit of healthy goodness in these guys.
Sooooo......as I was starting to pull this massive recipe together,
at the last minute I decided to half it.
My only happy news at the moment.
I ground my oat meal.....
as I was making it into a flour in my Vita mix I
heard a noise that sounded like it was grinding something a bit tougher
a few times....but didn't worry too much about it.
Just gave it a second thought.
I got every thing added....including 2 STICKS OF REAL BUTTER!!!
Yum...a real treat.
I am going all in with this guy!!!
My dough is done....time to test.
YUM! Extra yummy with a little crunch.
mmmmm, mmmm, mmmm.....
but why the crunch?
no really.
where is the crunch coming from?
Upon closer investigation after a few good sized spoonfuls,
I noticed some blue and white flecs of what looked like paper or some kind
of packaging.
I know that packaging.
I hurried and opened another can of oatmeal and dumped it into the empty one.
and LOW AND BEHOLD....
This is what I found.
I had so stupidly ground up an entire Oxygen Absorber into
my oatmeal flour.
I had been in such a mad rush I didn't stop to notice.
Talk about heart break and sorrow.
I am so mad.
I don't swear often....and I won't swear now but I really want to
write a whole bunch of these... *#*&!!!!!!@#$$$$$$$$$!!!!!()()()#%^^^^*
I am scared as well.
My throat burns a little.
My stomach a bit off.
I may be kind of shaky.....that could just be from the madness.
Maybe it is all in my mind.
My ears might be ringing....
It is all dumped into the trash.
I am back where I started at my desk totally ticked and having wasted time,
money, butter, and more.....
Man I am so lame.
And still with out my baked good.
I deserve this punishment.
Take away:
Slow down.
Don't bake in a state of desperation.
When you hear something that sounds off and not normal....
it probably is OFF AND NOT NORMAL....look into it.
Look at your dough before you dig in like a rabid dog.
Ok....have a great day.
I am going to go work on a shopping trip....
while I drink 4 gallons of water to rinse out my system.
"May the odds be ever in your favor." .................................
Something just happened that changed my state of mind.
Sometimes (almost all the time) it pays to unload on your friends. T - just walked up to my door with this. Nooooo Tina....I do not deserve this!! No. I couldn't muster tears before because I was so mad. I can muster tears of joy no prob.
I will be careful not to eat too much, because what if I really do get sick? I will just waste this too if I throw it up.
Just to wrap up... this small gesture reminds me of Ronald Rassband's talk from Sunday morning's conference session. He talked about reaching out to others... lift and encourage. He said, how many times have we offered to help someone. How can I help? Let me know if you need anything.... as we are walking away.
ME...countless.
I loved the story he used to illustrate his point. He said, If you came across a person that was drowning, would you ask if you can help? What can I do? NO! You would jump in and save them. No questions asked. Only doing what was required to save them.
Now....certainly I wasn't drowning. Just disappointed. That was all it took. I didn't need to be drowning for her to show a kind generous gesture. Was it necessary in any way.... no. But it was certainly appreciated. Sure made me feel good.
I hope I can be more like T. She is always just doing, and thinking nothing of it.
Here is Brother Rassband's whole talk. I hope you watch it and enjoy it like I did.
We had an adventurous Spring Break this past week.
Kev convinced me to drive out to Asheville,
NC to visit where he is currently working.
I liked the idea....
but was a tad bit nervous because I have a tendency
to fall asleep in the car.
I am almost certain I have never personally driven more than 3 hours in one
block of time.
It scares me not to know where I am....
I am very uptight about the possibility of
missing the turn off and not knowing for miles or hours,
and then not being able to figure out how to get back on track....
I am bad with directions.
I'm forgetful.
I jumble stuff up in my mind.
I don't see that great in the dark...
I am one of those people who pretty much stays within
the Pineda and Melbourne Causeways.
That is my playpen and I am very comfortable with in those perimeters.
There is more than enough to do in here.
I am like one of the ants in line on The Ant Movie....
do you know the ones?
Unlesssomeone else is driving.
In that case I would LOVE to go ANYWHERE!
So this trip was a bit of a switch.
Here are a few driving snip-its: (Be sure and click on the left upper corner of the screen so you can watch full screen.)
I never let the tank get below half the entire trip.
NO WAY!
Why have something to (possibly) worry about?
My goal was to stop every three hours.
Period.
My bladder would have liked to have burst on numerous occasions...
but it didn't. (a time or two I did break my rule)
The kids aren't drinkers like me....so they really didn't care either way.
I figured out a system for my driving that worked much like I
would work a goal for running....
I loved it.
I didn't start out so organized, but over time my plan
came together and it made the time click right on by.
You already know about stopping every 3 hours.
other stratagems -
I would get a treat or snack on the hour,
then get another something at the half.
I would hold off and force myself to wait until such and such time
before my next Choffy, and so forth.
I force fed myself and the kids one hour of spanish per every two hours of
books on cd, or random music.
I would purposefully put the next desire just out of reach....
this served to stretch out the time,
and helped me stay awake and interested until
reaching the next milestone.
Hey, at least I know what works for me.
I am goal driven.....that's how I roll.
One of my life saving secrets was to stock pile loads of Choffy
into every empty container that I could find with a tight fitting lid.
I took in a steady stream until late afternoon on each of my driving days.
This was very helpful.....
as it is a natural energy source due to the
theobromine.
and it is "mucho delicioso".
and kept me quite happy.
You can certainly learn more....and even order your own
"Bliss in a Cup" by visiting
drinkchoffy.com/melissachristensen
well....
you can!
These kids are luckier than they know.....
they call it boredom...
maybe,
but as an adult I know differently.
This is a dream come true for anyone over the age of 29.
The first two nights we stayed at a nice hotel across from
DILLARD'S Clearance Center....!!!
No Way!???
if you know me at all,
you know I could not have dreamed up a more amazing scenario.
We (I) had a little fun there.....not enough....not near enough.
but it was still a fun surprise highlight.
Just a few really quick finds -
Lawson LOVES Sanuk shoes,
they are outrageously priced though (IMO), reg. $60,
Mac and I found a single Sanuk shoe, size 7 in the mens shoe section.
It was half off at $30 + then take an additional 50% off.
One problemo.....as I mentioned we could only find One.
We looked and looked, got the clerks involved.
No luck.
Finally we put the shoe back, kinda bummed (so close, yet so far away)
Then suddenly, M walked over to this random shelf w/ a basket on top....
and yep.... miraculously there was the missing Sanuk.
T H A T really happened.
L was pretty darn happy.
I found a very, very cute coat clearanced out for $12....
In fact,
I found a ton
of coats to love, but I held myself to one (dumb-bo right?)
One fun thing we did was go to the movie Hugo, at the
theatre....the movie was not the highlight....
the eating dinner in the dark while watching the movie
was the
AWESOME part!
The feast was delish!
Great idea K....You DA MAN hon!
Being smashed in the hotel room got old fast,
but the FREE daily breakfast was almost worth it.
I LOVE those pancakes soooooo much!
press a button and your pancake (or 3 in my case) is out in less than 3 min.
I would never tire of those cakes.
Not ever....real butter and syrup slathered over them,
cut into each with a plastic knife and fork,
making little slice marks into the styrofoam plate.
Oh YES!
To clean up walk over to the discreet disposal container.
set it in.
walk away.
Thank UUUUUUUUUU!
We did end up moving to a nice camping park down the road a few miles.
Much better.
Much more like the spring break I would imagine.
Ethan didn't appreciate the fact that he had to get out of bed for the
remaining days of our trip.
That was made known.....a time or two.
Canoeing, paddling, fishing (no bites, but still), hiking,
running on trails, EATING AT 5 GUYS on consecutive days
.....ok nothing to do with the cabin,
but still a dang yummy highlight.
Our family had never eaten there before this trip!!
Asheville was beautiful in every way.
Everyone said so.
Everyone also said, "You have to go to the Biltmore House"
It is the largest home in the USA.
250 rooms, 43 bathrooms, 8,000 acres to roam....
It was surprisingly busy.
It was actually a lot of fun. What made it interesting and enjoyable
was the audio tour we took.
With out the audio and all the interesting facts about George W. Vanderbilt,
and his family, and this ultra over the top house it would have
been nothing special.
As it stands though,
I am very interested in learning more.
Have any of you ever read any historical fictions about
the Vanderbilt family??
I bet it would be fascinating.....I gotta find a good one....Devin??
Gardens galore. You are not allowed to take photos inside the home....bummer.
I would be lying if I said the kids did not burn out and
start whining towards the end.
The Garden walk was pushing it for them.
K really wanted to get involved with the Hunger Games hype.
We have all read the series except for him (L is on book 2),
and K wanted to do something special for
the kids and get in on the action before we all went to the show on our last
night in town.
We drove from here to kingdom-come through the Graggy Mtns
of North Carolina looking for where the Games were
filmed.
We hiked up.
We hiked down.
Back up, then down.
After all was said and done and whined over.
It was actually a good time K.
Thank you for the fun, unique idea.
Look closely at the photos below....this is our tribute to the Games.
At one point during a brief stop during our adventure,
they boys were throwing around their football.
We kept saying, no guys, put it away, this is not a good place to play
catch. We were parked at an over look....so next to a steep mountain edge.
Well, turns out it did not end up going off the side of the mtn,
but rather down the inside of a drain...?
We lucked out, as we were getting ready to drive off a few
forest workers came along, Kev asked where that drain went....
just casually mentioning that we'd just lost our football.
Oh, no prob, I'll get it.
(eyebrows up)
No way did I think a man could fit through there.
Can you imagine how creepy that would be?
Guess he's used to it.....
this guy is a HERO in our book.
It was a wonderful trip.
I would hop in the car and do it again in a few months.
The main thing I learned is that we need even more water in the car
Coupon Queen. I LOVE to save a lot. I still sweat and get excited at check out when I am about to save really BIG! I am a runner! I love to run and body sculpt my ASSets with friends.
