Ice Cream

I have told Steven many times that ice cream will change for him once he tries Blue Bell. The stuff is amazing! He didn't really quite believe me... Until now. It's some good stuff!

I love Texas.

The End.

Funny Conversations #3

Steven: Do you think it would ever be worth it for you to have a maid?
Abby: I don't know....
Steven: I was just thinking I wouldn't want you to be slaved to the house. I'd much rather have you slaved to the children.... o.O

(Obviously, he did not mean for it to come out like that.)

WOOHOO!

WARNING: May sound boastful, but we are just excited.

Steven took his DAT yesterday. The waiting is over! And even better than that--the waiting was worth it! He got a 23! For those not familiar with the DAT, the scoring is weird (in my opinion). They have 6 different sections.
Section and Highest Scores available:
PAT (Perceptual Ability Test)--30
Reading Comprehension--29
Quantitative Reasoning--30
Biology--29
 General Chemistry--28
 Organic Chemistry--30

Then they take two averages from those scores:
Science Average: 30
Academic Average: 30

The latter doesn't make sense because mathematically if you got a perfect score on all of the above, then it wouldn't be 30. They do, however, compensate that somehow.

So there's your background. Here's Steven's scores.
PAT (Perceptual Ability Test)--22
Reading Comprehension--23
Quantitative Reasoning--18
Biology--26

 General Chemistry--23
 Organic Chemistry--26

Science Average: 25
Academic Average: 23

You might be thinking compared to the top scores, he didn't do so hot. But there's something else funny about the DAT. It is a bell curve system. Once you get past 21, it is harder to go up a score.

Percentile:
PAT (Perceptual Ability Test)--96.2
Reading Comprehension--94.5
Quantitative Reasoning--75.8
Biology--99.6

 General Chemistry--95.0
 Organic Chemistry--98.1

Science Average: 99.6
Academic Average: 98.3


So in Layman's terms: He got in the 98th percentile. Basically guaranteed a spot somewhere.

So, of course we celebrated!

I love him.

The End.

Funny Concversations #2

We had lots last night, but of course I can't remember them.

But here's one from this morning

Steven: Let's dance to the music.
Abby: *looks down at feet--shoes* Grabs his hands and steps back (He always steps on my feet-and with shoes? Ouch!!!)
Steven: That's a big set of scriptures.

Ha! Get it? "Book of Mormon space"

DAT

It's here; it's here! As of 30 minutes ago, Steven is taking the DAT. I cannot tell you how happy that it's going to be over! Steven has been great to make sure I have been getting some attention for the past 5 months (appx), but I am still so excited. I just wanted to write somewhere that I am proud of him no matter what happens. I would imagine he would kick its trash, but you never can be too sure, ya know? This dedication, knowledge, and wisdom he has shown not only in the past 5 months but his whole educational studies is amazing. Anyway, just for your sake, I won't sit here and brag about how wonderful he is (for me).

THE END

P.S. I thought I should mention that I know without the gospel in our lives, this wouldn't have been so good. The priesthood is such a blessing.

10 days 10 hours 10 minutes and 10 seconds...

...until the best Holiday ever. I cannot wait to be with my family.

So... I couldn't find a picture of the time my family was last together... but it was 10 years ago!

Convenient, eh?

I was looking on google for a sub picture =P but nothing seemed to fit. So you are left reading this without a pic. Sorry!


P.S. I was not sitting there watching my countdown. It just so happened I came on to listen to my music when it was like 10 days 10 hours and 15 minutes... and I thought, hey! :) I do have somewhat of a life. hehe

Dinner

I thought I would share a pretty cheap winter meal with you!

We got some Philadelphia cream cheese (there's really no other way to go) for $.50/package. We had 12 and used them for bagels and such, but one of my favorite ways was this:

^^You can see it a little better in this one although it's darker.


Soup! I love soup! I love them because they can be so fast and so warming during the cold winter months.
This particular recipe is adopted from Kelsey. It is basic, so you can make it that way or add whatever you'd like.


I think we used about 10-12 potatoes peeled and cut into bite sized pieces. Boil until tender.
Add:
2 packages of cream cheese (and we usually use any that we have opened as well)--melt

1 can of chicken broth
1 can of corn

This time, we added some opened frozen peas--It was about 1/2 of a bag.

We had this tonight and invited our neighborly friend, Jonathan, over. His wife is out of town, so we have been inviting him over. It's been fun! I'm so sad they are moving to the "west side" of town.

Steven and I have figured that it is about 4 dollars to make this. It gave us 7 servings tonight and we have extras (probably 3 more?)

Enjoy!

Still got it!

So, I frequently use Skype now that my mom lives in Switzerland. I was calling today when I caught myself doing something crazy. Anybody who is familiar with skype will now that when you are calling it will make a tone. Like a phone ring except it's just straight. I was sitting there singing dissonant notes with it while waiting for Sarah to pick up. After a while, I was like what in the world am I doing? I haven't done something this musically dorky for quite some time.

Best part is... I enjoyed it. It brings me back to the high school days (over 2 1/2 years ago. WHOA!). It makes me want to go back memory lane and post a bunch of pictures, but I'm like many of you I have papers to write, tests to study for, and things to pack!

For your Christmas Gee WIz File

So, I was looking at the Twelve Days of Christmas lyrics in hopes to make a cute idea out of it (which you might see some posts following about it). Anyway, I was looking up on google (where else?) for them and I clicked on like the first site that showed up. I really enjoyed it particularly because in church we talked about traditions and what we want to start in our homes. We talked about the symbolism in all the traditions Americans do and how we should teach the symbolism to our children. Some were new and some were reminders. Examples:

Christmas Trees: Eternal Life
Christmas Lights: Christ is the only source of true light
Green and Red: Eternal life and royalty/blood (atonement)

Anyway, here's what I found

Religious symbolism of The Twelve Days of Christmas  
(The 12 Days of Christmas)

1 True Love refers to God
2 Turtle Doves refers to the Old and New Testaments
3 French Hens refers to Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues
4 Calling Birds refers to the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists
5 Golden Rings refers to the first Five Books of the Old Testament, the "Pentateuch", which gives the history of man's fall from grace.
6 Geese A-laying refers to the six days of creation
7 Swans A-swimming refers to the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the sacraments
8 Maids A-milking refers to the eight beatitudes
9 Ladies Dancing refers to the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit
10 Lords A-leaping refers to the ten commandments
11 Pipers Piping refers to the eleven faithful apostles
12 Drummers Drumming refers to the points of doctrine in the Apostle's Creed

 True? I don't know. I thought it was interesting though....

Funny Conversations

I keep making a list in my head of funny conversations I have with my marvelous husband that I get a good chuckle out of and think you guys might like, too. Unfortunately, I have forgotten a lot of them, so I'm just going to write them down instead of making just one post with them. These will be my funny conversations post series. Enjoy!

Me: (sitting with my computer just staring)
Steven: "What are you doing?"
Me: "I don't know, I just can't find the willpower to do my Book of Mormon paper."
Steven: "Why don't you take a break? That way you'll be motivated afterward to start it."
Me: (sad face) "You know that doesn't work."
.......
......
....
Me: "I know what will make me happy!" (walks over to cupboard and fridge and starts pouring milk)
Steven: "Do you want me to get the Oreos?"

Haha. He makes me smile. That is exactly what I was doing.

 Is there anything better?

Is there anything better?

Getting in the Christmas Spirit

Now that it's December I can proudly boast that I am excited for Christmas. I love the spirit of giving! I love the decorating! I love the music! I love the laughter and cheer! I love the colors! I love that this list could go on forever. These are some of the things I've been doing and enjoy!

We made ginger cookies with our neighbors (different than the Bessey's :) )

My favorite are at the bottom--Steven's paystation controller and my skeleton there's an mathematical one, and the before and after Grinch

 Decorations for Christmas

Includes: Stockings made by my Grandma Nan for Christmas last year and some window sticky things that aren't all that visible.

 My wreath up on my front door--A huge thanks to Spencer for figuring out a way to hang it. We don't have space for anything big to hang over the door.

 I spent some time this week wrapping presents. Love it!

 And this is our Christmas tree (with our JOY blocks) that we decorated the day after Halloween. :) We figured we were going to be gone for Thanksgiving and leaving for Christmas.After decorating it, we decided we need to buy some more color! I thought the silver and blue were cute but definitely blend in with the white lights.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Beauty Tip #1: Smile

I have been busier than normal lately. Today was my relaxing day. We had to write a hypothetical grant request for one of my classes. It has been consuming a lot of my time; I'm most definitely not complaining because Steven has to take the DAT in less than 2 weeks! Oh my goodness, I can't believe it's so close. Needless to say, he has been studying a lot more in the past couple of weeks, so I'm happy to keep myself busy with stuff.
In my spare time, I have been relighting my candle of love for makeup. I don't really do it that often because money is tight, I don't have time, blah blah blah. This "channel"on youtube is done by Julie. Some of the makeup is somewhat dramatic, but I have found you can tone everything down to suit every day needs. She also has some hair things and some wicked nail designs. It makes me wish I had nails that would grow up to be strong lil' fellas.

Her #1 tip about beauty is to smile. How true is that? At first I thought it was odd how smiley she was, but it kind of catches. So, my challenge to myself and anybody willing is to smile, even though it may not be that hard during the holiday season.

Behind on my Thankfuls!

So, today before I go to bed, I would like to say that I am thankful for Christmas. Yes, I have just finished remodeling my blog for the Christmas theme, but you should just be thankful I have withheld the Christmas music! I LOVE Christmas. I love the giving, the loving, the food, the feeling, the singing, the family, etc. The list could go on and on. I am especially thankful for this Christmas because it is the first time in over 10 years that ALL of my family will be together! I am trying to control my excitement due to the many comments I have received from this family that I am setting myself up for disappointment because we have so many people in our family that not everybody will want to do the same things, blah blah blah. I just can't help it. I think it all started with spending my first Christmas away from the family last year. Honestly? It stunk. Not because I don't love Steven's family or enjoyed it, but I believe that I didn't realize how much my family meant to me. How much I, indeed, loved Christmas with MY family and MY traditions. What are my, our, traditions? I will list them for you, or probably more accurately for me. :)

• Christmas Eve Party with extended family consisting of, but not restricted to:
• An amazing dinner with Aunt Livi's fudge and sometimes popcorn balls
• Playing the chimes
• Singing carols
• With a solo or two from Sarah =P
• A family band
• The reading of the Christmas story from the Bible
• Sometimes a shortened version by Mike, but not as much anymore
• Playing games
• Christmas morning
• The eldest child would have to go downstairs to get the parents, so the children won't peek.
• The Christmas Stair Picture--oldest on top to the youngest at bottom (excluding babies)
• Going around and opening one present at a time
• Youngest to Oldest
• Getting to thank everybody one by one
• Getting to see the excitement on everybody's face
• Taking individual pictures with all our presents
• Good memories
• Christmas Breakfast
• Mom's good waffles and some yummy fruit
• Dad's EGGS! YUM!!!!! He makes them the best
• All in all, lots of laughs and smiles.

 My turn to open a present--remember, one present/person.

 Family pic around 1998? I say that because I see I have Wednesday trapped in my snare (aka the blanket).

 Photo-op 2005 We are all grown up! Won't be as crazy as this year when we have all 27 us! (+the parents who started this amazing madness!)

 This is the perfect picture because this is us waiting while everybody opens their one present until it's our glorious turn again. =P I miss Mikey Jo!

 Our photo-op after opening presents

 Again... I want to say game time during Christmas, but I don't know.

 I believe this was during Christmas Eve Party (I just got back from working). My mom can correct me because I know she knows everything--she's just smart like that. :)

 Quality Family Time

 Family Band

Now can you see why I can't wait? :)

Obsessed!

My mom introduced me to: ourbestbites.com recently (like yesterday). I love it! They are two stay-at-home moms who do amazing things! Here are some of my favorite recipes:

Turkey and Pilgram Place Settings
Apple Cider Doughnuts
among others, but you can go explore their website and find out for yourself.


I'm also excited to try a cookies and cream fudge recipe:

 

www.pastrywiz.com

 For anybody who knows me, I LOVE anything cookies and cream, oreos, ice cream, fudge, etc. I actually haven't tried the latter until a few weeks ago at a Craft Fair. This lady had tons of fudge flavors. She let us sample one of any, she had chocolate, dark chocolate, raspberry chocolate, peanut better (a close second), and on and on. Of course, once I saw the cookies and cream, I picked that one. I was in heaven. So, I'm hoping that this recipe will bring the the same results.

This week, we made doughnuts with our friends (previously referred to as our neighbors, which they still are but now this is most definitely the better used description :-P). They turned out alright. I mean, they were edible, it's just that they were more of a scone variety than doughnut. That's ok though. They were yummy with some cinnamon sugar on them.
Also, this week I made an apple pie. I have done this before, but from the poll, our neighborly friends and Steven, it was delectable. Steven, who has tried my apple pies before, said that it was the best by far. Now, why is this so surprising? Because it was all made from scratch. I never thought I could make a successful filling. Wahoo!

This week has by far been an obsessed week in the kitchen and enjoyable. :)

Classes

Although my schedule didn't go quite as planned (I'll be talking to the teachers to see if I can get in), I was thinking about how much schooling I had left. After next semester, I only have 10 classes. Sounds like a lot? Not really because I have been taking 6 classes/semester at best. Yet, It will take me 3 semesters after next to graduate.
I am not complaining what so ever. I am actually thrilled at the idea that I have so few classes left to take. That means that I will be taking about 10 credits/semester. That also means that I actually might be able to take some fun classes that I was not aware that I may have the time for. Hallelujah!

Classes that aren't required that I want to take:
Children's Clothing
Fitting and Alterations
Home Decor Sewing
Pattern Making
Bakery
Pastries
Confectionery
Cake Decorating
Advanced Cake Decorating
Voice Lessons
Nutrition and Young Children
Nutrition in the Life cycle
Motivation Management

That list is a heck of a lot longer than I thought it would be...
Anyway, now I have hope that I can fit in at least 4 of these classes--wahoo!

Thankful 11-7

Today, I am thankful for daylight savings! I love that extra hour of sleep! :)

Little Black Dress

I don't know about anybody else, but I have always wanted a "little black dress." I am usually disappointed when they are too revealing in some manner or "grandma" style. I found one today that I absolutely love

....too bad it is over $100. Oh, well. Who knows, maybe after Winter semester I will fall madly in love with sewing and make it for a fraction of the cost.

Other dresses which I love:

This is the same idea as the black one, but a bit different.

LOVE THIS ONE

I know these are shoes, but they can go here too!

Like everything but the bow (This one is $200)

I was trying to stick with the modest dresses, but I couldn't pass up this one.

Obviously an undershirt is needed:

Ok, I think I will stop now. I'm not even 1/2 way through their dresses. I got all these pics from modcloth.com. While roaming I discovered they even have a long lengths category in the dresses. LOVE THEM!!!

<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3<3

Had to add this one!

Thankful 11-6

So, I haven't updated because I was out of town for two days on a field trip to Boise. We got to view what we've been discussing for 2 months. It was really wonderful to see it in action. We also did some networking. We had an appointment with the State Board Director of Family and Consumer Science Education. I am thankful for a teacher who put this field trip together. I am thankful for the knowledge of older people in my life.

Thankful 11-3

I'm going to be posting these out of order because my older ones are only drafts, but today I am thankful for sales! I went after Halloween shopping today, and I love saving the money. I am thankful for coupons. I am thankful for people like hip2save and Krazy Coupon Lady who figure out how to pair up these two benefits to make the best of things! I don't think I can even count up how much money I have saved. I am thankful for a husband who has supported me throughout my newbie days, depressing days, and successes. I am thankful for all the support I receive from everybody else, too.

THANK YOU

Melts my Heart

Yesterday, we spent most of the day at the Bessey's. I came home to realize that I had received a text about my little nephew, Hunter,wanting to call me. I was so saddened when I realized that it was too late to take up on the offer. So, I told Liz that I would love to talk to him tomorrow, or in other words, today. When I called at the arranged time, I was once again saddened because nobody answered! A couple hours later, after his nap I assume, I got a call from such an excited little boy. I tried to strike up a conversation about church, trick-or-treating, and such, but then I heard a very disinterested little boy tell me three times, "I miss you!" This made my heart melt in and of itself, but then after I told him I missed him in return, he asked, "When are you coming to Grandma's house?"

I LOVE little kids! I love all my nieces and nephews, but I will admit that I have a special attachment to Hunter because I have had the unique opportunity to spend so much time with him while at college. He can be a handful at times, but he is a sweet little guy who melts my heart! Below are some pictures from our many adventures. Here's a picture from when I was 16 visiting (the infamous summer that I decided to chop my hair).

 Here is a picture from the many drives Liz and I went on to get him to sleep. I only wish there would have been more! (P.S. the car seat was tipping over every turn we took. Don't worry, we always fixed it.)

 These are kind of out of order, but here he is on our trip back up to Idaho stopping by to see (Great) Grandma!

 4 months later, we hit the road to Las Vegas!

 I was in charge of entertaining him in the back.

 Hoover Dam* (Thank you, Heidi!) :)

 Here is at the family reunion with Colee, my niece.

 Here is AFTER Steven and I were married. We got some great action shots of Hunter and Uncle Steven playing together.

 Ready to jump!

 Airplane!

 He is such a momma's boy! Cheesy smile, too!

 Mid-action

 Steven acting like he fell asleep and couldn't let go of Hunter.

 At the reception.

 I think he was done....

 One of my favorite pictures!

The boy seems to never rest. :)