An Experiment in Writing

I like to write, yet I don't do it very often (which you will see if you follow my blog that I average a post every 3 or so months). Ha. But, writing helps me process what's going on in my head and what's happening in my life. Thus, the idea for this experiment.

Often times I don't feel like I have anything to write about or just can't think of anything to write about. However, when I first started thinking of doing this experiment, I started making a list of possible blog topics and I came up with somewhere over 60, so perhaps I do have something to say. Or is it just that I have LOTS swirling around in my little brain?! Hmmmm.... :)

As well, I love reading my friends' blogs and get a little disappointed if there isn't something new to read. So, I thought perhaps maybe they'd like to hear from me, too. :) If not, that's ok, cause I'm going to write anyway. Ha ha.

The Experiment
For the next 30 days (at least) I'm going to write a blog post each day. Some will be serious, some will not, others will be things I'd like to share, such as recipes, or products, or just thoughts I'm mulling over. This experiment will also be a little bit about discipline, as my laziness might try to creep up and try to stop me from writing. I think perhaps that is another reason why I don't write more often, so this will be good.

As well, I'd love to hear any feedback or comments on anything and everything that I have to say. So, please pipe in and share back with me!

Silent "G"

Here in The Basin (the area of Utah where Roosevelt is located), many things are different than in the big city. I'm sure I could go on about the many things, but for now I'm talking about the silent "g."

What is the silent "g" you ask. I'm referring to the letter "g" that appears at the end of words following the letters "i" and "n." You see, in The Basin, that "g" is apparently silent. We don't go shopping, walking, camping, fishing, hunting, etc. We go shoppin', walkin', campin', fishin', huntin', etc. It cracks me up and it was one of the first things I noticed about the Basinites once I started spending some time out here. And truth be told, I've started talking like that, oops, I mean talkin' like that. Guess I'm startin' to become a local. :) But, it drives me crazy when I find myself talking like that. Ha!

The other day I was talking to a co-worker and was telling her about Ryan going hunting. She actually corrected me and said to me, "It's huntin', not hunting." I just had to laugh.

1 Year of Wedded Bliss!

One year ago on September 26th, Ryan and I were married. It's hard to believe that it has already been a year! I love him more than I did on that day and look forward to all the days ahead! He is one amazing man and I am truly blessed to be his wife. Of course, not all days have been perfect, but it's been a fun road and one in which most days are absolutely wonderful. Even the hard times and challenges of learning to live with another person and consider their needs have been good. That's probably all part of the newlywed stage. :) But, I hope that never changes. I get to journey through this life with my best friend and love of my life. Life is good!

Below are some pics from year 1 (in no particular order).

The 2 of us in our matching shirts at Ryan's company's summer picnic

Our first time going to the races. At the Vernal race track. It was tons of fun!

Just smoochin' after Elyssa and Rob's wedding ceremony. :)

At the Rockies game. Ryan's first Major League Baseball game.

Lower Falls in Yellowstone National Park.

Birth of the first nephew on the Tall side of the family in November.

Jazz vs. Nuggets game and the Jazz won! Yeah!

Goofing off at the beach in So Cal.

Me and my man enjoying the beach at sunset.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Here are the ingredients as listed in the recipe. What I actually used, if different, is listed in parenthesis.

1 cup whole grain flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger (I didn't have ginger, so I used cloves)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup light vanilla soy milk (We don't drink soy, so I used 1% milk with a bit of vanilla extract)
2 scoops vanilla protein powder
1 5-ounce container Greek vanilla bean yogurt (used regular vanilla yogurt)
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
2 extra-large egg whites (used 1 whole large egg)
2 tablespoons butter, slightly melted

In a large mixing bowl, combine the first 7 ingredients and set aside.

In a blender, combine the soy milk and protein powder and blend for 30 seconds. Then pour into a medium bowl. To the protein mixture, add the yogurt, pumpkin, egg whites, and butter and mix well.

Add the liquid mixture to the dry ingredients and stir just until moist. Do not overmix the pancake batter.

Warm a griddle or skillet over medium-low heat. Spray with cooking spray. Ladle the pancake batter onto the griddle, using 1/4 cup batter for each pancake. Let each pancake cook for 2-3 minutes per side.

Yeilds 8 pancakes. Per serving (2 pancakes): 376 calories, 21 grams protein, 53 grams carbohydrates, 10 grams fat.

These were yummy! I asked Ryan to rate it 1 to 5 stars and he gave it 5. :)

I must give credit where credit is due. Got this recipe from "Skinny Chicks Don't Eat Salads."

Crave

One of my best friends got married on Saturday and not only was I fortunate enough to be there with her, but I was able to stand up with her as she made a commitment to her husband. It's always amazing to watch two people make a commitment to each other in front of God, family and friends, but I have a new appreciation for that commitment. This is the first wedding that I have been to since getting married and even though Ryan and I haven't been married that long, a wedding is a good reminder of that commitment. Pastor Murphy, who was the officiant of the wedding, challenged all married couples to recommit to each other during the ceremony. Hopefully, both Ryan and I will remember the advice that was given. It's good stuff! Pastor Murphy at all the wedding ceremonies he performs gives an acronym with advice and challenges for the new couple. This time around, he used the word "crave." Below is a synopsis of what he said with my own twist added.

C - Change yourself - Don't try to change your partner because that will never work. But, if each partner is actively working on changing themselves, then change will happen. Find out what your partner needs and work to fill those needs.

R - Recreate - Make sure that you make time to have fun and take time out to do things that you enjoy doing together.

A - Affection - Show affection to each other, hold hands, touch each other. This is especially important for those whose love language is physical touch. If this is your spouse's love language, then this is how they will most feel loved by you, so make sure that there is plenty of touching. :)

V - Vulnerability (intimacy) - Open up and let your spouse into your inner parts. Experience and enjoy the closeness of vulnerability and also the freedom that it brings. Peel off your layers like an onion and allow your spouse to see your inner layers.

E - Encourage - Build each other up, support each other's dreams and desires. Be each other's #1 fan and encourage them to be all they are meant to be and more. Celebrate each other's successes and pick each other up when need be. Believe in your spouse and express to them how much you believe in who God created them to be.

Challenge!

Challenge: Write an entire post without using the word "I" (or "me" or "my" because I use them entirely too much). Go!

This will be quite a challenge. How do you write an entire post without using those words? Let's see. This will be random. Let's make this about everyone else and everything good in life.

God is good! He provides in ways that are unimaginable, it's hard to even comprehend. He has bestowed many blessings. The biggest blessing is Ryan, who is an amazingly wonderful husband. Who could ask for anyone better? Ryan is loving, thoughtful, helpful, hard-working, wise, intelligent, great conversationalist, handsome, encouraging, and on and on. God certainly went above and beyond when He created him! What a huge blessing!

Family - parents, brother, nephew, all the in-laws make life better, too. They all add joy and excitement to life. Mom and Dad have become great friends as time goes by and John has been since the high school years. They are all amazing people who bless those they come in contact with. John's wife, Stacey, and new baby boy, Jensen, have been wonderful additions to the family and add joy and fun. And, of course, all the new in-laws since getting married have been fun to get to know and hang out with.

Work is work. Work is just a job right now. Work is difficult and frustrating and it's hard to get up and go in the morning at times. But work is a blessing because without a doubt this job has been provided by God. The circumstances that led to this job could be nothing less than the work of God. Doesn't mean it's ideal, but it is stable and it provides income and more importantly has definitely been a growing, character-enhancing experience. The people at work make it bearable and somewhat enjoyable, which is a big blessing in the midst of the frustrations of everything else that is happening.

To sum it up - God is good and God provides more than any person deserves. All glory to Him!

Mmmmm....Banana Bread

So, last night I realized that we had some bananas that were really ripe and needed to be eaten. Of course that means banana bread, right? :) Well, I really am trying to watch what I eat so I decided that I would try to find a "healthy" banana bread recipe and try it out. Here is the recipe I tried this afternoon and it was actually really good and moist, so I thought I'd share it.

Ingredients
· 1/3 c. natural applesauce
· 3/4 c. brown sugar
· 3 egg whites
· 2-3 bananas
· 1/3 c. water
· 1 2/3 c. wheat flour
· 1 tsp baking soda
· 1/4 tsp baking powder

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix applesauce and sugar.
3. Stir in eggs then bananas then water.
4. Stir in dry ingredients.
5. Pour mixture into a loaf pan and bake 55-60 minutes or until knife comes out clean.

I did add some chocolate chips, because everything is better with chocolate. :) It would have still been delicious without them, though.

Rejuvenated

This past weekend was just what I needed. I feel rejuvenated. I AM rejuvenated. We had an amazing weekend together and with family and friends! Saturday morning we headed out to Salt Lake to celebrate Mother's Day with my mom. It's always good to see my family. My dad made a yummy breakfast for all of us and the rest of the day we just relaxed and hung out at the house and of course played with my nephew. Then it was off to the Jazz game that night. Even though the outcome wasn't what I wanted, we had a BLAST! It was the most fun I've had at a sporting event. The playoffs bring it to a whole other level.

So, not the best picture of me, but we were having fun at the Jazz game!

My wonderful husband decided that we should stay in Salt Lake for the night rather than driving home afterwards like we usually do on our trips to the city. It was nice not to have to make the long drive back home so late. What was even more amazing is that he didn't even know how much I needed this. It allowed us to go to church out there and see some friends that I hadn't seen in a while.

We ended our weekend with a trip up to the mountains to celebrate Mother's Day with Ryan's family on Sunday afternoon. It was a little chilly, but it was good to get up into the mountains and relax and hang out with more family.

Prior to last weekend I guess without realizing it, I was kind of feeling blah. Last week I was sick ALL week and I've never been that sick for that long. Ugh. And the two weeks prior to that Ryan was out of town for the majority of the time. I missed him tremendously! At times, I also find that I miss my life in Salt Lake, miss my friends, my church, and of course my family. I had come upon one of those times at the same time as feeling sick and not spending much time with my husband. Not a good combination, but thankfully this weekend was perfectly timed and gave me just what I needed!

Thought-ful or Thought-less

If a person is not thoughtful, does that mean they are thoughtless? And are there degrees of thoughfulness and thoughtlessness?

I have been pondering that first question for a few days now, which led to the second question (and subsequently the following questions).

I believe that there are some people who are thoughtless and don't even realize it. As well, there are definitely thoughtless people who know they are and don't care. Would you call them both thoughtless? Or is it that thoughtless and knowing it become selfishness? Are they one and the same?

I decided to look up the definitions in the dictionary:

Thoughtful - adjective - showing consideration for others; considerate
Thoughtless - adjective - lacking in consideration for others; inconsiderate; tactless; devoid of or lacking capacity for thought.

After reading those definitions, I decided to look up the word "thought:"
Thought - noun - the product of mental activity; that which one thinks; a single act or product of thinking

I don't have any answers or conclusions. I just seem to create more questions for myself. I think too much anyway...what does that mean? Doesn't mean I'm thoughtful or thoughtless. Ha! In fact, it has gotten me thinking. Am I a thoughtful or a thoughtless person? Can you be both? I can be thoughtful and not act on it, so does that count? Or is that worse than being thoughtless? I often have good intentions and think of many nice or good things I can do for others, but don't act upon them.

I don't want to be thoughtless. I think that requires actively pursuing being thoughtful. Although some people seem to be thoughtful without having to think about it. Is that something that comes naturally to them? Or does it become more natural the more you do it?

What causes thoughtfulness? Is it love, that deep down, I know how much love and grace has been shown to me through Jesus Christ, type love that inspires thoughtfulness? And is it that sinful, human nature that causes thoughtlessness? Is it complacency? Is it my natural tendency to think only of myself?  I know at least for me it will take effort and not allowing complacency to invade and indeed to be constantly reminded of the grace shown to me to encourage me to be more thoughtful and not to let myself slip into thoughtlessness.

Hmmmm...so many questions and so much to ponder.

Not Fun!

If you're looking for an effective weight loss program, I have stumbled upon it it. It's also a great way of getting out of work. First, get your wisdom teeth pulled. Then about 3 weeks later, get a crazy awful infection in one of the extraction sites. Three weeks later, have oral surgery again to remove whatever was left behind in one of the extraction sites. Then, as if that weren't enough, about a week after that get the stomach flu.

Going on 3 days with the stomach flu so far. Yuck! I'm sick of not feeling well. Sick of not being able to eat. The extra 5+ pounds I've lost, I'm not sure is worth it. And I'd rather be at work believe it or not than feel this way. Not to mention the 60 hours of time off (sick time and vacation time after that ran out) that I've had to take in the last 8 weeks and am now down to zero hours and am taking time off unpaid. Nice! Oh, and since I've used my vacation time it's going to put a damper on our summer vacation plans. (Don't worry Tara, we'll still be able to go to Yellowstone :)). Argh!

Oh, to feel better. And, I honestly don't ever remember having the stomach flu before and I have to say in my experience it is awful! The first two days were dreadful and I'm now just starting to feel well enough to even get on a computer. Guess that means I'm on the upswing and am once again looking forward to joining the world of the living here soon. I would much rather be at work. And I would much rather weigh those extra pounds. Like Ryan said, I've had a good run. Ha! Now, I can't wait for a good run of feeling well the rest of the spring and ALL summer!