Eating Well

Although I don't always have time to cook nice meals, every once in a while I like to try new things off of pinterest.  (My future husband better be thankful for pinterest, because I am learning some awesome recipes.  The other night I made some super yummy pretzel bites that were really easy to make.

 This is a link to the recipe, but in essence, here is what you do:

1.) Thaw desired amount of Texas size Rodes Rolls (eat makes 4 pretzel bites)

2.) Cut into four pieces and set on cookie sheet

3.) Let rise until doubled in size (I left them in a warm oven so they'd speed up)

4.)Boil a pot of water and add a couple spoonfulls of baking soda (this is what makes them pretzel-like)

5.) Drop them into the water and let them boil for 45-60 seconds

6.) Remove from water using a slotted spoon and place on paper towels to drain.

7.) Place on well greased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes.

8.) Butter and salt them and then roll them in either parmesan cheese or cinnamon sugar. 

Enjoy!  

It was my Mom's idea to start up a family recipe blog, so this week I made one.  For lots of yummy Thatcher Family recipes check it out here or click on the cute little link on the side of my page.

7 Questions: Part 4

7 Questions!!
Since I seemed to miss the memo on posting a crazy picture at the beginning of every post here is one from girl's camp several years back.  This is what happens when you already have curly hair that is thick and you leave it in cornrows for a week!

1. What is your favorite color TO WEAR?
I have two favorite colors to wear: black and yellow (not together)  I like black (not because I'm goth or anything) because I feel like it is very classy and it gives a slimming appearance.  I also like to wear yellow because it is a happy color and everyone always says I look good in it.  Come to think of it, the two outfits that I wore for my seniors pictures were black and yellow.

2. You are given the choice between visiting every country and landing on the moon. Which would you choose?
Visiting every country.  The moon would be cool, but I feel like there wouldn't be a lot to do once you got there.  I have friends all over the world that would be fun to visit, and I would just love the experience of traveling all over the world.  Here is a map of all the different places where I have friends.

3. What's your favorite animal and why?
I would have to go with squirrels which is weird because before this summer I hated them.  After living in the woods at camp all summer though, I learned to love them.  I think it is really cool how fast they are and how they can jump from tree to tree.  Plus, they're pretty cute too.

4. You are forced to do one of the following, which would you choose? Sky dive, scuba dive, or this:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B36Lr0Unp4
I was already planning on going sky diving, but I would definitely do the Word's Largest Rope swing!  Since it is in Utah I even looked it up so I could go do it, but it turns out that it was just something some friends did together.  We have a giant swing at the ropes course I work at for camp which is pretty awesome, although not quite as cool.  I took my camera up to the top with me one time, and took this video. 

Another awesome thing that I would love to do some time is go on the Word's Largest swing in New Zealand 

5. You are given the chance to go back in time. Which era would you visit?
I really like the time period I am living with, so I don't know I would choose to visit another one.  I guess if I did, it would be cool to go back to the 60's.  Not necessarily so that I could visit that time period, but so that I could meet my Grandpa who died before I was born.

6. If you had the power to remove one thing (ie: flies, mosquitos, junk food) from the earth for good- what would it be?  Definitely mosquitos.  They are just another one of those things that came with living in the woods.  Especially since I was in New Jersey and it was super humid there.  I can deal with flies because they don't bite you and make you itch, but mosquitos...

7. What is one thing you've learned from Pinterest that made you think "GENIUS"!
In general I have loved Pinterest for their recipes and craft Ideas, but the thing that I have thought is the coolest is the marbled nail technique that I talked about here on my blog a while ago.

Rock Climbing

Ever since I climbed a rock wall at my first year of girl's camp, I have absolutely loved it! I think that rock climbing is actually one of the things that helped me get over the fear of heights that I had when I was little.  This summer belaying the rock wall was part of what I did all summer at camp, and I loved it.  Here is a picture of Me, Sam (left), and Brent (right) belaying the wall at camp just as we did every morning.

 This is one of my favorite pictures of me on the rock wall.

Since being in Utah, I haven't really had an opportunity to go climbing, but tonight I planned for our FHE group to go together to the local climbing gym, and it was a blast!

 I love the mental and physical challenge that rock climbing brings, and I love that there are so many twists you can add.  Some of my favorite things to do with a simple climbing wall are to climb blindfolded  or climb without using certain body parts (only one hand one foot ect...)  Anyways tonight was a blast, but I am super beat and am expecting to be  really sore tomorrow, but hey where there's not pain, there's no gain!

Festival of Colors!

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, but I have been super busy just living the college life.  On Friday night I went to my friend Charlotte's oboe recital, then I went to our church's temple, and then I had a late night movie night with some friends that ended up lasting pretty darn late.  Saturday morning I went with Charlotte to see the Hunger Games with Charlotte (which was amazing!) and then I went to Festival of Colors with my FHE group.  For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a Hindu celebration of spring. The largest Festivals of Color held in the in the Western Hemisphere just happens to be held in Spanish Fork, UT so we decided to go.  Here is a fun little video that pretty much explains what happens.

Since there was a lot of traffic, the drive to Spanish Fork took about an hour and then we had to park about 2 miles away from the Krishna Temple (where the festival is held) so it took another twenty minutes or so to walk (the streets and sidewalks were way crowded.)  Just on the way walking there, we passed people who were on their way home and random people started throwing colors at us. Here is what we looked like before we left Provo.

And just on the walk over this happened to us ↓

By the time we had spent 15 minutes inside the festival we already looked like this ↓

From then on, it was just madness, and random people would throw colors at you wherever or whenever they felt like it.  Here are some more pictures of the general madness.

(in the middle of taking this picture, some dude decided to throw a whole bag of purple into our faces which is why we're squinting)

At 7:00 everyone counted down from 10 and the whole crowd threw their colors up in the air at the same time.  It was really cool until the colors all mixed and turned into such a thick brown cloud that you couldn't see a foot in front of your face (which is why we wore the bandannas).  Here is a picture I found online of the throwing. ( And yep we were smack in the middle of that huge crowd)

 I got some pretty cool pictures (although most of the time my camera stayed safely guarded in a plastic bag.) Here are my favorites of the ones I took.

 By the time we got back into Provo that night, it was around 9 and we went to grab some food at J Dawgs.  Afterwards we decided that we should all just do one huge load of laundry with all of our colored clothes, so we did, and while we waited we decided to play basketball.  This ended up once again turning into another really late but really fun night.  If I had to pick a quote that fit the theme of this weekend (including tonight) it would have to be this one

“No One Looks Back On Their Life And Remembers The Nights They Got Plenty Of Sleep.”

I sure didn't get very much sleep this weekend, but I will definitely always remember it.

Friendship in a Bottle

So I'd have to say I have some pretty amazing neighbors.  I recently made my neighbor Alyssa a friendship bracelet, and last night she brought me over a gift.  It was so cute that I thought I would share it here.

Isn't it such a cute idea!  She hand painted the bottle for me and then wrote me a letter, rolled it up, and put it inside.  Its a great idea because it is a work of art and has a special meaning.  I was thinking this would be a fun craft to do with my summer camp kids.  All you'd really need are some bottles (Alyssa just used cream soda ones), paint, and paper, and the kids would all have a neat memory from camp.  We did something similar called buddy bags last summer, but I think this is cooler.  I am just so grateful to have such great neighbors and friends! (and creative ones too!)  Who said friendship can't be bottled?!

7 Questions Get to Know You: Part 3

It's time for another 7 question get to know you!  This time I decided to include fun pictures with each answer :)

1. You're given the choice between a life with love and trials or loneliness and ease. Pick one.

That's not really even a question- life with love and trials.  No matter the what hard trials we are going through, it is our friends, family, and the love that we have for them that brings us through them.  Plus, without trials, life wouldn't be nearly as interesting.

2. Would you rather live in Narnia, Hogwarts, Middle Earth, or Neverland?
Hogwarts. Hands down.  I've always fantasized about going to Hogwarts.  I absolutely love Harry Potter (and British people in general), I think castles are amazing, and I think it would be cool to live in a world with magic :)

3. Think of your dream home... what style is it?
Hmmm I've always really loved architecture, so this is tough... I even used to spend hours when I was little designing houses on The Sims.  I'd probably have to go with the French Provincial Style.

4. What's currently your favorite song or album?
Dang, another hard one...  As far as whole albums go, I'd have to say Lady Antebellum's "Own the Night" (especially after seeing their concert.)  I have so many favorite songs that I can't really choose one that is my favorite, but right now I really like "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri.

5. Who was the last person you hugged?

A girl named Hailey at work (not my roommate Hayley.)  This Hailey is one of the disabled workers that works there (I'm not sure if she has Down Syndrome or Autism or what).  She is honestly one of the sweetest people though, and I love her!  Today she was upset about how some other workers were laughing at her so she came over and gave me a hug and thanked me for being so kind to her and not making fun of her.

6. You have a ticket in your hand, where is it going to take you?
London!  Like I've said before, I have some amazing friends who are from England and I'd love to get a chance to go visit them :)  My Aunt also lives there and it would be cool to see her also.  It is my goal to travel Europe after I graduate college, and I will probably start with London :)

7. Who is one blogger you KNOW you'd be BFF's with in real life?
Well I don't really know many bloggers, but I am BFF's with this blogger in real life :)

Hope you enjoyed!

Finger Paint!

Tonight for FHE, our group decided it would be fun to finger paint!  We started by making a poster for one of our member's birthdays, and then I had the great idea of making a family portrait.  We all drew another member's name from a bowl and painted them.  Here is how it turned out.

It was a lot of fun and turned out pretty cool.  Before we knew it though, the paint was going places besides the paper...

In the end, we all ended up getting a little paint on our faces and ended the night with a group picture.

It was a pretty awesome night and we proved that you're never really to old to finger paint!

Hilary Weeks

I am really excited for this weekend because Hilary Weeks (my favorite church singer) is coming to BYU!  I've listened to her music as long as I can remember.  Her songs are so inspirational and she is a great musician as well. Today I was looking up her songs on youtube and found a great music video that she did.  It is really a touching video, so you should take the time to watch it, you won't forget it.

 Out of her albums as a whole, "If I Only Had Today"  is probably my favorite.  My favorite song of her's however is "He'll Carry You"

I love the lyrics and the message of this song, and particular I love the first verse and chorus:

"He knows your heart
He knows your pain
He knows the strength it took just too simply breathe today 
He sees the tears that you cry
He knows your soul is aching to know why 
He hears your prayers each humble word
When you said you couldn’t face another day he understood 
He knows the path that you will find
Though you felt alone he’s never left your side

Chorus:
He knew there’d be moments when no earthly words
Could take away your sorrow 
And no human eyes could see what you’re going through 
When you’ve taken your last step and done all that you can do 
He will lift your heavy load and carry you "

When I wake up knowing that it is going to be a hard day, I try to remember this song.  Sometimes it truly feels like "no human eyes could see what you're going through"  but I've learned that by having faith and relying on Christ, He really can "lift your heavy load and carry you."

Vegetables

Like most little kids, when I was growing up I wasn't a huge fan of vegetables.  I liked salad and raw carrots, and that was about it.  As I grew older I started liking a few more things like green beans and squash.  Ever since I started my job as a cook at the BYU Cannon Center, I have loved vegetables!  It is probably because I am the person that prepares most of the vegetables that we serve.  One thing that I especially hated when I was  little but have turned a 360 to love are cooked carrots.  Lately I just can't get enough of them (just ask my roommates.) My favorite way to prepare them is to steam them and then add some salt, pepper, butter, and brown sugar.  Don't they just make your mouth water?

Another one of my favorite vegetable to cook at work are asparagus.  I like to slightly steam them first and then put them on the grill/skillet with butter and then salt and pepper them.  

A new vegetable that I've tried at work is bok choy.  Not many people know what it is, but it is a really good type of chinese cabbage.  We usually oven roast it with just some salt and pepper and serve it with some teriyaki flank steak.

Today I went grocery shopping and scored great in the produce section.  I bought fresh carrots, avocados, pears, and red potatoes, and they were all on sale! I guess out of all the things I could have a sudden addiction to, vegetables are a pretty good thing :)

Another Get to Know You

Sorry for the lack of posting this week, it has been quite a busy week.  My Lauren posted another one of these questionnaires so I decided to once again follow her lead.

1. Pick a boyfriend: Edward Cullen, Peeta Mellark, or Harry Potter 

I'm going to have to go with Peeta.  I would go with Harry Potter because being married to someone with magic would be awesome, but I've honestly never liked Harry's personality. (Yes once again I admit I am a Harry Potter geek)  He's just too whiny sometimes, plus Peeta is just so sweet.

2. If you HAD to have a crazy hairdo, what hairdo would you choose and why? (mohawk, mullet, etc)

I would probably dye my hair some crazy color like purple.  This summer my coworkers actually convinced me to do this, although only a small strip of hair.  I actually really ended up liking it, but "extreme" hair is not allowed at BYU so I had to let it grow out.  Here's a picture of my a couple days after dying my hair.  (I kinda have a weird look on my face in this picture but it's the best one I have of my hair so oh well.)

My brother on the other hand has pulled off the mohawk look.  His whole football team did it for their big rivalry game.

3. If you could be a celebrity what would you like to be celebrated for? (Dance, Singing, Acting, Reality TV [ie no reason], Political Leader, etc) 

I would like to be celebrated for being an inspirational speaker.  I love listening to inspirational speakers and talks.  I feel like there have been certain talks that have greatly influenced my life and I want to be able to help influence and change others lives as well.

4. Be honest- do you brush and floss your teeth daily? 

Nope. Never really been a flosser, but I've also never had cavities so I'm safe so far (know on wood)

5. What is one fear you are working to overcome? 

As I said in one of my previous post, ski lifts really scare me.  I should be working to overcome that soon though because I will be going snowboarding for the first time hopefully next weekend!

6. White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, Dark Chocolate, or Semi-Sweet (isn't that just dark chocolate)?? 

Milk Chocolate by far!  White chocolate is pretty good too, but I just loooooove milk chocolate.  Especially German or Swiss chocolate :)

7. What is one trend you wish you could pull off?  

Cute ruffly blouses and things like Lauren wears.  I swear she is always so cute looking.  I just enjoy my comfortable sweats and tee shirts.

Science

This semester I am taking physical science online and due to a little (okay well maybe a lot) of procrastination I have been doing a ton of physical science reading/ work in the past couple days.  Don't get me wrong, I understand how important science is, and I totally respect all the dudes that took the time to figure all that stuff out, but it's not really my thing.  I can understand things like Newton's laws pretty well because they are things that I can see and they have everyday applications.

Right now we are studying molecular structures and things like that, and when the textbook starts talking about universal entropy, sometimes I feel like someone just made all this stuff up.  This video gives me a good laugh because it pokes fun at science.  Even though it's kinda long, take the time to watch the whole thing. It's worth it!

There is a whole series of these videos (the brain one is pretty good too) and believe it or not, they were made sometime in the 2000's.  It is just a BBC program that is meant to mock 60's and 70's science shows.  I think they do a pretty good job at it.  Who knows, maybe one day all of the scientific things that we hold to be true now will one day seem as ridiculous as this video!

Yoga

Today was a pretty stressful and busy day, so I decided to wind down with some yoga.  I have a breathing condition called hypocapnia that causes widespread pain and a general sick feeling when I have a flare up, and I've found that yoga is one of the things that really helps, and even when I'm not feeling sick, it just feels good.  Yoga in fact has many all around health benefits. According to the Mayo Clinic:

"The potential health benefits of yoga are numerous and may include:

• Stress reduction. With its quiet, precise movements, yoga draws your focus away from your busy, chaotic day and toward calm as you move your body through poses that require balance and concentration.
• Increased fitness. As you learn and refine new poses, you may enjoy improved balance, flexibility, range of motion and strength. And this means you're less likely to injure yourself in other physical endeavors or in your daily activities.
• Management of chronic health conditions. Yoga might help with a variety of health conditions, such as cancer, depression, pain, anxiety and insomnia, by helping with sleep problems, fatigue and mood. Yoga also can help reduce heart rate and blood pressure.
• Weight loss. If you're overweight or have binge-eating disorder, yoga may help you make the healthy lifestyle changes necessary to gain control of your eating and drop those extra pounds.

While you shouldn't expect yoga to cure you or offer 100 percent relief, it can help some health conditions when combined with standard treatment. And if you already enjoy good health, yoga can be an enjoyable supplement to your regular fitness routine."  

You don't to have to be a pro or go to any special classes.  I just have a DVD from Walmart that works fine, and I'm sure that there are plenty of videos on youtube.  The many thing is just to give it a try!

This One's for You Mom

So I have to say I have a pretty amazing Mom.  Not only that, but she is the best mom in the word.  I mean come on, she had to put up with me for 18 years!  She is so loving and patient and I can telling that she genuinely cares about people.

Here we are at the beach in North Carolina which is where she is from.

This is a picture that I had not seen until recently, but I absolutely love!  This was for a nativity where I was baby Jesus and my Mom was Mary.  I think she is sooo beautiful in this picture.

 I know things haven't always been easy for her, especially because her dad passed away when she was a teenager.  I can't imagine having a parent pass away so young, and I am so lucky to have both of my parents.  My mom is such a strong beautiful woman, and I aspire to be like her one day. I love you mom <3

A Little Get to Know You in 7 Questions

My roommate Lauren did a little get to  know you on her blog with these seven questions, so I have decided to follow suit.  


1. If you could only eat savory or sweet things for the rest of your life, which would you choose- and why?

I'd have to go with sweet, I'm a sucker for sweet things.  I work at the Cannon Center at BYU (which is an on campus dining place) and I never pass up the chance to walk by the dessert station.  I love baking and couldn't imagine not being able to eat delicious sweet things.

2. Would you rather live in the ocean (underwater), in the sky (on a cloud), or in space?

I would love to live on a cloud! I've had a fascination with them ever since I was a kid and have always wanted to just reach out and touch one.  I also just love the sky in general and love just watching it whether it is sunrise, sunset, or the starts are out.  The ocean is pretty cool, but I'm not a huge fan of swimming, and sharks freak me out a little bit.

3. Desert, Mountains, Plains, or Tropics?

I would have to say mountains.  I love having mountains all around and being able to see how beautiful they are.  I also love rock climbing, which is something mountains provide a great opportunity for.  Here is the view from the side of a mountain in New Jersey that I rock climbed this summer.

4. Would you rather live with chronic pain or the worst pain you can imagine for 24 hours?

I'd take the worst pain for 24 hours and just get it over with.  A variety of things have caused me to live in pain (although I am doing much better than I used to be,) so I know what chronic pain feels like, and I would much rather just endure one day of the worst pain.

5. If you had to repeat one of these again, which would it be? Preschool, Elementary, Jr High/ Middle School, High School, College.

To tell you the truth, I'd rather not repeat any of them.  I like to just keep moving from one stage of life to the next without dwelling on the past.  I guess I am kinda going back to elementary school though since I am majoring in Elementary Education.

6. Tribal, Floral, Stripes, or Polka Dots?

Stripes.  I just like them.  Plus my man sweater is striped :)

7. Are you right handed or left handed?

Right handed, and I don't mind it :) I feel like so many things are made for right handed people that it would be hard to be a lefty.

Well there you have it!  7 questions later, you know me a little better!

Best of the British

This summer I had the opportunity of working with people from all around the world and in particular I became really good friends with two British chaps: Sam and David.  Today in fact, is David's (and our other friend Sandy's) birthday.

(David on the left and Sam on the right)

While working with them this summer I learned several things about British people.


1. They love their tea and are VERY serious about it.
2. They think Americans do a terrible impersonation of a British accent.
3. The guys wear what Americans would call Man-Capris
4. They pronounce Aluminum "Al-oo-min-ium" and Zebra with a short e sound
5.  They get very angry when Americans ask them to pronounce said words ↑
6. They life to pretend to be charming ↓

7. They make very good Harry Potters ↓ and are the perfect people to watch the Harry Potter movies with

8. They often sign their text messages with one or often multiple x's which is not meant to be flirty (usually ha ha)

9. They use cool words like "ace"-awesome or cool, and "lad"-someone very manly and tough

10.  They are all around pretty cool people with awesome accents

For some funny comparisons between British and American slang, check out this video of Hugh Laurie on Ellen.

Cinnamon Challenge

So tonight I convinced my roomate Hayley (although it actually barely took any convincing at all) to do the Cinnamon Challenge with me.  For those of you who don't know what that is, it is a challenge where you have to swallow a tablespoon of pure cinnamon.  Sounds easy enough right?  Well just ask anyone who has tried it, and they will tell you how hard it is.  The cinnamon completely dries out your mouth (and I mean completely!) and it has an awful taste.  I had successfully done it over the summer with some co-workers, but I decided to give it a try with Hayley again.  Here is Hayley's attempt. (sorry but for some reason I cannot get the video to rotate)

 Poor Hayley!  She started coughing and then threw up two times!  She said the had the taste and smell of cinnamon with her even the next day!  Here is my attempt at the challenge.

I felt that it was much harder this time.  I guess the cinnamon was not as old as the kind I used over the summer.  Pretty stupid thing to do I guess, but I'm the kind of person that will never back down to a challenge.  If you really want to get a good laugh at someone doing the cinnamon challenge check out this one-

So if you have the guts, then try this.  Better yet, convince some unsuspecting soul to try it and then catch their reaction on video!

Vintage Suitcases and a Photo Shoot!

This weekend my roommates and I decided to venture into the wonderful world of DI (a local thrift store).  During our trip we found some awesome vintage suitcases for super cheap! (the one I bought only cost $2.50) We are planing on refurbishing these suitcases to make them super cute, but in the mean time, we decided to do a photo shoot with them.  It was such a nice day (all the way up in the 50's,) so we decided to go out after church to do the photo shoot outside.  While outside, our neighbors Mary and Sara joined us to help take some pictures, so they jumped in a few too.  Here are some of my favorites.

What can I say? I have gorgeous roommates, and we have a lot of fun together.  Who knew buying a couple  old suitcases from a thrift store would turn out to be so much fun!