Oreo Cupcakes

We celebrated the July birthdays at work, and we decided to go the easy way of having cupcakes and ice cream. I volunteered to make the cupcakes, because of course I would. So I looked at my Pinterest boards, to see what kind of cupcakes I’ve been pinning, and I found a good one – Oreo Cupcakes. I was jazzed to try this new recipe out. When I got home from work, and was checking on my ingredient list, Husband told me an old friend of his was coming for dinner, which meant my time in the kitchen making cupcakes would be shorter, so to compromise, I just used a store bought vanilla cake mix to make my cupcakes, and then I’d make the recipe for frosting the girl gives.

So, I made my cupcakes, which were pretty good looking. I split the Oreos in half, and put one cookie on the bottom of the cupcake paper, and then but the batter in, and then baked it. Here’s what that looked like before I baked them:

Then I started making the frosting. Here’s the frosting recipe the website has:

8 Tbs butter
½ cup shortening
4 cups powdered sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
6 Tbs Oreo cookies, finely crushed

Now, do you see anything missing from this recipe? A wet ingredient, perhaps? I realized that as I was creaming the butter, that she didn’t give any indication of milk to be used. Does she just assume we’d add it ourselves? So, I did some guess work with the milk, adding a few tablespoons here, and then waiting, and so on and so forth. Then I added the crushed Oreos, and since I don’t have a food processor, mine were crushed by hand, and they were not that fine, which I guess is my own fault. Because of the chunks of Oreo cookies, I couldn’t get the frosting to pipe onto the cupcakes, no matter what I tried, so finally, I gave up, and just sort of slabbed the frosting onto the cupcakes, and they looked pretty awful. Here’s what the final product is:

So, I did try the cupcakes at this point, and while they did taste good, I’m so disappointed at how they look. Plus, I accidentally broke one of my frosting tips, trying to finagle the cookies out of there. So while I would make this recipe again, I think that I’d have to find a way to FINELY chop up my cookies.

New Roommate

Yesterday, a new roommate was dropped off at our house. Cookie is a resident at Casa de Vieve for the time being. She was dropped off, looking like this, a little scroungy:

So I knew I had to get her in for a shave and a haircut. (2 Bits) I got her into the dog groomer, and they shaved her all off, gave her a shampoo, and attached a bandana, and then I picked her up. Now, she looks snazzy:

So far, we’ve had no problems, but we’ve been together for less than a day. I’ve had her outside of her cage for most of it, and when I went to my meeting tonight, she knocked over a garbage can, a can of aluminum cans, tried to break into a bag of her bones, but she still looked pretty please for herself. I know I have a long way to go with training, but so far, I think we’ll be ok. We’re besties.

Zip Line

Adam’s Grandmother Jan and sister-in-law Chantelle were going to go zip lining, and we got invited along, so of course I took it. We met nice and early Saturday morning – 8:00. It may not sound that early, but on a Saturday, yes. I didn’t wake up in enough time to run, sadly, but that’s ok. We met, all of us, and then drove up into the canyon. We were getting set up, being put up in our harnesses, and the gal helping us said that we needed to have a parent sign for the girls, since they’re both under 18. We told her the parents were no longer with us, and Chantelle even told her, they passed away 2 months ago. She said that Jan could sign for them, and as we were putting on our harnesses, she asked where our parents really were. We had to awkwardly explain that we were serious, they did pass away just barely. She apologized, then took a phone call and walked away for a minute. When she came back, she asked some questions about them, and then realized who they/we were, and it was weird for a minute, she teared up and everything. Finally, things were ok, and we were about to get going.

This is all of us, waiting to get going. Don’t be jealous of how awesome I look in that helmet. So, we were driven up to the top zipline, where we got to do some practice runs down. It took me a minute to psych myself up to jump off the platform, but finally I did so. We zipped down 5 lines; we went from one platform to the other, and zipped all the way down to the bottom, to where our car was. It was awesome. There was one that you had to take a running start off of and jump, and we had all decided that when we jumped off that one, we’d shout something, just for fun. I had decided to shout “I believe I can fly!” and everyone else was deciding for themselves. Chantelle’s sister, Danielle, was going to shout “For Isengaard!” (Points if you get the reference). When she went to run and jump off, she accidentally grabbed the brake, and shouted “For I-“ and then came to a short stop, and hung there for a second, before she had to be brought back in. I was dying laughing at it, and then finally, we all had jumped off. I was glad I went, even though I was afraid at first, I’m glad I did this. I recommend to everyone that they do this.

Foto Friday

There has been some talk about having a complaint box in our house. Mostly, it’s just done so as a joke, because if there’s something to complain about, we’ll just say it to each other’s face, since there are only 2 of us, so it’s not like it can be left anonymously. But for fun, I decided to make the box anyway.

And I think it turned out pretty cute. I’ll have to keep checking back to see if anyone leaves any complaints in there.

Scouts Build a Fire

For scouts this week, we were finishing up our Outdoorsman badge, so we decided to take the boys up into the canyon, have them (with adult supervision, of course) start a fire, and enjoy some delicious campfire food. So we finally get up there, and get them set up, and finally, they get a fire going. After they all stood around,

Finally, the fire got going. We all cooked ourselves a hot dog, and after those, we made some delicious s ’mores. This is mine, a picture of perfection.

Then one of the boys decided to try and fit three burning marshmallows in his mouth at one time. It didn’t go that well.

But all in all, it was a fun activity, and luckily for all of us, no one got burned, or fell into the river, so I’ll consider it a super success.

Miscellaneous Monday

The table and chairs I have in my dining room are a little different. The table is higher than most tables, and the chairs are just these cute saddle stools, so there’s no back on them. When we bought them, I thought they were awesome, and I was psyched to use it. Cut to now, and really, it’s a pain. It’s a pain to sit at a table and eat sitting at a stool, and they’re not that comfortable to sit on for very long. Finally this weekend, we changed that up. IKEA is always a good place to look for chairs and the like, so we went there in search of either a new table/chair combo, or maybe just some chairs. Luckily, we found some cute chairs that would work with our higher table; they had backs, and would match. We got them home, and I got to work on putting them together. It took me about 2 hours to put together all four, and by the end of it, my hands were sore from putting them together, and I had a small blister forming. I am proud of the work though, and I am loving these chairs.

At church, we have a lot of old people, and some of them are hard of hearing, and we have one full-on deaf person. For this gal, there’s a computer set up every Sunday, and there’s a typist who types so quickly. I’ve sat a few rows behind this computer for the last couple of weeks, and I get so enthralled just reading what gets typed. I stop listening, sometimes, and just read what’s being said. This past week, a fella was talking about an Iron Man soap that his kids just got, and he had a whole story that he was telling, and we were all laughing. When his talk was over, and we were singing a song, I happened to glance over at them, and the deaf gal was asking a question of the typist, and then the typist wrote: “Iron Man is a superhero. The soap just has his picture on it” and I almost died laughing. I guess I just figured that everyone knows who Iron Man is, but this proves, not everyone knows all superheroes.

This evening, we took my sister-in-law out for dinner, and a little shopping. It’s her birthday on Wednesday, and Adam won’t be here, yet again, so we took her out tonight to do some celebrating. The bonus of all of it was, every time we went in a store, and she would find something, if I found something as well, I would just throw it on her pile, and it was like a birthday gift for me too! So I happened to get a skirt, and some lotions, and an air freshening candle out of the deal. Not too bad for some sneaking around.

My Adventure with Biore Strips

I have a secret to tell. I sometimes get zits. I know, I know, you’re probably so shocked you don’t know how to feel, but oh alas, it happens. I only get them in a central location – on my chin, so over the weekend, I decided to try something new to see if it would help. I bought those Biore strips, the kind that people put on their nose, to take away gross business, and I wanted to give it a try, on my chin, to see if it helped. I followed the instructions to a T – I washed my face, I dried it, and then wetted the area the strip would be, and applied it. I left it on my face for 15 minutes, and then ‘gently’ peeled off the strip. I say gently in quotes, because there wasn’t really a gentle way to pull something off your face when it’s STUCK on there. I pulled it off, and a few minutes later, my face started to tingle where it was. I asked Husband if that was normal, because he does the nose strips, and he said it’s never happened to him, so I was a little nervous, but I thought, well, it’s just on a different part of the face, so maybe it’s fine. Then this morning, when I woke up, my chin is having an allergic reaction to this stuff! There are little bumps all over, and it’s sensitive to the touch. It feels weird, and its hurty a little bit, and I just don’t care for this. I was going to take a picture to put on here, but I decided against that level of small humiliation. So, you’ll just have to imagine it. Hopefully the red and bumps die down, and that no one can tell that they’re even there. Myself, now I know, never to use this stuff, and that maybe I’ll just be doomed to having a chin with stuff on it. That’s ok, it’ll give me character!

Nose Bleedin’

I was doing my usual Saturday run this morning, and decided to do an easy 6 miles. When I say ‘easy’, I mean, I was running slowly. For some reason, I was tired this morning, and I didn’t even feel like running, but I went ahead anyway. Why do I do this? I don’t know. I’m going through a running slump right now, I never even want to run lately. I wake up every morning, and just sort of slog to get going, and then I have a lazy run that’s shorter than usual. I know I should probably have some rest days, but I don’t want to have rest days – not with my month of races coming up. Anyway, as I was reaching the three-mile turn around mark, I had to do a snot-rocket. (For those that don’t know, even though you should, a snot-rocket is what you do when you’re running and need to blow your nose. Put your finger on one nostril, and blow as hard as you can through the other, to clear out nasal passageways.) I did this, no problem, like I do every week (yes, I know it’s gross), and kept running. After a few steps, blood started POURING out of my nose, literally pouring out. I stopped running, and started to walk, to try to make it stop. I had no luck. After a few feet, I saw bathroom up ahead on the trail, so I went to it. IT WAS LOCKED! I thought those things had to be unlocked at all times in the summer, but I guess that’s not true. I went to the river and put my hands in it, to wash off some of the blood, and naturally, I stepped into the river, thereby sloshing my shoe, and now I just had a wet foot. I then decided it was time to turn around and go home. I stopped at some sprinklers, to wash off more blood, (it wouldn’t stop!) and I was clean. After walking a little bit on my way back, my nose had stopped, so I decided to try to run again. After another few feet, blood again. It bled for about another mile/mile and a half, with me just walking, trying to stop it. Maybe I should have stopped altogether, and not done anything at all, and not moved until it stopped, but that didn’t really sound appealing to me, I just wanted to get back. Finally, I found a bathroom that was unlocked, and went in. I saw myself in the mirror, with blood literally all over my face and hands. Oh man. No wonder people had looked at me horrifyingly on my walking back. I washed myself off, and by then, the blood had stopped. I walked the rest of the mileage back to my car, and that was that. Luckily, no more blood, and now I’m scared to do a snot rocket, because of this problem. It’s never happened before, but now that it has happened, will it happen again?! Next time I do it (which is a lot of runs) (I know, I’m a monster) I’ll just be paranoid.

UPS Business

Last Friday, when I got home from work, there was a note on the door, saying that UPS had tried to deliver something, but there was no one home, and they’d try again. I haven’t ordered anything in a while, so after double checking with Adam, and he hadn’t either, I had no idea what this was. The note they left said they’d be back Monday between 10 and 2, which of course, I’m at work, so no dice. I signed the piece of paper saying to go ahead and leave it, and that was that. When I got home Monday, there was another piece of paper on the door, saying the exact same thing, and they would be back the next day at the next time. This time, I again signed the paper, and then drew an arrow on the page to it, so that it was double telling them to leave it. And then yesterday, when I got home from work, there was ANOTHER piece of paper on the door, saying they tried again, and that was their final attempt, and if I wanted it, I needed to go pick it up. UGH I was so irritated. A package that I don’t even know what it is? I’m so not interested.

But, when I called the 800 number, they said that the UPS store closest to me was at *blank* location, and closed at 6. Its 5:30 when I get this call, so I jump back in the car, and head over to the UPS place. I get there, and explain that I had signed the dumb paper twice and asked why they didn’t leave it? She said it required a signature…my heck. So I had to wait for her to go find my package, because it was on the truck still, which had just come back in, and after a while, she comes out WITH AN ENVELOPE. At this point, I don’t even care what’s in it, but I am bugged that whoever did this has put me through this crap. I get the envelope, and get home, and open it, and all it is is blank documents for Husband to fill out for insurance purposes. I’m sorry, but couldn’t they have just sent this to his office? I have half a mind to call up this place and yell at them for doing this. Of course, they could care less probably, but still, I was irritated. But finally, UPS will no longer come to my door, and I am done with this dumb dumb package. I wish anybody luck that ever has to go through this type of thing as well.

Toenail Draaaama

My toenails have been getting super long. Probably not that long to a normal person, but when mine get a little longer, they push against my running shoes, and then later in the day, my toes hurt a little, and that’s when I know it’s time to do them again. So I stopped last night on my way home to my nail place, and got them done. My usual people weren’t there, so I had a new guy, and I didn’t really care for him. I don’t know what it was about him, but I just didn’t like him. So he finishes the painting, and I assume he’ll ask if I want a flower, since I’ve had one every single time I’ve gone, and usually they ask. He didn’t though, he just put the top coat on my toes, and that was that. I was about to ask him if I could get a flower, and he started doing the nails of another person, and ignored me. So after a few minutes of them drying, a girl came up, put my shoes on for me, and then rang me up, and I was mad, I wanted my flower. So, I left, and after I’d gone outside, and saw the color in the real light, I hated them. I hated the color, and still wanted my flower, and the nails actually looked like I had done them myself. Which is fine, but if I go through the trouble of getting my nails done professionally, I want it to look like a better job than I could do. Here’s what they looked like:

So I went back inside to have them redone, because I was so bugged by them already. I went in, and all of a sudden, it was the place to be, there were a bunch of girls in there, and the wait was an hour long. I didn’t want to wait an hour, so I just left. I was on the way home, and I spotted a nail place just on my way home. Even though I just got done, I was like, I’m going here to have a polish change, that way, it’s probably only a couple of bucks, and I’ll be glad to not have this color anymore. So I walk in, and I told the gal my situation, and she was willing to help. So, I chose a different color, told her I wanted a flower, and they got to work. I was really pleased with the outcome:

Now, I know what you’re thinking. It was incredibly high maintenance of me to have done this whole thing, but I figure, I see my toes every day, if I’m not pleased with them, then every single time I look at them, I’m just going to be mad at them. So instead of having the anger, I took a little more time, and now I like what I see.

Miscellaneous Monday

I slept in last Friday. Usually, I wake up at 5:15 during the week, get up and go running. Friday, however, I woke up organically (my alarm hadn’t gone off is what I mean by that) and I was like, well if my alarm clock hasn’t gone off, I must still have loads of time to sleep! I hate looking at the clock in the morning, because I hate thinking “Ok, I only have 15 minutes until my alarm goes off” so I usually try not to look. This morning was no exception, I woke up and went back to sleep. When I again woke up a little bit later, I was like, this is great, I still don’t have to wake up! But just out of curiosity, I looked at the clock. The time, naturally, read 6:15. 6:15! I rushed out of bed, and of course, I did that thing that you’re not really sure what to do first, so you like, panic for a few seconds. I decided that even though it was so late, I would try to get a run in. I ran for 10 minutes. At least I ran a little.

Has anyone been to the new Popeye’s yet? It just opened up about a month ago, and I’d wanted to give it a try. Of course, the lines for it have been massive, so I knew to wait a while. Finally, after scout camp on Saturday, I really wanted some, so up we went to it. We got there (it’s like, 9:00 at night, BTW) and the drive thru line was huge, so we decided to go inside. There was practically no line, I was so jazzed. We gave our order, and got our number (86) and then stood around the place. And that’s when I realized...there were a billion people standing around waiting for orders. Then, they called the number of one just finished...53. I immediately regretted our decision. But, we had paid; we had our number, so we just had to wait. We stood, and waited patiently, while we listened to the numbers climb slooooowly up. 64...67...65...then it jumped to 80. I was psyched. Then all of a sudden, it went to 87. 87?! That’s past me! Then, they called me. While I felt bad for the people who were ahead of me who hadn’t been called, I was so glad to get my food. I waited about 40 minutes. And while the food was good, it wasn’t wait-for-45-minutes-good. But now I know what it’s like, so I don’t have to rush back.

I’m all alone this week again, Husband will be out of town. I spoke last week of being alone, and having finished my to-do list, so when I found out he’d be gone again (Friday night, of course, why would I find anything out sooner?) I tried to make myself a to-do list again, even though I finished everything I had already put on there, so I’m trying to put some obscure things on there, like clean/organize my linen closets, etc. I’ll let you know what kind of progress I make.

7Up Chicken

Last weekend, I cleaned out my freezer, and I found a million frozen chicken breasts in the freezer. So last night, when I was trying to figure out what to do for dinner, I decided it was high time to use some of the chicken. I found a recipe in my Pinterest pages that was for a crock pot, because I didn’t have time to defrost them, so I found one for 7Up Chicken. It has only a few ingredients, and it was easy to make.

3 lbs boneless chicken breasts
10.5 oz cream of chicken soup
12 oz can of 7Up or lemon-lime soda
1 cup rice (Minute rice is best)
1/4 cup chicken broth

Place chicken breasts in the bottom of your slow cooker. Whisk together the 7Up and soup, and pour over chicken. Cover and cook for 2-3 hours on low. Add rice and chicken broth, and cook for 2-3 more hours, or until chicken is cooked through.

Now, I cooked it for a little over 2 hours, then I added the rice. I think I only cooked it for 1 more hour, and it was totally done. The recipe didn’t specify if the chicken was supposed to be whole or cut up, so we shredded it, just because. I shredded it, took a bite…

It’s actually kind of delicious! I liked the tangy sweetness of the soda, so I definitely recommend this recipe to people, and it’s actually really easy. Give it a try, don’t be thrown off by the soda.

Scout Camp 2013

Today was, once again, scout camp. We decided to go against the norm, and go on a Saturday, instead of a weekday. We all gathered together, and off we went.

We almost had all of our boys show up, the only one that didn’t is a newish boy, who I’ve only met once. After arrival, I registered the boys, then we did the opening flag ceremony, and then split into the groups that they’d put us in. First we did some rockets:

Which were fun, but as a leader, it is so boring to just sit there for 40 minutes, doing nothing but watch the kids do stuff. Then we went to the geology booth which was SO BORING so I was just counting the minutes until it was over. We moved onto archery, where it began to rain pretty heavily. The other leader and I took refuge under a tree to stay dry. Luckily, it stopped raining right as we were finishing up. After a lunch/dinner, we went into the boats, and this year, they let us leaders get into the boats, there weren’t enough kids.

I didn’t care for the boats, everyone was splashing each other, and I hate to get wet, so I was irritated by it all. After we did the boats, it was time for BB guns, and again, we leaders got to participate. I am going to say I shot well, even though in real life, I only hit the target like, 5 times, out of probably 6 million BBs. Finally, the day was over, and after the final flag ceremony, we were off.

All in all, a better camp than last year, and at least this time, we had a group of boys instead of just a couple that showed up that were tiny jerks. Ok, maybe they weren’t jerks, but I didn’t care for their attitudes. Anyway, the camp is over, and unless I lose my calling, I have a whole year until I’m back!

Foto Friday

I’ve been alone all week, Adam is out of town yet again. I made myself a big to-do list, and by Wednesday night, I finished it all, dang it. So Thursday, I didn’t really have anything to do. I did a few small things, then my brother-in-law and his wife came over to pick something up from us. As we were waiting, we decided to play a quick game of Shrek Super Party (seriously one of the best games ever made) and after we were done, as I was putting stuff away, I decided to take a pic of my friend Inspector playing the game, and sent it to Adam, telling him that I had spent my evening just hanging out with the Inspector, playing games and doing whatever. The pic really makes me laugh, even though it makes me look like I am a loon.

I still laugh when I see this, hopefully people won’t think I’m too crazy.

Baby Cards

This time for card club, we were to make baby cards, 2 of them, one boy, one girl. For some reason, the boy one was really easy for me to finish, maybe I had it in my head already, and it was easy to translate to paper. Behold:

The girl card, I had some trouble with. At first, it was too plain, then it was too pink, and then finally, this is what I ended up with. It could probably be better, but I think it ended up being ok.

And there they are. Card swap is coming up soon, and I can’t wait to see what everyone else has come up with.

Miscellaneous Monday

I got some Chinese food on Saturday night, and this was my fortune:

I really liked this. I hope to make someone happy this week.

I don’t know what’s been going on lately, but this weather is a trip. Here we are, in one of the hottest months of our summer, and we keep having these freak rainstorms/thunderstorms. Why? Where is it coming from? A theory of mine is that we shoot so many fireworks up in the sky that the sky is retaliating back against us. Sort of revenge for shooting fire up at it, it shoots rain down on us. Another theory is that everyone had the long weekend off for the holiday, so it’s a sort of karma for some of those people. Thanks for ruining it for all of us, bad people.

I recently watched the movie White House Down, and I’m currently making my way through Olympus Has Fallen, 2 movies about literally the same thing. As I’ve watching these, I can’t help but wonder, is it really that easy to break into the White House and steal the president/kill a lot of people? All of my life, I’ve believed it’s an impenetrable place, but these movies would have me believe that it’s easier to get in there than it is to break into the RSL stadium. I hope they’re making it look easier for movies sake, because if it is that easy...I think we’re all in a lot of trouble. Stay safe, everyone.

Lost in Scofield

Today, I went to Scofield, I was going to meet the author of a book I like, My Loving Vigil Keeping, Carla Kelly. Unfortunately, things didn’t go well, and I didn’t end up getting to meet her. I went with PJ, she had set the visit up through her boss, but when we got there, we couldn’t find the building we were supposed to be meeting them. After driving around, and getting lost, and ending up in Camp Mia Shalom, then down the canyon into Fairfield, we gave up, being an hour late, and having zero idea how to get to where we were supposed to be, we gave up and went home. Alas.

When we were in Scofield, we arrived about a half an hour early for our meeting time. Since we hadn’t had breakfast yet and had time to kill, we stopped at the town’s festival, and partook of their breakfast. This is the meal I got for 7 dollars:

Quite a bit of food, actually, I couldn’t even finish it all, but it was all delicious.

After we found our way out of the canyon, and were about to get back onto the highway and make it home, we passed an ice cream place that had just opened minutes before. Of course, being 11 in the morning, it’s a perfect time for ice cream. I was kind of jazzed, because I love to try local ice cream places everywhere I go. I get in there, take a look at the selection and realize...its all BYU creamery ice cream. Miles from home, and I’m eating ice cream that I can get 2 minutes from my house. It was still delicious.

Foto Friday

I wanted some good old-fashioned Taco Bell tacos today. I can’t even explain it, but sometimes, I just want a crappy taco that tastes delicious and is nothing like Mexican food. As I was eating, I was reading the hot sauce packets that came with it. I came upon this one:

This one struck me as being something a rapist would say. And maybe Taco Bell doesn’t think it’s weird, but man, I think it’s a weird one. Be careful of Taco Bell attackers, guys.

Freedom Run 2013

When I woke up this morning, the weather was kind of wacky. It was super windy, and actually kind of raining! I was so surprised by that, since the weather has been so hot this week. I got ready, and snapped a pic.

I was glad, the tutu really worked out, it wasn’t uncomfortable or anything. PJ ran it with me, and as we were on our way there, she realized she had forgotten her running watch. So…we had to go to her house to pick it up. We arrived to the race right as it was starting, but I still had to put on my timing chip and race number, so we started late, actually, we were some of the last people to cross the start line, but that’s fine, it’s done by a timing chip, so it’s ok.

The race was so warm and humid, so by the time it ended I was covered in sweat, and I was ready for some water. I snagged a bottle of water, and picked up my fancy medal

Huzzah! I really like this race, because you get a medal for just finishing the race, and that’s worth every penny of the race price. Sadly, they ran out of the fancy water bottles, so I didn’t get one of those. That’s ok, maybe next year!

Fireworks Preview

Yesterday was apparently Canada Day. I didn’t know this until today, and tonight, Husband’s relatives came over with a ton of fireworks in tow. We waited a bit for it to get dark outside, then started to light them all. They all sang the Canadian national anthem (which, I only know the first two words, ‘Oh Canada’, and then I’m out), and I just sat back, watched stuff, and ate. Some of the fireworks they lit launched up in the air, and came towards us at the house, so of course, I was like, oh good, the house is going to burn down. Luckily it didn’t! But finally, when we got to the end, there was a HUGE box of a firework, I don’t even remember the name of it or anything. The firework was lit, and it went on for a few glorious minutes, until it was done…but the box caught on fire. We watched for about a minute, until we all realized the box wasn’t going to put itself out. So, Husband grabbed the bucket of water, and ran towards it

and it went out! And no one was hurt.That in itself, is a victory of the night.

Miscellaneous Monday

Yesterday, I skipped my regular church, and went to my parents’ ward. They were both speaking in their ward, and did fabulous jobs, of course. My mom brought her German Book of Mormon, instead of an English one, so at some point, when she started reading from it, and I couldn’t understand her I was like, am I the only one who can’t get this? But then we learned why. Whenever my dad speaks, I give him 3 sentences that I want to work into his speech. This time, I gave him “honor the allegiance”, “like a fox in a henhouse” and “burdened with a glorious purpose”. Every time he said one, I giggled like crazy, which I know isn’t very churchlike, but you gotta lighten the mood somehow.

The other day, my scouts finished their Athlete badge, which required us all to be outside for the (VERY HOT) evening. They did pull ups, pushups, sit ups, had a foot race, a bike race, and a vertical jump. After one boy did 2 pull ups, his nose started to gush blood, and by the end of the activity, they were all soaking with sweat, and exhausted. On one hand I felt bad for making them do it in the heat, and on the other, I was glad that we at least got to be outside. So many of the scout badges are indoor boring activities, and this was a good one to get us all outdoors and moving around, even though it was a million degrees.

I don’t know if everyone else’s oven mitts get like this, but all throughout my life, my oven mitts always start out so clean, but then after a little, while they start to look gross. Like this:

These are what my mitts looked like, and finally I was like, ok, I need to get new ones. So I went to the store, perused all the options, and bought…the exact same ones, just in a different color. I’m such a rebel! But I’m excited to use new ones that won’t be gross and make me hate them a little. Until these new ones get to be like that…shoot.