Sabbath Slumber

Sunday naps are inevitable...

Regardless of how much sleep I get the night before or how energetic I feel as we leave church, the moment I walk through our apartment door I am immediately stuck with exhaustion. 

I manage to find my way to the bed (sometimes only making it as far as the couch) and slip into, what I like to call-

'The Sunday Coma'.

As Jared would surly tell you, there's no waking me up. 

He can jump on the bed next to me, 

shake me around, bang things around loudly- 

I'm out. 

I'll beg for five more minutes, only to wake up an hour (or more) later.

Why am I plagued with this uninvited Sunday fatigue?! 

Sunday, being only one of two days Jared and I are able to actually eat dinner together and I can’t keep my eyes open.

For those of you out there who have experienced 'The Sunday Coma', know that once you've fallen into the deep sleep that somehow is only attainable Sunday afternoons (for a reason unknown to me) it's hard to be fully awake even after being woken. 

Basically, what I'm saying is after this impending nap the rest of the day is unavoidably lazy.

Butter Betrayal

The other day I was so busy that I just didn’t have time to make it to Costco although we badly needed our weekly staples from this Whole Sale food (more like everything) store.

Jared gracefully volunteered to go to Costco that night while I was a work and get the things I’d written down on the list.. Of course I didn’t object. 

As much as I truly love Costco and all the wonders that it brings, I literally get overwhelmed going there. 

There is so much to look at, so many isles and SO many people…

On my list were just a couple things (as we only have ourselves to shop for). Vitamin Zero water, Greek Yogurt, Dried Fruit and butter.

Who knew the simplest thing on that list would soon become the most complicated.

I supposed I need to back track a little for any of this story to make sense..

A few weeks ago Jared made a visit to the student health center doctor for the wrist he’d injured months ago while playing racquet ball.

He called me immediately after the appointment worried after he’d realized (during said doctor’s appointment) that his blood pressure was a little too high-basically he had a slight case of hyper-tension.

The following days we checked his blood pressure several times (a day) and it was still borderline hyper-tension. 

Jared worried about his salt intake and refused to add butter to anything he ate. In order to make him feel better I

{may or may not have}

told him the butter in the butter dish wasn't salted…

Which, yes, I know now that wasn’t exactly true, but I knew a little salted butter wouldn’t have too much of an impact on his blood pressure.

Plus, everyone knows a baked potato is not complete without some butter.

Well, little did I know, this little white lie would backfire on me immensely...

Back to Jared’s Costco shopping trip…

As he made his way through the store collecting the items on the list, he made his way to the butter isle.

Several hours later I checked my phone to see this text from Jared.

“The butter only comes in 4lb blocks, should I still get some?”

Well, by this time it was too late to respond. And I’d already received another text letting me know he got the butter and the shopping trip was a success.

When I arrived home that night I opened the fridge to find to my great surprise…there, on the first shelf, four pounds of UNSALTED BUTTER.

That’s right…

UNSALTED.BUTTER

My little white lie had come to bite me from behind..

I began laughing and had to explain myself to him. I was caught. And we now have four lbs of unsalted butter.

Have you ever tried butter unsalted?

GROSS!

Moral of the story….. Don’t lie to your husband about food.

Fat Saturday

Saturday was a milestone for Jared and me.. Six whole months together. We started the day off with a healthy bike ride that, due to the cold weather, ended too soon. We got home and decided to treat ourselves to an anniversary lunch. Right away we agreed on BJ's. How could I turn down an opportunity to enjoy their delicious gluten free pizza? It's probably the best thing I've ever had in my life... Maybe..

Now, I'll tell you why we call this day Fat Saturday.

Jared too, ordered a pizza- we both ate out entire pizzas! It was so yummy I didn't even realize I'd eaten the whole thing when suddenly, I noticed my plate was empty and I felt like there was a brick in my stomach.

To finish the night off we went to the temple with Jared's family. It is always such perfection- I don't know how else to describe the feeling. I enjoy the temple more every time we go. I am so filled with the spirit, it's such a remarkable feeling.

Then to top off our Fat Saturday, when Jared's parents suggested dinner we said "yes", despite our guts still full of pizza.

I can't imagine a more perfect end to the night then spending it with my adorable niece and nephew and my in-laws (I really do think I have the best in-laws a girl could ask for).

We arrived at Black Bear Diner around nine o'clock. Just in time to finish Fat Saturday. I wanted something small since I wasn't very hungry, so I ordered an omelet. Jared, on the other hand, was suddenly overcome with hunger and ordered the Bearpaw size (for those of you who have never indulged in Black Bear Diner, 'Bearpaw' means large). 

Our food arrived quickly, and I soon found out the 'small meal' I thought I'd ordered was huge. I only made it through half my omelet. Jared ate his entire Chicken-Fried-Steak. It was so much food, it probably would have been enough for the entire family. We strolled out of there around ten with Natalie awake as ever enthralled with the bubbles on the jukebox and Doug like a sack of potatoes, sleeping over his Dads shoulder.

I couldn't ask for a more perfect Saturday.... Fat Saturday, that is..

Spice Up Your Life

My Granny always told me that if you ever borrow Tupperware from someone, you should always return it with something in it… So I have tried to keep that tradition going now that I have a kitchen to call my own.

 This morning, my last day off before I have to go back to work, I sat at home wondering what I should do. I quickly decided laying around would be a huge waste and I was sure I would later regret that decision.

As I made my way into the kitchen I saw a small Tupperware that I immediately remembered belonged to my Dad. It must have been hiding in a cupboard somewhere for at least a month. It was just the inspiration I needed.  I rummaged through my cupboards and found a few ingredients to lead me to my next inspiration... Pumpkin Spice Muffins (gluten free, sugar free- of course).

There is nothing like this delicious, moist muffin. Why is it that pumpkin only seems acceptable around the holidays? I knew right away I had to put an end to this silly presumption and suffice my craving for pumpkin spice. Perhaps it is because I truly love fall, or maybe it’s just simply the taste, but I can’t turn down the opportunity to eat pumpkin anything no matter what time of year it is.  

Long story short… I whipped out the little tasty treats in just under an hour and filled the Tupperware with a few Pumpkin Spice Muffins and delivered it to Dad, with enough left over to indulge my craving.

Fooling, Flowers & Following

It’s been a while since I’ve blogged. I debated on whether or not to even continue now that I have officially finished my class. But now that I have so many dedicated followers, I just couldn’t bring myself to let my account go inactive.

And what a better day to begin a new chapter of blogging then April Fool’s Day- a day of the year dedicated to making people feel foolish… How uplifting…

Each year millions of pranksters all over the world fool people with hoaxes, funny jokes and all around good natured humor.. Or is it?

April Fool’s Day also known in other countries as “All Fool’s Day” has actually been around since 1392, and was inspired by a book. Imagine that!

This year’s April Fool’s day festivities included a morning trip to the gym, then home to clean every inch of our apartment, and lastly, grocery shopping. No pranks to be reported… YET. But I’m sure I’ll pull some kind of shenanigan out of my sleeve. Shhh! Don't tell Jared...

In addition to the flowers and the fooling that comes along with the beginning of April, the saints of the world are blessed with a semiannual General Conference- The first of two conferences where we get to listen to the guidance of the Prophet and General Authorities of The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  General Conference is such an exciting time for me! Listening to the words of the leaders of our church brings such an unmatchable spirit.

President Monson said, “Noah had the unwavering faith to follow God’s commandments. May we ever do likewise. May we remember that the wisdom of God ofttimes appears as foolishness to men; but the greatest lesson we can learn in mortality is when God speaks and we obey, we will always be right”. 

I encourage you to follow God’s commandments and listen to direction we receive this General Conference.  At times we are asked by prophets during General Conference to make sacrifices, or to change old ways of thinking, or to expand our vision. We know that when we choose to follow their guidance and do what they ask of us, we are blessed and others will be blessed through us.

I hope you all enjoy General Conference this weekend. I know I will!