You can learn a lot from a Tulip!

“A tulip doesn’t strive to impress anyone.
It doesn’t struggle to be different than a rose.
It doesn’t have to. It is different.
And there’s room in the garden for every flower.
You didn’t have to struggle to make your face
different than anyone else’s on earth.
It just is.
You are unique because
you were created that way.
Look at little children in kindergarten.
They’re all different without trying to be.
As long as they’re unselfconsciously being themselves,
they can’t help but shine.
It’s only later,
when children are taught to compete,
to strive to be better than others,
that their natural light becomes distorted.”
~~ Marianne Williamson

Grateful for all of the gorgeous 
pink and purple clumps of tulips 
I have growing right now in my yard!
It makes me happy every time I see a glimpse of them when I'm outside!

 

SO grateful
I took a moment to snap some photos of my beautiful tulips because as of this moment they are fading and dying and once they're gone, we won't be able to enjoy their beauty again until next Spring!

Flowers teach you a lot about life...
They remind us that we're all unique and beautiful in our own wonderful way!
They also remind to pause and take time to savor simple moments in life, because if you think
 "I'll enjoy that tomorrow", 
many times tomorrow the moment is gone!

Happy Spring!
I hope you are able to notice and cherish the beauty
of each budding flower,
each budding tree and
 notice all of the creeping, crawling things as well!

Spring has finally arrived!

YAY for Spring-Time... 

I love it so much!

The days are getting longer 

and the sun shines in our windows before 6:00 in the morning.

The air is filled with the beautiful music of birds chirping.

The temperatures are "just right"...

(not too hot, not too cold).

Kids are swinging on swings and 

enjoying not being cooped up in the house!

This is what my yard 
looks like right now...

Periwinkle flowers and Violets...

Clusters of purple and pink tulips...

The trees are starting to leaf out and get buds as well!
(I wish I make this photo a "scratch and sniff", because it SMELLS so good!!)

OH, and we and abundance of 
Dandelions and weeds and YES, 
they are BEAUTIFUL too!

AND we have this exciting thing 
happening right now...
A newly built nest in our spruce tree,
with a turquoise egg, which means we get to enjoy watching baby Robins again this spring!

This sweet mama Robin 
is making sure her little egg stays safe 
during our windy weather we have been having!

YAY, we have blossoms and bees 
in our Spring Snow Crab Tree!

(sweet comment that my hubby made about this BEE photo on Facebook:)
"Guess who is the busy bee? You! That's who! I love how you are never too busy though, to notice all the little things & appreciate simple beauty. Thanks for pulling me away from the garage cleaning to watch the mama robin trying to keep her eggs safe on this windy day. I can always count on you for a lesson on the birds & bees! ;-)" 

I Love all of the JOY, color, smells 
and special moments that Spring-time brings!

I especially LOVE 
when I get to join my hubby for lunch
 in the middle of the week and we get to enjoy the sunshine and time together at the park!
These stolen moments in time are priceless treasures to me!

Life is wonderful 
with each and every beautiful and sweet moment!
The key is making sure to
 stop and pause from our ever so busy lives
and notice the beauty and love 
that is abundantly around us!

Icicles in May!

May 1st...

I had the wonderful opportunity 
to drive my son Jade to school...
I don't get to do that very often as Tracy usually drives him on his way to work.
However, with ISAT testing going on at the High School for the Sophomores and Juniors, it meant that Seniors didn't have to be to school until 10:30. 

I loved talking about life with my son!
As we were driving by the Fire Station, Jade quickly noticed that there was all kinds of frozen water on the trees... 
we had to stop and take in the beauty.

This is what happens when the sprinklers turn on in May at night and the temps still are at freezing; 
We get to enjoy beautiful icicles like these!  

Grateful for BEAUTY 
that is all around us, 
if we just take time to "pause" 
and look around and see it!

Grateful for any moment of time 
that I get to spend with my kids!
(that is truly a priceless treasure to me!)

Gourmet Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza...made at home!

 We have a NEW weekend LOVE!
That of Chicken, Bacon and Ranch Pizza,

 cooked on a baking stone,

it seriously tastes and smells like you're eating at a pizza parlor!  

We love being thrify,

we love making gourmet, yummy things at home 

that replicate something that you would get to eat a yummy restaurant.

While homemade pizza is good, it is still really "hit and miss" with either having too thick of a crust, that is doughy, or too thin of a crust, that is too hard and crunchy.

Well, I have finally worked through things and got the PERFECT crust...

The crust is a dough that you let rise 1-2 hours

you then 

heat a baking stone up in a 500 degree oven for 25-30 minutes 

and those two things make the PERFECT crust 

that is chewy and moist on the inside 

and crunchy on the bottom and the edges.

 I love that since we purchase a $4.88 Rotisserie Chicken each weekend on our Friday night date and the rest of the ingredients are things that we always have on hand,

that our Saturday and or Sunday afternoons contain this yummy pizza on the menu.

While you're making Saturday morning pancakes,  

simply cook 2-3 slices of bacon, 

chop the tomatoes & green onions,

grate the cheese 

and then you have everything ready to go, 

and pull from your fridge when you hit lunch time or dinner time.  

(All you need to do is just mix the dough and let it rise for 1-2 hours time)

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza 

(pizza dough...enough for one large pizza)

1/2 cup warm water

1-1/4 teaspoon yeast 

1-1/2 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt 

1 Tbsp. olive oil 

1-1/2 cups unbleached flour 

Mix together water, yeast and sugar in the bowl of a standing mixer and let sit 10 minutes until bubbly.

Then add in salt, olive oil and flour and use dough hook and mix until dough looks nice and smooth.   
Turn up speed to medium and let mix for 5 minutes.

Put dough in a bowl and coat well with oil, cover with plastic wrap and let rise 1-2 hours. 

Pizza Toppings:

1/4 cup Ranch dressing

1-2 cups chopped chicken

2-3 slices bacon cooked and crumbled

1 large tomato diced (or 2 small ones)

3 diced green onions
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or Asiago Cheese
1/2 to 1 cup grated cheese (we like Sharp cheese, but any cheese will do).

How to cook:

Put baking stone in oven and turn temp to 500 degrees.  
Let oven heat up for 30 minutes with the baking stone in the oven.

Cut a piece of parchment paper the same size as the baking stone and  
sprinkle cornmeal on the parchment paper.  
Put pizza dough onto the cornmeal coated parchment paper and work dough out to the edges of the parchment paper, until you have a large circle. (you're welcome to use a rolling pin to do this as well)
NOW put this onto the baking stone

BAKE the pizza dough for 5 minutes.

REMOVE pizza from oven    
top with a thin layer of Ranch dressing then 1/2 cup cheese

then sprinkle evenly the cooked chicken, bacon, tomatoes and green onions.

Lastly top with Parmesan cheese and the rest of the grated cheese.

Bake 10-12 minutes until crust is browned and cheese is melted.  

Slice into 8 pieces, dish up and enjoy the deliciousness of a gourmet pizza for a fraction of the price AND in the comfort of your own home!  

Try making some PIZZA HEAVEN today!
You and your family will be glad you did!  

I survived the busiest week ever and lived to tell about it!

This quote is SO very true 
and I learned first hand what I'm truly capable of 
after the busiest and craziest week 
I have had thus far in 2013!

I have been thinking  
A LOT about a quote that I read when we were on our President's Day weekend.

"Life begins where
your comfort zone ends"!

Now that I have my crazy week behind me I can totally see how much
I have truly grown in leaps and bounds 
by having to majorly step outside my comfort zone and really take on some tough challenges. 

I also learned that no matter how crazy and busy life gets, there is ALWAYS beauty to see each day and simple things to enjoy, if you just take the time to notice them!

The biggest challenge this week was having to perfect a piano solo to be able to perform it at our Stake Conference on Saturday evening April 27th.  
It seems silly that I would have taken on this challenge, especially, since I have only been taking piano lessons for 4 months.  
However, when the girl called and asked if I would do a musical number, I really couldn't turn her down, because I have been in her shoes before,  having to get people to do musical numbers for our meetings. I would have loved to have sang, but I have been dealing with a tickle in my throat and didn't want to risk losing my voice and not being able to sing. 
SO, I started practicing on the 16th and have played the song at least 20 times everyday trying to get it without mistakes. 

SO, with that said, here is my week in photos with descriptions of our events!

  My week started off with having to help with a leadership training meeting on Sunday morning with our Young Women girls and then having to also teach the lesson to the girls in class.
I went from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm with not much stopping at all!

Sunday was a rather WINDY and gloomy day.

However, as the evening came, 

we got to enjoy a gorgeous sky and a beautiful sunset! 

Oh, it's a welcome thing to be able to see such beauty!

We truly live in a beautiful place for sure!

This seems silly, but every time I walked by our table, 
I loved how the bubbles in the water
 looked in the vase that held a single yellow tulip 
that was sunshine on our table for the majority of the week!

My life has been SO crazy and busy,

 that dusting hasn't been done for awhile.  

I noticed that my sweet husband had drawn a heart in the dust.  Every time I looked at it throughout the week, 

it always made me SMILE!!

I was online trying to find etiquette quotes for our youth dinner I was in charge of this week and I instantly thought of my husband when I saw this.
I'm truly lucky to be married to someone who puts forth a daily effort to show me and tell me how much he appreciates and adores me. It is something that I NEVER take for granted!

It was a stressful Tuesday morning 

as we awoke to another scary sight...

that of my sweet Jade experiencing another Grand Mal seizure!  

It wasn't bad enough that he had one, but he had two of them and the second one his ankle was underneath the rim of our parlor stove and as I was getting ready, I heard a loud bang and came out to him having another seizure. When I saw where his legs were I instantly grabbed them and held them so they wouldn't bang anymore, but, unfortunately, damage had been done and he had a burn on his ankle and it was all cut up.  AND he also bit the end of his tongue so bad it was all gnarly looking! :-(

Oh the stress and worry of a parent.  

Jade was out of it pretty much all day and wasn't aware of life until dinner time.  

Here is a sweet note that 

 Tracy posted on Facebook about our day:

"I have never been one to let people see my worry or sadness. I usually mask my worry behind humor and prosaic statements like, "things will work out... they always do"... and to be honest, I really don't worry that much because usually things really do work out but today my heart is truly heavy for my sweet son Jade. He's been having a pretty tough time lately. I have seen a side of him that speaks to some real inner stress, worry and turmoil as he sees others his age preparing to launch into life and go out to seek their "fortune"... whatever that may be. He hasn't said anything but he hasn't needed to. He just hasn't been himself. In the wee hours of the morning today, he had a bad seizure and then another. He banged up his ankle pretty bad and bit his tongue. I am using a vacation day to spend the day with him along with Kimberly. I sure love that young man!"

I felt SO badly that Jade missed out on 
making tie-dye shirts with his class at school today, 
that I helped him make a shirt 
at home that night after he woke up.
 I Love the vibrant colors he chose!

(my facebook status update on Wednesday morning)
It's a brand new day!
...I woke up to happy, healthy kids and hubby!!
...It's SUNNY and beautiful outside!
...There is NO wind and it's supposed to get up to 55 degrees, which means PE kids get to enjoy being outside for activities today!
...As I walked out to my car this morning, with a cup of green smoothie in my hand and the sun shining so brightly on my face, I had an overwhelming sense of gratitude, realizing more than ever how truly and deeply blessed I am and how abundant and rich my life is in all the things that truly matter... Life is SO good!!

WEDNESDAY April 24th was our 

Youth Etiquette Dinner that I was in charge of!

(and wouldn't you know it, it was SO hectic getting it all set up and put together that I didn't end up with ONE Single photo!)

It was a success, nonetheless!

Beautifully decorated tables! (thanks to the amazing and talented women that I work with!)
Fun learning about table manners, how to properly eat a formal dinner 
and how to show respect to each other!

The boys drew a girls name out of a bag and escorted her to a table in the gym.

Delicious dinner of salad, rolls, baked potato with all the fixins', ham and dessert! 

Kids had a ball and learned a lot of great thing!  

These handouts on being a Gentleman and a Lady were what we gave them at the very end.

OH and they also each got a

 Chocolate Dipped Strawberry to enjoy as well!

This old silver colander full of apples 

caught my eye 

in the lunch line at school today.

It's such a great thing to see FRESH fruit 

being served to the young kids!

Thursday night we experienced
 a beautiful FULL moon!

(Yeah, I know, this photo doesn't do it justice, but, that little white dot, is indeed a full moon and I very much enjoyed it nonetheless!

Friday morning I went to get my haircut...
This cool old building is part of the hair salon. 
I LOVE the lichen covered rocks, partial standing wall and old Hotel sign!

WARM SUNSHINE 

on both my face AND feet today!

I LOVE THE SUN!

I SPY... 

a blooming Geranium along with a handsome face 

when I stopped by my hubby's office today! 

Amazing how a little splash of color 

and lunch with your best friend 

can brighten your day. 

Simple things bring so much JOY! 

Picked up Jade's graduation announcements...

They are SO cool looking and turned out awesome!

Can't wait to get them addressed and in the mail to family and friends!

D8 NITE!  
(here for photos and details of our wonderful evening!)

Saturday morning, I spent ALL day long practicing and practicing my piano solo.

I got the biggest and most exciting surprise EVER!

Tracy came over to church where I was practicing

 and he knocked on the window 

and informed me he bought 

Depeche Mode Concert tickets for October 2nd...

Los Angeles, California at the Staples Center!! 

 OH HAPPY DAY!!!!

I thought we were weren't going to be able to make it to another concert of theirs, but thanks to Tracy, I will get to experience one more thing on my bucket list!

I think by the time the day was over 

I had played my song over 60 times!

(I'm  pretty sure my family was sick of it!)

I usually don't dress up fancy, 
but, I pulled out my ruffle shirt, my crystal necklace, my black skirt and tights and got all gussied up to go and play my piano solo!

This was a mirror in one of the rooms of the church that I did a quick practice on the piano before the meeting started.

I loved the message and frame and so I took a quick photo!  

DID I do a perfect job on my song...

well to be honest, NO!  

I did make some mistakes, but all in all I felt good about it, especially, since I haven't played the piano in front of an audience in over 27 years and I only had less than a week and a half to perfect it!  

I can now breathe... 

I DID IT!

I accomplished some REALLY hard things this week!
I FOUND out what I'm MADE OF!

Life is great...

AND hopefully, I won't have another week 

with so many demands all at once!

(at least for awhile)

Grateful for my wonderful and supportive family, 
whom, I LOVE AND ADORE

and who truly are the sunshine and the apples of my life, who are my biggest supports and who are always there to CHEER me on, whatever it is I'm doing!

Life...

It's Awesome, Wonderful and OH so Happy!