REMINDER: Our Blog Address is Changing!

Just a reminder that our blog address is changing this week. It is moving to www.mikeandlisafamily.blogspot.com. I am planning on making the change this Wednesday, so please update your blog lists!

Amish Bread

I baked up my Amish Friendship Bread on Wednesday, and I was pleasantly surprised! I was so nervous that it would end up looking/tasting nasty or just would not bake well. It turned out really well and tastes really good! The recipe made enough for one large loaf and three smaller loaves, so I can freeze some and save it for later. Yum!

Spring Fever

As you can probably tell from our lack of posting, winter isn't a very exciting time at our house. Neither of us are big into winter sports and activities, and I am just not a fan of winter in general. The other day, Mike and I were talking about how we are glad it has started to get a little bit warmer. We both have spring fever and can't wait to get back outside.

We started talking about all of the activities we are looking forward to, such as...

Catching some air (or at least trying to)...

Spending the night out in the woods...

Going back to this place (Nashville, TN)...

Hopefully seeing a few of these...

And seeing a whole lot of this!

Here's to hoping that everyone that does like winter enjoys what is left and that spring hurries up and gets here!

Gone Private...

As you may have noticed, our family blog suddenly went private. There was an issue with it being read and accessible by some people, so we decided that the best thing to do was make it private. I know the switch was sudden, so I tried to track down as many e-mail addresses as I could on my own. If you are here, I am glad that you received your invitation. If there is anyone I missed, I promise that it was not intentional! Let me know if there is anyone that still needs an invite!

The number you have dialed is no longer in service...

Mike and I have decided to cancel our home phone line. Since we use our cell phones so often, our home phone has only been good for allowing telemarketers and people dialing the wrong number to reach us. If you need to get in touch with us, please call us on our cell phones. Let us know if you need the numbers.

Have a great day!

Virtual Weight Loss

I heard about this website that will photoshop a picture of you to show what you would look like if you lost weight. You get to choose the picture (it just has to be a full body shot) and the amount of weight you want to lose. Then, you get an e-mail a few days later that tells you your picture is ready. The best part is, this service is free! The only catch is that you have to have a Facebook account, but that wasn't a problem for me. It was kind of fun to see what I would look like if I reach my weight loss goal. You can check it out at www.weightview.com.

Chic for Cheap

I decided to start a new blog, called Chic for Cheap. The purpose of this blog is to share ideas about fashion, home decor, etc...all on a budget. It will include do-it-yourself ideas as well as places to find great deals on purchases. The blog is just getting underway, but there are already a few posts: check it out at www.chic-for-cheap.blogspot.com.

Feel free to leave comments and let me know if you have an idea that you would like to share or if you are interested in being a contributor. Happy Shopping!

I Need Some Help

I need some help. I am trying to put a video clip from NBC on a PowerPoint presentation. I think that I need to save the video clip to my computer. The problem is, I have no idea how to do this. Does anybody know? I am assuming that it is similar to saving a YouTube video, but I have never done that, either. I know that I can insert a link to the video on my slide, but I would prefer to add the actual video in case I don't have access to the internet during my presentation. I would LOVE some suggestions.

The clip is http://www.nbc.com/The_Office/video/clips/stress-relief/982442/.

Thanks!!!

Standing Still and Going 110 mph

Last Friday, Mike noticed that the spedometer in our Yukon was registering at 60 mph, even though he was only going about 30 mph. The next thing we knew, we were "going" 110, even though the car was stopped at a light. Apparently, the spedometer went out in the car. I started to get worried about driving it and having to guess how fast I would be going. Mike said that he was concerned that it would be very expensive to replace, but he would be willing to get it fixed if it was not too expensive.

Fortunately, luck was on our side! Mike called the repair place, and they asked how many miles we had on our car. He told them 69,870. They told us that the part was under warranty if we did not exceed 70,000 miles...we made it by about 100 miles! Good thing, because we think it would have been about $1000 to get it fixed without the warranty. We were so amazed and grateful that we barely qualified for the warranty. What a blessing!

FEARLESS

My sister shared this quote with me, and I really liked it. I am sure that we can all relate to at least one aspect of "fearless". I know that I can.

"To me, “FEARLESS” is not the absence of fear. It’s not being completely unafraid. To me, FEARLESS is having fears. FEARLESS is having doubts. Lots of them. To me, FEARLESS is living in spite of those things that scare you to death. FEARLESS is falling madly in love again, even though you’ve been hurt before. FEARLESS is walking into your freshmen year of high school at fifteen. FEARLESS is getting back up and fighting for what you want over and over again… even though every time you’ve tried before, you’ve lost. It’s FEARLESS to have faith that someday things will change. FEARLESS is having the courage to say goodbye to someone who only hurts you, even if you can’t breathe without them. I think it’s FEARLESS to fall for your best friend, even though he’s in love with someone else. And when someone apologizes to you enough times for things they’ll never stop doing, I think it’s FEARLESS to stop believing them. It’s FEARLESS to say “you’re NOT sorry”, and walk away. I think loving someone despite what people think is FEARLESS. I think allowing yourself to cry on the bathroom floor is FEARLESS. Letting go is FEARLESS. Then, moving on and being alright…That’s FEARLESS too. But no matter what love throws at you, you have to believe in it. You have to believe in love stories and prince charmings and happily ever after. That’s why I write these songs. Because I think love is FEARLESS."

~Taylor Swift

The Draper, Utah Temple

Mike and I had the opportunity to take a guided tour of the new Draper, Utah Temple on Tuesday. Let me just say that this temple was gorgeous! The Church definitely does not spare any expense when a new temple is being built. They tried to incorporate the beauty of northern Utah into many of the temple's rooms, and the artists did an amazing job. The craftsmanship was incredible...I was sitting in one of the rooms, looking around, and it was hard to believe that one person could produce such beautiful work by hand.

We had a couple general authorities that were in our group during the tour, and it was neat to hear their stories and insights. Sister Bangerter, who is the wife of Emeritus GA Elder Bangerter, shared her experiences of being the Matron of one of the temples. I really enjoyed hearing what they had to say and how you could really tell that they were so greatful for their experiences.

I would definitely recommend getting tickets for one of the temple's tours. Even though the temple has not been dedicated yet, you could feel the spirit so strongly. It was such a good experience!

Seven Random and Eight Normal Things About Me!

I have been tagged by both Maren and Angie, so I am combining the tags into one! Here are the rules:
Post the rules on your blog
Answer all of the items listed below
Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog:

Here ya go…

Seven random things about me:

1. My favorite “sweet” sugar is Lucky Charms; however, the only way that I eat them is by eating all of the grain/cereal pieces first and then saving the marshmallows for last. And of course…no milk.

2. My mom claims that as a toddler, my ambition was to grow up to become a purple pig…I have no recollection of this…thank heavens I grew out of that phase!

3. During high school, Angie and I went through a phase where we loved the “Wedding Planner”. We went to the movie at least three times in one day while it was playing at the dollar theater and would sing the soundtrack aloud at the top of our lungs.

4. I LOVE Disney (especially the Disney-type stuff from my youth). I love to visit Disneyland, one of our bathrooms is done in vintage Mickey Mouse, and I love to watch the old Disney cartoons.

5. I love the South-eastern part of the United States and I would move there (to the Carolinas or Tennessee) if I had a good reason.

6. During my first semester of college, I got pretty sick with the stomach flu. I had to take a test, so I decided to suck it up and take the test as quickly as possible. While I was in the testing center, I had a horrible wave of nausea and threw up all over myself. Amazingly enough, I got one of my highest scores on that test.

7. I went through a phase where I stayed up late (until 2:00 – 3:00AM) watching Nick at Night and crocheting a blanket.

8 Favorite TV Shows:
ER
America’s Next Top Model
The Office
24
House
Fringe
The Today Show
CSI

8 Things I Did Yesterday:
Went to work
Went to the gym
Cooked dinner
Went with Mike to an appointment
Took a shower
Worked on Christmas cards
Took Faline outside
Watched House and Fringe

8 Things I Look Forward to:
Thanksgiving!
Black Friday shopping
Enjoying the Christmas season/spirit
Decorating my house for Christmas
Being a mom (one day!)
Spring
Wakeboarding
A new album from U2

8 Favorite Restaurants:
Macaroni Grill
California Pizza Kitchen
Café Rio
Chili’s
Firehouse Pizza
The Garden
Cheesecake Factory
Yogi Berry – not really a restaurant, but they have the BEST frozen yogurt that I have ever tasted

8 Things on my Wishlist:
To be done with school
A new IPod
Another vacation
Faline to stop being naughty
A finished basement
Christmas lights on my house
A Kitchenaide standing mixer
A nice picture for my living room

8 People to Tag:
Lori
Ashley
Jen
Jessica P.
Tracy
Talia
Michelle
Annie
And of course...anyone else who wants to play is welcome!

Another Gem from the Very Short List (VSL)

As I said before, my daily VSL e-mail is not always very entertaining or helpful, but today was the exception. Today's e-mail was about the animated Web series "Strindberg & Helium". These shorts are about a talking bubble full of helium who tries to cheer up the super-depressed Swedish playwright August Strindberg. Supposedly, these clips have been around for a long time, but I had never heard of them before. My sister and I watched the clips and found them amusing, but "In the Park" was our favorite.

If you are feeling a little bored, check them out by visiting http://www.strindbergandhelium.com/

Cake Wrecks

Every morning I get an e-mail called VSL, which stands for Very Short List. This daily e-mail includes bits and pieces of random trivia, book/music/movie reviews, etc. To be honest, the information isn't always super interesting, but it is still okay to read.

This morning's VSL talked about a blog called "Cake Wrecks". This blog is dedicated to finding cakes that have gone wrong during the decorating process, have weird messages, etc. I decided to check this blog out, and let me tell you, there are defiantely some weird cakes! Some of the cakes were just random (have you ever seen a Super Mario Brothers wedding cake or one designed after a famous painting?) Others were for "special" events, such as completing a jail sentence or posting bail money.

Regardless...if you feel a little bored, I definately recommend checking out this site: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/