I love BYU!

The Holy War…also known as the rivalry game between BYU and UTAH happened this past Saturday.  It seemed like everywhere I went people were dressed in blue or red.  Emotions and excitement were high.  This game had been predicted as being a close scoring game where teams were evenly matched.  I arrived at the BYU vs. UTAH party ready for a night of fun.  As the kick-off happened, I texted all my UTE fans, “GO COUGARS!” Within the first few minutes, BYU fumbled the ball and UTAH made a touchdown.  The phone started to beep and the texts started coming in with all sorts of comments and jokes.  My phone was getting quite the action throughout the entire game. 

The final score BYU-10 and UTAH 54.  What a sad game!!!   

It has been a few days and the remarks, jokes, comments are still in full swing.  I still love BYU!! Tonight, there was a knock at the door.  It was one of my young women…Annie…a true UTE fan holding plate of delicious cookies.  There was just one problem…but I quickly fixed it.  

Go BYU!!!

It is a game that won’t be forgotten…I am pretty sure of that. 

~Chelle!

a hug from the inside out

Do you ever have one of those days that you search for anything to bring you a little bit of comfort?  Today was one of those days. You know one of those days that no matter how hard anyone tries to make you laugh…you laugh for a minute but then the tears start to well up in your eyes and you start to panic because at any given moment everyone in your office is going to see those tears?  Well, I had one of those days and I am not a fan.  Just in case you are wondering….I was able to keep all tears inside the eyes.  I mark that as a personal triumph. YAHOO!!!

As I drove home from work, I was thinking of what could bring me comfort and get me out of this teary mood.  When I was pulling into my driveway, I realized that I was a tad bit hungry.  Then all of a sudden,  I knew what would help bring me comfort (and cure the hunger feeling)  A grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup.  I know that when I eat this delicious combo, it is like receiving a hug from the inside out.   They are such warm deliciousness. They are exactly what I needed tonight…receiving a hug from the inside out.

Hope your day is filled with plenty of hugs!

~Chelle!

flip flopping of the heart

So…I would say that I am a thoughtful person. I love sending cards and letters to people. I love making treats and delivering them to friends and family. I love remembering people on their birthdays and dropping by a special gift of some sort. I love doing things for other people. I love to see the smiles on their faces or be a recipient of their sweet hugs. Something about that just brings a lot of joy to my heart. As for being a recipient of these types of things…lets just say that it doesn’t happen very often to me. So, when it does…it really makes my heart flip flop with happiness.

Let me share with you the most recent ‘flip flopping of the heart”. For the past few weeks, I have been having horrible headaches. Sometimes my headache turns into a migraine or it will stay awhile and pound…pound…pound. On this  particular day…it was the same thing.  I woke up and was almost ready for work when a horrific headache decided to enter my head. The pound pound pound can easily bring me to tears. I definitely can say that I am not a fan of these horrific headaches.

Fast forward the story a couple of hours (I don’t want to bore you with the not-so-fun details)…I arrive at work with a sad-not-wanting-this-headache attitude.  I know that when I walked through the door that I looked as if I was about to burst into tears.  Ok…I wasn’t about to burst into tears, I was already at that stage.  Vieve noticed the little bit of sadness upon my face and presented me with the cutest little package.  It was filled with fun little bite size candies and fruit snacks.  Instantly, it brought a smile to my face and my heart was flip flopping with happiness. Accompanying this fun little box of treats was the cutest little note.  Oh, I love receiving notes and little treasures!!

Thank you  VIeve for being so kind, sweet and thoughtful.  This little gift brought a lot of happiness and plenty of flip flopping! I do hope that my head feels better soon!

I hope that as you go about your day that you remember to create some happiness in someone’s life.

Happy day to you!

~Chelle!

Favorite things Friday….I love to bake!!

One of my most favorite things to do…

  is to bake!!

I love to bake!!  I love cookbooks!  I love trying out new recipes. I love spending time in the kitchen creating delicious treats.  I love sharing treats and recipes with others.  I just love it.  I realized the other day that I haven’t spent too much time in the kitchen doing what I love to do.  It was time to start creating delicious treats again.  I needed a new recipe and after searching the internet…I found one that I want to share.  My many taste testers  said that they were simply delicious.  Aw…I love my taste tester friends.  They make me smile!   

So…today for “favorite things Friday”, I am sharing with you a treat that I made…S’mores Cookies.  They taste like a little bit of heaven…so delicious!! 

Would you like the recipe?

Good, I am glad that you asked. 

Here it is….

S’mores Cookies

1 package graham crackers (9 full sized graham crackers)
6 T butter, melted
1 T sugar
dash salt

1 C butter, softened
2 C brown sugar
2 eggs
2 T milk
2 t vanilla
1 t baking soda
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
3 1/2 C flour
2 1/2 C milk chocolate chips
24 large marshmallows
4 small 1.55 oz Hershey bars

• Break the graham cracker crumbs up into pieces. Place them in a small food processor and grind them into crumbs.

• To your crumbs add 6 T melted butter,1 T sugar and a dash of salt. Let the food processor grind all of the ingredients together nicely. Set the crumbly mixture aside.

• Place your softened butter and brown sugar into a large mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed until the ingredients are nicely creamed together, about 2 minutes.

• Add your eggs, milk and vanilla and mix for another 2 minutes.

• In a separate bowl combine your baking soda, baking powder, salt and flour. Add it to your creamed mixture and mix until combined. Toss in your chocolate chips and mix yet again, just until the chips are evenly distributed.

• Grab your graham cracker crumbs and pour them into the cookie dough. Using a wooden spoon, or your hands :) smash them into the cookie dough. You don't want the graham cracker crumb mixture to be totally lost in the dough.

• Roll the dough into 2 inch balls, place them on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet and bake at 350 for about 6 minutes, or just until the cookies begin to crack.

• While your cookies are in the oven, cut the large marshmallows in half.

• Press a marshmallow piece into the center of each hot cookie. Return the sheet to the oven and bake for about 1 1/2 more minutes allowing the marshmallows to puff up and get all wonderful and delicious.

• Remove the sheet from the oven. Let the cookies sit for about 2 minutes, then press one Hershey bar piece into the center of the marshmallow.

• Remove the cookies from the sheet and allow them to finish cooling on a wire rack.

Yield: 48 cookies
Recipe from Jamie Cooks It Up!

Have a great day baking!!!!

~Michelle

Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

I  have been on a blogging hiatus for exactly 76 days.  I haven’t read any blogs nor have I attempted to write anything on my blog.  I have many reasons but the one that sticks out the most is…I had so much that I wanted to share but couldn’t find the time to write.  This summer came in like a lion and left like a lamb.  I guess, I could have posted my personal journal writings on here but that wouldn't be fun for me…maybe you would find some interesting insights about me or maybe it would give you extra ammunition to use against me.  Hmmm…not a good thing for me. My decision…leave the journal writings inside my journal where they belong.  So…let’s just say that it has been 76 days and I am ready to enter the blogging world again.  I am excited to read the blogs of my family, friends and all those that I do not know but secretly stalk. 

Well, bright and early this morning(ok…it was still dark but it was early), I was at the gym.  I found the machine that I was going to spend the next 40 minutes on,  plugged my earphones into my IPOD,  found the TV show that would be my distraction for the duration of my workout, set my IPOD on the machine’s ledge and began my workout.  I was enjoying the TV show that I was watching…giggling in certain parts…just having a great time. 

Let me interrupt with an important note:  I did not realize that the screen attached to my machine was turned on…let alone the channel that it tuned into. 

So, I was about 30 minutes into my workout when something caught my attention on the screen above me..  It was a cartoon…SpongeBob Square Pants.  At that moment, I realized that anyone and everyone that walked past or peered over at my machine probably thought that I was watching this particular cartoon…giggling and have the time of my life.  Immediately, my face turned bright red and I felt like crawling underneath the treadmill.  I was so embarrassed.  Now, what was I supposed to do? Hmm…I just giggled, switched the screen off and silently prayed that NO ONE even noticed what I was watching.

Reflecting back on that memory, my face still turns a shade of red and I start to giggle but I realized something. How many times do we judge a person by what they are doing, wearing, acting, speaking or in my case…watching? 

Have a fantastic day!

~Michelle!