I looked out my door and what did I see?

I was curled up in my blankets and surfing the internet when I decided to take a look at Facebook. The first post that popped up was a picture of a door with hearts all over it. The first thought that came into my mind was “Oh, how sweet!” Then, I took another look at the door-it was my door. Seriously!!! I jumped up out of my covers, ran downstairs, opened my door and look what was waiting for me…

Aw…what a treasured site!!! I am so grateful for this sweet act of kindness. The sweet young women from the 3^rd Ward decorated my door. It was awesome and brought plenty of tears to my heart. I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to have served with them. Aw…I feel so blessed and already miss them so much!!

~Michelle

Happy Birthday Vieve!!

Happy Birthday Vieve!!

(picture snatched from Vieve’s blog )

I  had so much fun decorating her desk. I hope that she has had the best birthday ever. I think that we pretty much partied all day long from breakfast to Coldstone with lunch and bowling in between.  Happy birthday dear friend!!

~Michelle

lemonade, sunshine and a horrific rainstorm

Tonight, I was getting ready to leave when I heard little hands pounding on my door. I opened the door to find two little girls that were giggling. I have never seen these two little girls before. They told me that they had a little lemonade stand and they were selling lemonade for 50 cents. They told me that it was a little pricey but their lemonade was very delicious. I asked them where their lemonade stand located. They told me that they do deliveries. Deliveries, really? Oh, I loved it. A lemonade delivered for only 50 cents, I wouldn’t say that was pricey—I would say that was amazing customer service. I handed them two quarters and they sprinted away. A few minutes later, one of the little girls sprints and tells me that her friend needed to walk slowly and carefully so that she wouldn’t spill the lemonade. I asked her what they were going to spend their money on. She told me that the second little girl (the one that was walking slowly and carefully) wanted to buy her dad a Christmas present because he has never had one. Oh my goodness, how sweet is that?!

The second little girl arrives caring the little glass of lemonade. They told me to take a sip of it. I did. (Hmm…you might think that I am a tad bit crazy for taking a sip—it could be poison. Ok, I think that I have watched too many movies lately). Back to the story, they told me that they made it themselves. I praised them for this delicious lemonade. They started giggling. They truly brought a smile to my heart.

As they were about to leave, they hand me a package that was left on my door.

It was a basket full of sunshine. Everything in it was yellow.  It did not say who it was from but it was simply adorable and it brought another smile to my heart!! Thank you to the kind person(s) that left it on my doorstep.

Tonight, there was an incredible rainstorm. I sat in my car and watched it for a very long time. I love the smell of rain. I love the sound of the rain. Aw…I just love the rain. I love to listen to the pitter patter of raindrops on my windshield.

Lemonade, sunshine and a rainstorm—what a glorious day!!

Aw…what a happy day!!

~Michelle

Cookie Dough Brownies

I needed to make a treat for work and I wasn’t sure what I wanted to make until one of my dearest friends suggested Cookie Dough Brownies.  They sounded delicious and since she was there to make them with me, we made them.  They were delicious! They tasted exactly like cookie dough. SO HEAVENLY!!  Plus…they are so easy. 

Picture taken from www.thehubofourhome.comIngredients

Brownies

1 ¼ c. all-purpose flour

1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 bag of milk chocolate chips

1 c. butter, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. brown sugar, packed

4 eggs, at room temperature

1 T. vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Grease a 9x13-inch glass baking pan.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, salt, and cocoa powder together.
3. Melt the chocolate and butter in a double boiler, stirring until smooth and well-combined.
4. Add the sugars to the chocolate mixture, and whisk until well-combined.
5. Cook, whisking constantly, for 2-3 minutes, or until sugars have melted.
6. Once sugars have melted, remove the chocolate mixture from heat, and let it cool to room temperature.
7. Once the chocolate mixture has reached room temperature, whisk in eggs one at a time until combined.
8. Add the vanilla and stir until combined.
9. Whisk in the flour mixture until just combined.
10. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.
11. Bake for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with a few fudgy crumbs.
12. Let the brownies cool in the pan to room temperature.

Cookie Dough Frosting
1/2 Cup Butter, softened
3/4 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1 and 1/4 Cup Flour
1/2 Teaspoon Salt
5 Tablespoons Milk
1 Cup Chocolate Chips(mini or regular)
Cream together the butter and sugar.  Add the vanilla and mix well.  Add the flour and salt stir until combined.  Stir in the milk and beat until the frosting is fluffy.  Gently stir in the chocolate chips.  Spread on cooled brownies and frost.  Enjoy!

Happy Baking!!  Bake with a friend…it a lot more fun than baking alone!!

~Michelle

This is me…

I came across this quote…

and sighed.

This is me.

~Michelle

Sushi…not for me.

Let me share something with you. I do not like edible things that float and swim in the ocean. I realized something else tonight; I do not like RAW things that float or swim in the ocean. How do I know this? I had this great idea to take my dear friend out for SUSHI for her birthday.

Vieve trying to be excited to eat sushi.  She wasn’t too convincing.

We (Vieve, Dalene and I) ended up going to Wild Ginger. I hear that their sushi is simply delicious. Simply said…it was interesting not delicious but interesting. I was able to muster all of the courage I had to partake of a California Roll, Philadelphia Roll and a Tempura Roll.One of the rolls had crabmeat and another one had salmon…I wasn’t too fond of those.  The Tempura Roll was made of fried veggies which was tasty if you could leave out the seaweed.  Seriously, why would you add seaweed to this roll…it just makes it taste-YUCKLY!!  Anyway, dinner was…dinner.   I cannot say that it was delicious (the water was simply divine) but being where my friends are—laughing and giggling was well worth gagging down interesting food. 

Happy Birthday Dalene!!!  I just love and adore you!!  Thank you so much for being a wonderful friend. Thank you for not laughing too hard as you watched me TRY to eat sushi.

~Michelle

A little bear named Dakota.

A few of weeks ago, I opened up my front door and found a little surprise.  It was a grocery bag and inside it was a note and

this adorable little bear named Dakota. 

Attached to the bear was a note that expressed that this little bear was a very important and that my dear sweet friend felt that I needed to have it with me for a couple of weeks.  I am not sure how I deserved a friend so kind but I am so grateful for it.  I know that this little bear has brought a lot of comfort to me in the past few weeks. I am so grateful for something to hug and to hold on to during some very sleepless nights.  Sleepless nights…where a lot of thinking has been entertaining this brain of mine.

This bear isn’t only bringing me happiness; it is also bringing smiles to my sweet little niece.  Each morning for the past four or so weeks, I have had the opportunity to spend some time with Brylie. She stays with me while my mom has her IV treatment. The morning after I received Dakota, Brylie noticed him sitting on my bed. She asked me who gave him to me. I read her the little note. She smiled. Every morning since that day, she runs up my stairs telling me that she needs to check on Dakota.

This morning, I had just finished getting dressed when I walked into my room. This is what I saw…

I asked her what she was doing and she said, “Hugging Ashwey’s bear. She wuvs you”. Aw…it melted my heart. I am great for these tender mercies that truly touch my heart and bring a little bit of comfort to my soul. 

~Michelle

Numbness

Often on Sunday mornings, I turn my radio to FM100 and listen to the “Sounds of Sunday”.  This morning, wasn’t any different.  As I was pondering what type of emotions this day would bring, I was hoping to feel some type of peace and comfort.  For the past week, I have been in state of numbness for many different reasons. 

On Thursday of this week, I felt my life shatter into a million pieces, I struggled to find every little piece and place it in the proper place to build my life and put it back together.  It started with a phone call from my pathologist letting me know that my biopsy had once again showed malignancy characteristics and it was being sent once again to another specialist in Salt Lake City.  This has been the second time that this has happened in the past 4 weeks.  This whole adventure started three days before camp when I had my first biopsy taken.  As I waited through the week drawing from the Spirit of our Heavenly Father and some very cherished friends, I was gaining the courage to trust in the Lord-even more than I have ever before.  His love and comfort carried me through a week of emotional ups and downs.  Upon arriving home, I received the news that the biopsy  was being sent to specialist.  After receiving news from that specialist, another slice of the biopsy was being sent for re-evaluation to confirm what they had found.  On Thursday, I received news again that it was once going to another specialist.  As my life waits for the adventure to begin or to end, my heart continues to ache.  My life feels like it is shattering into a million pieces and I do not have any control whatsoever.

Let me continue on with the day and share what happened.  After work, I visited with our Stake President where he extended a releasing to me as our Stake Young Women’s President.  My heart felt like it was going to burst.  My mind became foggy as I contemplated what my life will be like not serving in this capacity.  My soul ached. As those pieces of my life shattered into a million different pieces earlier in the day-those pieces were now shattering into a zillion different pieces. I loved my calling and all that it brought into my life.  It taught me to trust in the Lord.  It taught me to constantly have the Spirit in my life. It taught me to act on promptings.  It taught me to love and to nurture.  It taught me so many wonderful things because I served diligently and lovingly.

Now, today…as I try to glue all those zillion pieces back together, I start to lose faith.  Faith in all that I believe in, faith that miracles happen and faith in those things that I so easily trusted.  As I was contemplating on all of these things, I reached to turn off my radio.  As I did, I heard Elder Holland’s voice and this is what he said, “When problems come and questions arise, do not start your quest for faith by saying how much you do not have, leading as it were with your “unbelief.” That is like trying to stuff a turkey through the beak! Let me be clear on this point: I am not asking you to pretend to have faith you do not have. I am asking you to be true to the faith you do have. Sometimes we act as if an honest declaration of doubt is a higher manifestation of moral courage than is an honest declaration of faith. It is not! So let us all remember the clear message of this scriptural account: Be as candid about your questions as you need to be; life is full of them on one subject or another. But if you and your family want to be healed, don’t let those questions stand in the way of faith working its miracle.”

I turned off my radio and began this very day in August where my heart and soul are numb…

Tonight, I will start with the faith that I have and hope that this numbness will soon go away.

~Michelle

Cheerleading…love it.

,1. Every day this week, Brylie has been attending Spanish Fork’s Cheer Clinic. She has loved every minute of it. I am not sure if it is because she gets to learn how to cheer or she gets to spend time with her cousin, Kaylie. They have been working so hard on their performance tonight at Spanish Fork’s Red & Silver football game. It was awesome to see her excitement.

Don’t you think that she is adorable?

And this my gorgeous niece, Kaylie!!

It was a lot of fun watching both of my nieces cheer.

Love them so much!

~Michelle

It’s a stampin’ and chattin’ night!

It was definitely a great night at Michelle’s party palace. 

We laughed and laughed!! 

We ate and ate!! 

We chatted and chatted!!

But most of all we stamped and stamped!

Aw…life is great!!!

~Michelle

It rained sunshine today.

My phone beeped notifying me of an incoming text. I picked up my phone and scrolled to the text messages. I read, “What is your license plate number?” This type of question peaks a lot of curiosity, don’t you think? As the conversation went on, I realized that I better go check out my car.

Aw…tucked inside my windshield wipers were a package of sweet tarts, a note and a sun. My heart melted. I am grateful for sweet treasures that touch my heart. It truly brought a lot of sunshine to my soul today. I think that I will keep this sun around to remind of special treasures.  How sweet it is!!

~Michelle

My favorite co-worker!

Let me introduce you to my new co-worker. She is simply divine. She brings lots of giggles and plenty of sunshine into my office.

My mom has been going through a 42-day IV antibiotic treatment. Each morning, I drive to Springville, pick her and my niece up and we drive to the clinic. Brylie and I walk with my mom upstairs to the Infectious Disease unit, we wait for them to call my mom’s name and we walk her into the room filled with IVs and very ill people. Brylie grabs a blanket and covers up her grandma, we give hugs and then we head to work. We have been doing this routine for quite some time. It rarely changes. I am grateful for the opportunity to serve my mom.  I am also grateful for the opportunity to spend time with my little niece. She truly brings a lot of sunshine into my office and into my life.

~Michelle

Some days we just need simple reminders…

Just a thought for today…

because some days we just need a simple reminder.

~Michelle