I was driving home from my parents’ home a few days ago and something caught my attention out of the corner of my eye. I looked to the left and there were SIX GLOWING EYEBALLS staring at me. CREEPY!!! I was so freaked out that I didn’t want to investigate any more. Hey…it was dark and like I said, CREEPY!
So…today in the light, we chose to investigate. This is what was watching us…
OK…in the light…it is still CREEPY!! Do you think that this is a tad bit strange?
~Michelle
One of the most talented people that I know is my mom. She is simply amazing. She can look at anything and instantly create it. Lately, she has been crocheting this afghan.
We have been joking about the colors. First of all, why would people even put these colors together? Second of all, did they really think that it would end up pretty? As Mom finished it, we decided that it was so ugly that it is adorable. We think that we have become attached to it.
~Michelle
Oh my goodness!!! I found a new recipe and it is simply delicious!!! It is easy and it turned out fabulous. My mom used to make a recipe similar to this one but we lost somewhere along the line.
For the cake:
2 cups Brown Sugar
2 cups All-purpose Flour
6 Tbsp Unsweetened Cocoa
4 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Salt
1 cup Milk
4 Tbsp. Butter, melted
1 tsp. Vanilla extract
For the Fudge Topping:
1 ½ cups Brown Sugar
½ cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
3 cups boiling water
Directions: For the cake: Mix together the sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Stir in milk, melted butter and vanilla until combined. Spread the batter over the bottom of large crockpot.
For the fudge topping: Mix together the brown sugar and cocoa. Sprinkle mixture over the cake batter. Pour the boiling water over the top. DO NOT STIR! Cover and cook on High for 2-2/12 hours.
Cake will be very hot! Turn off heat, and remove lid. Let sit 20-30 minutes before serving, so it’s still warm but won’t burn your mouth.
You will really going to want to add some vanilla ice cream to this too…PROMISE!!
~Michelle
I woke up in the middle of the night (very common for me) and was a little cold. I grabbed one of the blankets that end of my bed to wrap up in. When I woke up this morning, I noticed that the blanket that I grabbed was a quilt. This beautiful quilt was given to me by one of my friends, Michelle.
It is simply beautiful and it is something that I truly cherish. As I was folding it and putting it back in its proper place, I noticed that there were lots of different sizes of pieces that make up this beautiful quilt. I noticed the heart…and a thought popped into my brain.
We all have many things that shape our hearts…some are sad; some are happy; some bring us comfort; and some bring us sorrow. As I looked at the heart, I realized that even though I have experienced many different emotions, I am grateful for what my heart is today. This beautiful quilt reminds me of a quote I once read.
Our lives are like quilts –
bits and pieces,
joy and sorrow,
stitched with love.
-Anonymous
I am grateful for this beautiful quilt. Michelle has an amazing talent and I know that she has shared it with so many people. I am grateful to be the recipient of one of her treasures.
Thank you, Michelle; this priceless quilt is one of my most favorite treasures.
~Michelle
Ok…I love cute and adorable things. I just do. It is as easy and simple as that. I love flowers. I love just do. So, the other day, I was walking down the toilet paper/tissue isle at Walmart, my eyes noticed this adorable boxes of tissues. OH, how I had to have it. Now, every time, I need a tissue at work, I look at my box of tissues and smile.
Vieve found an adorable box of tissues, too. Her box of tissues is a cow. How adorable is that?
Do you have a box of tissues in your home or on your desk? What does the box look like? I would love to know.
~Michelle
I have a passion for creating cards. I absolutely love it. I love sharing ideas and teaching friends how create cards. Each month, on the second Tuesday of each month, I am able to share my passion with several of my dear friends. They arrive at my home at 7:00 pm and we start creating. We create. We laugh. We eat. Basically, we just have a lot of fun. I am grateful for my dear friends (my sweet mom is included when I refer to my dear friends) and the love that they share in creating cards with me. Tonight was no exception. We had such a great time. We created these three cards.
Life is great when you share your talents and passions with others. How do you share your talents and passions with people that you love? I would love to know.
~Michelle
I read a message on Facebook a little over a week ago that read, “We are making a camp craft with soda top tabs. Will all my soda drinking friends help us collect enough tabs?” My brain started turning…I could help a friend out with this. Surely, not by drinking that much diet coke but I have my ways. HA HA! I work with a lot of soda pop drinking friends and we could accomplish this in no time.
The next morning, I placed a notification on our company’s website asking for soda pop tabs and put a little bowl on my filing cabinet next to my desk. Within fifteen minutes, I had accumulated 431 soda pop tabs. Later that day, I received another 524. At this point we were up to 955 soda tabs. I can’t believe that we had that many turned in and it has only been the first day. HALUEIGH!
The next day, we received another 925!!!
My trusty amazing friend counted them for me…and counted them…and counted them.
Success!!! I hope that 1880 soda pop tabs will create plenty of bracelets. I am excited to see them when they are finished.
~Michelle
So…do you know those days when you just need something to prick you heart…to remind you that everything is going to be okay…to remind you that you are an amazing person…just to remind you that there is hope? Well, I came across this picture and it DEFINITELY pricked my heart. SO GRATEFUL!
Just needed this today!!!
~Michelle
My sweet little niece, Miss B, had surgery on Thursday. She is such a little trooper. She has had to endure so many things and it just breaks my heart to see her not feeling well. I love her so much. She truly is one of my heroes. I can’t even begin to describe the feelings that I have for this little girl. She truly is an angel in my life. I count my blessing every day because I have her in my life. She truly is such an amazing little girl.
Today, I had the opportunity to watch her for a good share of the day. Mostly we just snuggled and watched the Disney Channel. It is so unlike her to just snuggle and watch TV. She is usually playing her little heart out, smiling and giggling. But, today was just a snuggling and sleeping type of day. I hope that she starts feeling better soon. I need her little smiles and giggles. She truly radiates everything around her when she is happy and playing. I love you Miss B. Please get better soon!!
I do have to admit that snuggles are great but I would rather love to hear giggles. Most definitely!!
~Michelle
Guess what? Today is National Donut day!! How do I know this? Well…let me share. I didn’t have a clue that it was until I arrived at work. As I approached my desk this morning, I noticed that I had received a special treasure!!!
My dear friend, Vieve, had given me a delicious Dunford donut and a sweet little note. She is definitely thoughtful and knows the most unique facts. HA HA Aw… I love little surprises…they truly make me smile!! :) Thank you Vieve!!
~Michelle
One thing that I absolutely love…it is finding new recipes and trying them out. There is just something about the warm fuzzies that flood my whole body when I create something. I just love it. Well, I was chatting with a dear friend of mine and she mentioned that she was going to try a new idea for lunch. Salad Mason Jars. Have you heard of them? I hadn’t but I definitely was intrigued.
After asking a bazillion questions, I decided to try to create them on my own. SUCCESS!!!
If you haven’t heard about this amazing delicious goodness…let me share. It is a salad in a Mason jar. Seriously, in a Mason jar. You can chop up all your veggies and layer them in a jar and they stay fresh all week long. Do you think I am teasing? I am not. This is incredible. In fact, I am so excited about it that it makes me giggle.
Ok…so the key to pack the jars is to pack from wet to dry, bottom to top. I started chopping the vegetables that were wetter than the others and went from there. I started chopping and chopping. (I wished I would have taken a picture of my cutting boards that were on my counter. It definitely was colorful and pleasing to the eye). After I chopped all of the veggies that I wanted in my salad this week, I started to layer them in the Mason jar. I started with the dressing and ended with the lettuce. The key to keeping the lettuce crispy…it needs to be at the top away from the dressing. Oh…one thing that is important is to pack your veggies and lettuce. You don’t want to add any extra condensation from open spots. Does that make sense?
Bottom layer: Spicy Ranch Dressing
1st layer: shredded cheese
2nd layer: green peppers
3rd layer: Olives
4th layer: Garbanzo beans
5th layer: shredded carrots
6th layer: lettuce
I am on my third day and the veggies are just as crispy as on day one. I love this new concept (well, at least for me it is new). I grab it out of the refrigerator in the morning and take it to work. I don’t have to think about what I am going to have for lunch. It is already for me. At lunchtime, I grab my little Mason jar and dump out the ingredients.
Isn’t this awesome?! Aw…this just makes me smile.
Let me know if you try it, I would love to know what you put in your Mason jar.
~Michelle
I have vaulted ceilings in my home and I absolutely I love them. There is just something about them that makes a home feel spacious and if you know me, I love space. But there is one thing that I do not like about vaulted ceilings…it is changing the smoke detectors and the lights. They are too hard to reach. I don’t own a ladder…I am scared of heights so purchasing a ladder hasn’t been on the forefront of my mind.
Anyway, the light bulbs in my bedroom died. I tried every possible way to create a way to change them without a ladder. There isn’t a way. No matter how many books, boxes or crates you can stack on a stool (ok…I am pretty sure that I have been being watched after because I did not ever fall from any of these contraptions) will make you tall enough to reach the light.
After going days without having light in my bedroom, I decided that I needed to get a ladder. Not having sufficient light in my house frightens me like no other. Yes, you are learning a lot of my weaknesses in this little post. Anyway, I decided that I had enough. I needed light. So,I decided to borrow a ladder from my parent’s home. I drove over to their home and retrieved the ladder from their shop. As I was standing next to my car, I realized that the ladder wasn’t going to fit. I looked at the ladder…looked at my car…looked at my ladder. Hmm…what was I going to do? Not having light in my bedroom was freaking me out…just a little. I needed to figure out how to get this ladder into my car. My car is little but I was bound and determined to make it work.
Then, I remembered that my front seats in my car go completely flat. Aw…this is awesome. I lowered the passenger seat down until it was completely flat. I placed the ladder inside my car and it fit. Yes, it fit. I was so proud of myself.
Aw…I love my Acura. It brings a smile to my face.
~Michelle
So…where was this odor coming from?
I knew that there wasn’t anything inside my car causing this strange smell. I rolled down my windows and went about my day. After work, I got back in my car and noticed the same odor. I looked under my seats and found nothing. Every day for a week…yes, a week, this smell kept getting stronger and stronger. I couldn’t figure out where it was coming from. I wondered it was the wipes that I used. I opened the container and smelled them…they smelled simply delightful. The odor was not coming from the wipes. Where was it originating?
Throughout the week, I had friends in and out of my car. None of them had commented on the smell. Am I the only one that could smell this weird odor? As the week progressed, the smell (at least to me) was getting worse.
Fast forward 7 days…
I was at my parents home and we decided to go grab a bite to eat. Since my car was in the driveway, we decided to take it. I get into the drivers side (and I notice the smell) and then, my mom gets in the car, she immediately asks what that smell is. I told her that I cannot figure it out. I explained to her that I had been smelling something all week long and I can’t figure out what it was. A few minutes later, my dad gets in the back seat and asks what that HORRIBLE smell is. I told him that I cannot figure out where it is coming from. He said it is coming through the vents. He checked under the seats. He looked all around the back seat…nothing. I felt bad for my dad because the smell was worse in the back seat.
Later that evening, the smell was driving me crazy. I checked the under the seats again. I checked every where inside the car. I couldn’t figure it out. THEN…I opened my trunk!
I almost gagged.
I couldn’t figure out where the smell was coming from but it was AWFUL!! All I have in my trunk is a emergency backpack and a blanket. I looked closer. There was a plastic bag sticking from beneath the back-pack. I grabbed it and looked inside…it was full of hamburger. YES…HAMBURGER. The week before, I had gone grocery shopping. I thought that I had purchased some hamburger but couldn’t find it when I was putting my groceries away. I had checked my trunk and didn’t see it. It had been sitting in my hot trunk for 7 days smothered underneath my backpack. SEVEN DAYS!!!
I almost lost everything that I had eaten. It was SICK!!! The smell was HORRENDOUS!!! I gagged all way to the dumpster. I cannot believe that I had been driving around in my car with raw hamburger in my trunk for seven days. Seven warm days.
After a couple boxes of baking soda and vinegar…the smell finally went away. It was awful. Now…it was time for an air freshener. I was walking down the isle at Target and this adorable little pink flower smiled at me. It was perfect. It smelled amazingly delicious and it was happy. HA HA I needed a little bit of happiness after dealing with that disgusting mishap.
Note to all…make sure that you don’t leave any hamburger in your car.
~Michelle
It is that time of year again where chapters end and new ones begin. On May 19th, we hosted our Stake Seminary Graduation. It is one of those bittersweet moments. I am so sad to see these amazing girls leave the young women organization but I am so EXCITED to see the adventures that they are beginning. Some will prepare and leave on their LDS missions, some will leave for college, some will prepare for marriage and others will begin their careers. I know that each one of these special young women will become amazing adults, moms and leaders. They have such a very special part in my heart. I love them so much. I know that I have been completely blessed to be able to be a part of their lives. I know that they have changed my heart in such a way that I know that I will never be the same. I am grateful for their amazing parents who have raised them to be incredible and beautiful young women. I cherish their friendships and will always be grateful for their examples.
These young women are simply crazy. I love them so much!!
Aren’t they simply beautiful?
The whole gang!! These young men and young women are ready to conquer the world.
Our soon-to-be valiant missionaries!
I am glad that I have the opportunity to serve with these fine young men and young women. They truly bring a smile to my heart.
~Michelle
I woke up this morning with plenty of thoughts on my mind. I have some pretty important decisions to make and I knew that there was a place that I needed to go. It is a place where my heart smiles and my soul is comforted. I am grateful for the time that I spent inside this beautiful building today. It was much needed. Even though I haven’t made any decisions, my heart is a tad bit calmer and my mind is little clearer. I am grateful for the peace in my heart.
I love the smile that appears on my face when I see the temple. I love this special place.
~Michelle
