Who Loves a Good Book and a Good Contest?

I do! Just go to Welcome to My World of Dreams and check out her contest. You'll win a big tote full of books! Yeah!

Personal Progress Pep Rally

Wednesday night I was in charge of a Personal Progress Pep Rally to get the girls "pumped up" for Personal Progress. It turned out to be a great success and I think the girls know that Sister Elmer will do just about anything to get them excited for Personal Progress. So this is what went on. I had all the leaders dress up in some sort of sports attire since this was a pep rally. All the leaders were my cheerleaders and we turned on some jock jams and had them come running out being all crazy and funny. Last but not least they announced "Coach Elmer" and I came running in doing the "running man." My husband just rolled his eyes when he heard that part. So I did a little schpiel about being their coach for Personal Progress. It's my job to motivate, give them "plays," cheer them on, etc. Here is a picture to represent my wonderful coaching skills. I have no idea who she is, but she looked like she had good coaching abilities.


They are their own individual teams and their parents are their teammates. So we kind of went on that kind of theme for awhile. Then I taught them about how Personal Progress helped me with the "game of life." I took a few of my projects that I did as a young woman and then told them how it helped me later in life. I gave some "plays" on how to accomplish personal progress. Afterwards I had them each talk about a project/experience that they accomplished and how it helped them in their life. I threw out little foam balls as a handout so they could "catch the vision" of Personal Progress. Well, the girls really liked the pep rally and all the leaders helped ham it up so it was really fun. I actually really like working on Personal Progress with the girls since the program is way different than when I went through Young Women's. Plus all the goals help me be better. You just can't lose! And the leaders don't have to do all the goals to get their recognition so it's a little bit easier to accomplish.

Guess Who Went Pee Pee in the Potty???!!!!

ETHAN!!!! I can't even believe it! Ethan has been pulling at his diaper a lot lately and he'll undress himself all the time. Whenever he does that I always stick him on the potty to see if he's doing it for a reason. And you know what? He went potty!!! I am so proud! Afterward he got a few M&M's in a cup and lots and lots of praise. It might not happen again for awhile, but as long as he's interested...I'll take it!

Eventful!

First off I have to say that I read all the blogs that I subscribe to in the mornings. It's kind of like reading the morning paper, but better since it's all about my friends or my interests interests. I love it! Anyway...on to my post about yesterday...

Yesterday was a packed day filled with lots of fun! My husband is a project manager for the construction of On the Border Mexican Restaurants right now. Along with PM position comes a few fun benefits like free food. One of the restaurants had their opening day yesterday and we got a few tickets to come in and let their workers practice on us. I invited one of my lovely friends and she even drove the 50 minute drive with her 2 kids to go with me, thank you! So everyone at the table got a different menu and you have to order off the menu you get, that way they can practice every dish back in the kitchen. I ended up with the Soup and Salad menu so I got the steak ensalada. Pretty yummy! The kids got kids meals and free sundaes and we got chocolate empanadas...soooooo good! The service was great since they're learning, it felt like we had 50 million people serving us, but that's alright with me. Plus, everything is free so you can't go wrong.

After lunch we drove over to my parent's house since it was sort of on the way home and we went swimming. The kids totally missed their naps, but they had fun doing it. We swam, ate popsicles, played with Nanny, and watched a movie. All of us didn't end up getting home until 5:30. Needless to say I was pooped. But the day wasn't over yet...

I headed over to the church for one of those small group enrichment nights. They had one of the girls in our ward that teaches cake decorating at Hobby Lobby come teach us how to decorate cupcakes. It was very informative since I brought all the tips that I had and she taught me how to actually use them properly. I think some of my cupcakes turned out pretty cute. I just wished her classes weren't on Wednesday nights so I could go!!!

Tonight is my big personal progress motivational pep rally so I'm getting ready for that today. Wish me luck!

I'm a Winner!

I just won a gift basket from Stella Maternity on the website. Go check out their websites for great ideas and giveaway! Thank you Stella Maternity and Opionated Parent!!! P.S. I'm not pregnant

Chicken with Bacon, Roseomary, and Lemon

Here is the recipe to drool over!

Ingredients:

5 slices of bacon chopped
4 Chicken breasts
1/4 cup flour
1 TBL butter
salt and pepper
4 cloves of garlic thinnly sliced
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
1 TBL fresh rosemary chopped (for my Texas girls if you need any, come get some from my garden)
2 TBL fresh lemon juice
1 cup low sodium chicken broth

Okay, simply ingredients not simply directions.
-Place the bacon in a skillet and cook over medium heat until crispy. Place bacon on a paper towel lined pan. Pour off excess fat, but reserve 2 TBL of bacon fat in the pan.
-Pat the chicken dry with paper towels, salt and pepper both sides. Dredge chicken in the flour and shake off the excess.
-Add the butter to the pan with the bacon fat, when the fomaing subsides place chicken in the pan. The chicken will cook 3-4 minutes per side. When the chicken is done place it on a plate covered with foil.
-Add the garlic, rosemary, and red pepper flakes to the pan and cook for about 2 minutes or until the garlic is brown and a little crispy.
-Add the lemon juice and chicken broth to the pan and boil for about 4 minutes, until it's glossy.
-Return the chicken and bacon to pan and cook for another 2 minutes

This chicken is so flavorful and so yummy. I got this recipe from the America's Test Kitchen, best of 2007 cookbook so g out and get it if you enjoy this recipe. I swear every recipe in there is delicious.

New Book

The library notified me I had a little surprise waiting for me on the hold shelf...New Moon by Stephenie Meyer. It's the second book in her 3 book series and I'm already on page 130. It should be a good one! I have a lot going on this week so it may take me awhile to read it, but I'll try. Tomorrow I have my Monday house cleaning rituals and then I have to chain myself to a copy machine for the rest of the day. I'm trying to make these cute little personal progress folders for all the girls and it requires A LOT of copies. Wish me luck!

P.S. My parents came over today for dinner since they didn't have their usual 12:30 church time because of stake conference. Well, Ethan's usual nap time is at 1, but we let him stay up to see "Nanny" and "Papa." Well, around 2:30 we tried to get him in bed, but that didn't really go well. He crawled out of his crib every time and I swear each of us put him back in at least 5 times. I just let him stay in his room until 4 and then we let him out. Eventually he fell asleep on me at 6:30 which hasn't happened since he was a very little baby. How crazy! Anyway...he went to bed at 6:30 so hopefully I won't be getting a 5:00 wake up call. AHHHH! But at least we had some very very scrumptious food. I swear this chicken recipe that I have is the absolute bomb! No joke! It's called Chicken with Bacon, Rosemary, and Lemon. Can you get any better than that? Oh and Ethan had way too much fun with Nanny and Papa. I'm sure that's exactly why he didn't want to go to sleep.

Validation Empowerment

In my opinion there is just something empowering about feeling validated. I don't know what it is. But I have felt that a lot lately. I was talking with my good friend and we found out that we have very similar feelings about all sorts of things. And you know what?! It feels so nice! Sometimes I feel like only I feel a certain way about things or that I notice a certain thing about life, but I feel like I'm the only one that thinks that way. I feel like maybe I'm crazy for thinking about it that way, but when you find out that someone has that same exact opinion...it's almost liberating. It's great to find someone that shares the same outlook on life, but can also be themselves and share their other opinions. Maybe I'm not making any sense, but I'm sure someone out there understands. So anyway...I know she'll read this anyway, but I want to tell her thanks for being such a great friend.

A Blog-abration!

This looked like fun and she has some cute stuff on her website so check this out.

Lack of Updates

I haven't really had any blog "material" this week. We haven't been doing too much since Ethan has been under the weather with his "poopy day" and then he had a fever of 101 and now he's got a head cold and pretty bad cough. Where the heck did all this come from? My guess is nursery, but who knows. I've just been treating his symptoms since a doctor would just tell me..."it's just a virus, let it pass." He seems to be a little better, but every day is different.

We've also been pet sitting for my parents so Ethan and I have been driving down to my parents' house and spending the day down there so we can take care of the cat. That's about all that we've been doing.

I've been working really hard on all the things that are coming up in Young Womens. Man, it feels like once you get done with one thing on Wednesday, you have to turn around and plan your next thing for Sunday. This is what's on the docket for what I'm in charge of so let me know if you guys have any ideas:
Wednesday Aug 22- Personal Progress Motivational "pep rally"
Wednesday Aug 29-Personal Progress activity- has to be planned around the value "Knowledge"
Sunday Sept 2- Chastity Lesson
Sunday Sept 9-Personal Progress spotlight devotional on Faith
Wednesday Sept 26- get ready for Young Women in Excellence
****Wednesday Oct 3- YWIE*** (this is the big one!!!)
I'm also trying to get all the girls' Personal Progress records updated and get them focused on accomplishing some goals. And I'm trying to get my "secretarial" stuff all organized as well. It's been quite busy upfront since they have been without a secretary for months so it's hard playing catch up.

My parents just got back into town last night so I think my mom will be coming up to see us soon and give Mr. Ethan a much needed haircut. His hair is like a big poof on his head. His hair isn't curly, but it definitely doesn't stay down...ever. It doesn't matter how much gel or mousse I put on it, it's got a mind of it's own. Ethan has also learned how to take pictures with his own little camera so he walks around the house with it and says "cheese" all the time. Here's a picture that I took of him while I was teaching him how to take a picture. He's so cute.

Oh and I have been caught up in the best book ever...Twilight...you have to read it. I just started yesterday and I'm already on pg 350. Go check it out!

Great Lip Gloss

I got an e-mail from a friend that told me about E.L.F. cosmetics and that everything is a dollar! I guess Oprah did a little something on her show about it too so I went over to check it out. I ended up purchasing a few things. I got 2 eye shadows, 1 eyeliner, 1 tinted moisturizer, and 2 lipglosses. Everything ended up being $11 with shipping (about 2 bucks a piece). Well, my little package came yesterday and I tried out one of the lipglosses. Oh my goodness! I am in love! It's the plumping lip glaze and it's "sugar peppermint" flavor. I don't know what it is, but I love tingly, minty lipglosses. So go check it out and get some good deals. I'll let you know how I feel about the other stuff I got.

One Shirt Wonder

I have gotten really tired of wearing a million shirts all at once these days. Don't you hate how you buy a shirt, but you have to put a "Shades" shirt underneath it because it's either too low, too short, doesn't cover your arms, or it's see through. I swear just about every shirt has to have a "Shades" shirt with it. I am fed up! It is way too hot here in Texas for me to be wearing 3 layers! I have now been on the lookout for what I call "One Shirt Wonders." These shirts are hard to come by, but it helps with at least shedding one layer. Check out some of my finds Now I know the pictures don't do them justice, but it will have to do. All of them came from Macy's. The red and white polka dot and the peachy printed were under under $10 and the blue one was $17. Try that out! I love wearing them since it's just one shirt and it makes it really comfortable and not so hot. Let me know if you find any cute one shirt wonders.

New Skills

Ry took this picture of Ethan after I put one of my long shirts on him. It looked so much like a dress and Ry wasn't too pleased about it, but he took a picture anyway. He's so cute! Anyway...On top of learning how to undress himself and de-diaper, Ethan has accumulated a few other new skills to top the charts. First off he has conquered our door knobs. E has been able to open the easy handle kind since he could walk, but now he's able to open the round knobs. He can get into any room he wants now so I've invested in a few knob covers and we'll see how long those will last. Maybe a few months...I hope. The big skill Ethan now can do is climb out of his crib! I have to admit I'm surprised it wasn't sooner, but now that it's happened a few times I can't believe it. Ry and I will have to start looking for a big boy bed now and get him all switched over. I think it will be nice to be able to put the crib away for awhile and get him all transitioned into a big boy bed. We'll see how it goes. E has also cut 2 new teeth. Now we just have to get through the 2 year molars and then we're in the clear. I'm scared to know what's next on the list of firsts. As long as it's not stitches, broken bones, or a trip to the E.R. then I think it'll be okay.

Poopy Day

For those of you who do not like to read about poopy entries then please stop reading now. But for all you moms out there...you'll understand. So Ethan has been pulling down his pants and taking off his diaper and then he'll poop. I was talking to my mom about this and she suggested just investing in a potty chair since I'll eventually have to get one anyway and see how he does. Well, I bought the potty chair and now Ethan has super bad diarrhea. I swear I have changed him at least 10 times yesterday and and just about that much today and it's only 1:30. His poor little bum is red and I keep putting a ton of diaper cream on it. For now the potty chair is hanging out in our bathroom and we'll give it a shot once he feels better. I was really expecting to start potty training in about 8 months, but if he's doing stuff like taking off his diaper and pooping on my floor then something has to change. Either he goes on the potty or I'm duct taping his diapers.

I've Been Tagged...Finally!

I swear everyone and Joe's dog has been tagged except me, for whatever reason. Finally my friend Kaitlyn did the honors so here we go:

Jobs I've had:

-Nanny-every summer for all 4 years of high school

-LPN (license practical nurse) at a nursing home while I finished school

-RN- Labor and Delivery

-Mom




Movies I never get sick of:

Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

10 Things I Hate About You

Napoleon Dynamite

-Meet the Parents


Places I've called home:

West Lafayette, Indiana

Newark, Ohio

Toledo, Ohio

Hazelton, Pennsylvania

Jackson, Tennessee

Anderson, South Carolina

Toledo, Ohio...again

Provo, UT

Santa Clara, California

Dallas, TX

...that was a lot

Favorite TV shows:

Top Chef

So You Think You Can Dance

Birth Day

Most Food Network Shows


Vacation Spots:

-Cancun

-Bahamas

Australia


Fav food:

-Thai Food

-P.F. Chang's Mongolian Beef

-really tasty soups



Favorite Websites:

-Facebook

-Google

-Bloglines

-All my blogs that I read


Places I'd rather be:

-In bed sleeping
-Utah eating some Cafe Rio and shopping
-Exploring a new country
-Visiting my old stomping ground in P-burg, Ohio


Now I get to pick a few other friends to "tag". Have fun, and I can't wait to read everyone's answers. Sorry if you've already been tagged.

-Hilary
-Carly
-Liz D.
-Barbie
-Molly
-Amanda

Wedding Day

I got back from the wedding late last night so I didn't have time to post. As I said before, I went with my dad since my mom is out of town. The wedding was for his analystMelissa and you can read all about it on their site. It was held at Perkins chapel at SMU campus in Dallas. The picture above is not the chapel, but a really pretty building on campus. The chapel was very beautiful, but I have to say my favorite part was the organist guy. He was decked out in these white friar type robes and he really got into his playing. He could just go on and on playing all this prelude and not even look at his music, he was just looking around the chapel at all the people coming in. I swear he was sneaking in modern music here and there. I swear. I so wanted a picture with him, but I couldn't get enough guts to ask him, it would have been hilarious. Anyway...after the ceremony they had the reception at the Belo mansion in downtown Dallas. It was beautiful! As we were waiting to be seated for dinner they had all these appetizers going around and I tried the most awesome thing ever, it was an artichoke wrapped in some sort of cheese and then it was breaded and fried. So bad for you, but it was heavenly! I totally have to figure out how to make those, a great party treat! The dinner was buffet style and they did the coolest thing. They had a potato bar where they would scoop mashed potatoes in a big martini glass and then put this great chicken on top and then you could choose the other toppings that you wanted. It was really cool. They also had a big salad buffet and then chefs cooking all sort of meat right in front of you and doing all sorts of flambe. The grooms cake was my favorite! It had a chocolate/peanut butter filling!!! Can you tell I was loving the food here?!

After cake the band started up and the band was great. I could have just stayed and listened to them all night. Quite a fun night, especially with my dad. It's always fun to be able to just spend time with him and let Ryan have "Dad" time too with Ethan

A Wedding

I don't know how I get to land all these fun excursions with my dad, but I'm not complaining. Some of you remember at Christmas time when my mom was recovering from her surgery and my dad has his big company Christmas party and I got to go as his date. Well, I ended up meeting one of his analysts and her fiancee at the party and got to know them. Well, now mom is out in Utah visiting family and his analyst is getting married today. So guess who gets to go as his date? ME! My dad was going to just go by himself, but his analyst was nice enough to tell him that I could come with him. I checked out the invitation and it was incredible! I'll take plenty of pictures of the event.

Crazy Giveaway

So I found this giveaway at 5 Minutes for Mom and decided it was worth a shot. I've been lucky already, maybe a little more luck could come my way. They are giving away a huge TV from Best Buy so check it out and give it a try. If you win then I get permission to come watch it sometime!

It Is Finished!

After 3 days of non stop Harry Potter reading, I am finished! My house has suffered greatly because of it, but I loved the book! I have always loved the Harry Potter series and each time I finish one, I want another one. I am so sad that the whole Harry Potter series is over, but at least I have the rest of the movies to look forward to. Today I am trying to put my house back together and finish up some things that I'm working on for Young Women's. And then tonight we're having a little Girl's Night get together so I made some famous "Saltine Cookies" that my friendCarissa always made for me all the time back in high school! Love them!

I'm a Winner!

While I was away on vacation I found out that I won two contests on some of my favorite blogs that I visit regularly. The first prize I won was an awesome t-shirt. It just came in the mail yesterday and I LOVE it! It's from Pro Mom Couture and they have tons of cute t-shrits to choose from. I e-mailed them a thank you note and they said that you can type in "vicki" in the promo box and get 20 or 25% off. So if you would like to order one there's a little incentive. The one that I got is the black one the Eagle on the front that says "All American Mom". The other thing that I won was some sunscreen gift set from Super Goop. It's great sunscreen for kids, especially those with sensitive skin. I'm usually the last one to win things, but I guess I had a lucky streak last week. FUN FUN FUN!