Simplicity...at its finest

Friday, November 14, 2008

Dream Big Outing

A couple of days ago, my husband wanted to look at one of his "dream" cars, which happens to be the Subaru STI (I know there's a fancier name for it). I would give you more details, but unfortunately, I don't know much about it...other than the fact that it has a GPS navigational system built in, and other fun gadgets to give the car more power. I think it also has about 350 horsepower. When we got to the dealership, he saw one that he just loved, which is pictured above. He wanted to take it for a test drive just for fun, to really get a good feel for it. However, the one he had his eye on was one of the floor models, so we couldn't take it out. The salesman that was helping us, took a few pictures for us, so we can look at it as often as we want to. My husband says he will own this car sometime in the near future, so we are excited about that. It will give us something to look forward to.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Too soon for the Christmas tree?

It was just a few days ago, while we were driving home when we heard the first Christmas song being played on the radio. I thought… “Isn’t it too early to be playing Christmas music?” I said to my husband… “It’s just weird, since it was only days ago that we were celebrating the scary, haunted holiday we call Halloween.” Not only that, but many of the stores we enter now have Christmas trees decorated, and the aisles are filling up fast with everything Christmas. So, I had this thought. Is it too early to be putting up our own Christmas tree? In the past few years, I’ve always started displaying the Christmas decorations shortly after Thanksgiving. After all, we are still two weeks away from that day of Thanksgiving. But with the Christmas music being played and the stores executing the ornamentation of the Christmas season, it has me very anxious to begin unpacking the Christmas boxes even earlier this year. Since we have agreed to trim the tree with everything imitating the colors of Boise State, I thought it wouldn’t be such a bad idea, since football season isn’t even over yet. I’m just not sure I want to be the first one to put up the Christmas tree. I’m curious if anybody has any thoughts or opinions. It would be nice to know if anyone else has had these same thoughts.

Monday, November 10, 2008

Business Expansion Special Event

It was another great occasion for us in the business of financial services. My husband and I had the opportunity to attend the Business Expansion Special Event in Salt Lake City, Utah over the weekend. It really was special for us, since we were recognized and promoted as District Leaders for Primerica. It was quite an uplifting feeling when we walked across the stage to receive our plaque and shake the hands of some of the top earners of the company. It made us feel good about the things we’ve already accomplished, and it was great to see our team there with us as well. We had many people taking pictures of us, but unfortunately, I don’t have any to include with this post. When I do receive those photos, I will certainly display them. The event took place at the South Towne Expo Center, and it featured Glenn Williams, who is the President of Primerica Financial Services and Mark & Sandy Yozipovic, who are Million Dollar Earners with the company. The speakers we had the privilege of hearing from really put the opportunity we have to build a business into perspective, which represented the true meaning of Team Freedom and working together as a hierarchy in what is known as “The Greatest Opportunity of Our Lifetime”. I think back on our many struggles with the business in the past, and even though we’ve had to take a few steps back in order to take a few steps forward, it has been worth it. We know that there is not another opportunity like Primerica to help us reach our goals and dreams, so with each step forward, we will savor every moment, good or bad. As we were driving home from the event, I saw a billboard on the side of the road that showed a picture of Winston Churchill with one of his quotes that read “Never, Never, Never, Give Up” Pass it on. So, I thought about that for a moment, and I began picturing myself speaking at one of the big events for Primerica, and sharing our story with the many trials we’ve persevered, and the triumphs that we have enjoyed. The statement that reads “The Greatest Opportunity of Our Lifetime” would not be such a bold statement if it were not true. I believe that with all my heart. We may not always feel like doing this business, but we do it anyway, for the sake of our family and what we want to accomplish, as well as the crusade to help the many families who are looking for the light at the end of the tunnel.

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

A Colorful Season

The signs of fall are all around us. The leaves are falling, the air is brisk, the temperatures are cooler, and the days are shorter. Many homes are displaying the ornamental decorations of fall, with pumpkins, fall wreaths, bales of hay, corn husks, and cute little scarecrows adorning the entryway. I seem to have noticed all of these changes more suddenly this year, as I have begun taking my routine walks early in the morning, just before the sun rises. It feels good to be in tune with the colors of this season we call autumn. I just happened to look down as I was walking this morning, and found a bright red maple leaf that had fallen from a nearby tree in our subdivision. I picked it up, and it just looked so perfect. I had to take it home and get a picture of it. It reminds me of our little Autumn Blaze Maple tree that we just planted a few months ago. I can hardly wait for it to produce a leaf as beautiful as this one.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Happy Halloween!!

Have you ever wondered about the history of the Pumpkin?
It never occured to me, nor have I ever really thought about it. While I was searching for some fun Halloween content for this post, I came across a website about the pumpkin and its history. This is what I found to be interesting about the origin of the pumpkin:

References to pumpkins date back many centuries. The name pumpkin originated from the Greek word for "large melon" which is "pepon." "Pepon" was nasalized by the French into "pompon." The English changed "pompon" to "Pumpion." Shakespeare referred to the "pumpion" in his Merry Wives of Windsor. American colonists changed "pumpion" into "pumpkin." The "pumpkin" is referred to in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, Peter, Peter, Pumpkin Eater and Cinderella.
Native Americans dried strips of pumpkin and wove them into mats. They also roasted long strips of pumpkin on the open fire and ate them. The origin of pumpkin pie occurred when the colonists sliced off the pumpkin top, removed the seeds, and filled the insides with milk, spices and honey. The pumpkin was then baked in hot ashes.
Evidentally, this information, along with the history of the Jack-O-Lantern was documented on the History Channel, based on what I read. The website this information was compiled from can be found at: http://www.urbanext.uiuc.edu/pumpkins/history.html.
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup light brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup canned pumpkin puree
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
2 cups (12-ounce bag) milk chocolate chips, not semisweet
Nonstick cooking spray or parchment paper
Directions:
Heat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray cookie sheets with nonstick spray or line them with parchment paper.
Using a mixer, beat the butter until smooth. Beat in the white and brown sugars, a little at a time, until the mixture is light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs 1 at a time, then mix in the vanilla and pumpkin puree. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Slowly beat the flour mixture into the batter in thirds. Stir in the chips. Scoop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the prepared cookie sheets and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cookies are browned around the edges. Remove the cookie sheets from the oven and let them rest for 2 minutes. Take the cookies off with a spatula and cool them on wire racks. Here is the link for this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/george-duran/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies-recipe/index.html
These are my favorite cookies this time of year...Yum!

Last, but not least: The Jack-O-Lantern Quiz

http://www.blogthings.com/thejackolanternquiz/

Click the link above, to find out what your Jack-O-Lantern says about you!

What My Jack-O-Lantern Says:

You are a gleeful, exuberant person. You enjoy a good party, and you even enjoy a good brawl. This Halloween, there is no question what you should be... a Pirate! The candy you should give out: Peanut Butter Cups

Friday, October 24, 2008

Dreaming for the Future

Have you ever felt like your life could be compared to a maze, with the possibility of going many different directions, but you have no idea where you’ll end up? I guess I have been feeling like that lately. Of course, I have been blessed immensely with a wonderful husband, great friends and family, and a beautiful home to call my own. However, I know there are other opportunities that await me. Patience is a virtue, I tell myself. I long for many things…children of my own, fulfillment of my goals, and a greater abundance of freedom. With the struggle to have children, we have often discussed the thought of adoption. My husband says that if we haven’t had a child before he turns the age of thirty-five, then we’ll consider it further. That’s five years from now…I don’t think he’ll be able to wait that long. That may happen sooner than we thought. I desire to achieve many things in this life, many of which include, starting a cleaning service, a rubber stamp design business, and re-decorating projects in our home. I have a vision of what my office will look like when it is complete, a vision of my dream business, and a vision of what those ideas will allocate for us in our lives. It may seem unrealistic to many of you, but I’m still in the process of dreaming. I do plan to realize those dreams in the future. If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? The first place I will vacation is Tahiti. It looks like the most pristine, peaceful island I have ever seen. I will also visit Mexico, Australia, Scotland, Hawaii, Alaska, and Florida. This is what I mean by a greater abundance of freedom. I’ve learned that you cannot make your dreams a reality without hard work, perseverance, and loyalty to yourself and others. Patience is the key word here. I still have to work to develop the composure necessary to have all of the things I desire in my life, but as long as my thoughts are consistent with my belief to obtain all of these aspirations, it will happen. I’m always thinking about the future and what lies ahead for us, and I would encourage everyone to daydream from time to time. Your life is too valuable not to. By the way, if you would like to respond with some feedback on this post, please feel free. Tell me what you’ve been dreaming about lately. I would love your comments!

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Lots of Cookies!

COOKIES, COOKIES, AND MORE COOKIES!

It looks like we'll have an unlimited supply of cookies around the holidays this year, so I hope you enjoy skimming through the many choices! I received this lengthy list of cookie recipes from an email, and thought I would pass it on to you!