Pinterest

Hello my name is Candice and I'm addicted to Pinterest. Hello.
Ok, I'm not really addicted but I thoroughly enjoy the site. For those who don't know what I'm talking about, pinterest is a website where you can organize and save different websites and ideas that you have found. It puts everything in one place for you instead of filling up your bookmarks tab. It's wonderful! The problem I was having was looking through everyone else's ideas and saving them but not doing anything with them. Until now! I've started to use some of the ideas and I'm now ONLY pinning (that's what you call to save something to your pinterest board) things I know I will do.

The first pinterst thing I did was a salad in a jar.

I got this from www.newlyweds-blog.com. For the exact blog for this click here. I used a pre-made salad dressing (raspberry vinegrette). It was soooo good! I did put too much lettuce in so it was hard to shake the dressing around but it worked.

I made some homemade dishwasher soap. I got the recipe from here. It was easy to make and it does clean the dishes, but it leaves a cloudy "dust" on some of the dishes. I'm not sure if you'd call it a dust or what. I did some more reading about homemade dishwasher soap and read that if you have hard water or an older dishwasher, it's best to use liquid dishwasher soap. That's what I used before I switched to this. So we're going to try a new recipe. I got it from choosingsimplicity.blogspot.com. The exact entry is here. I haven't made it yet but hope to soon. I'm also going to make a homemade laundry detergent from a recipe I got from the Duggar family (19 Kids and Counting). I'll let you know how both are after I've tried them.

For Valentines day I made Hutch these babies,

They are incredible!!! I got them from Sixsistersstuff.com. For the exact entry go here. Hutch LOVED them. He has already finished what I made and wants more. I'll have to make some because they are really easy. You can also use the  Keebler Grasshopper cookies instead of the Girl Scout Thin Mints if you want.

Saturday night we had a pinterest dinner. I used only recipes that I've found from pinterest. The main dish was so incredible that we actually weren't willing to share it with others. We're eating it ourselves. We're like that. :) Heehee!! It was a Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken. I got the recipe from lifeasalofthouse.blogspot.com. For the exact entry go here. I can't stop talking about how good this is. I think I have told every single person I have seen how incredible this chicken is. I had a little noodle stir-fry to go with it that was really good too. It was noodles, green peppers, onions, mung beans, carrots and pinnapple with a soy sauce. Soooo good. If you have a gluten-free soy sauce for the sweet and sour sauce, it is gluten-free. Did I also mention that it tastes really good? Didn't know if I had or not. heehee!

To drink we had a Bubbly Valentine Love Potion.

It's really good and really easy to make. I got the recipe from here.
And the piece de resistance was dessert. We had fried peaches. Yes! You read that correctly, it was FRIED PEACHES!

A.Maz.Ing! I got the recipe from jamesbeard.org. Click here for exact recipe. No relation to my brother. Especially since his last name is Beardall not Beard. But this is totally something he'd think of doing. I didn't make the cinnamon ice cream like the recipes states. I just used vanilla. It's also not peach season so I used canned peach halfs and they turned out wonderful. It was a party in my mouth!

I've made a few other things that I have pinned on my boards but wanted to share a few of them. I love having new ideas for cooking, gardening, cleaning, organizing, decorating, etc. It's also nice to have it all in one place.

Happy Valentines Day!!

City Creek is Coming!

My company is involved with the construction of City Creek. City Creek is a new mall in downtown Salt Lake. It's going to be a beautiful mall. It's not everyday you can say a mall is beautiful. On Friday my co-worker took me and a few others on a tour of City Creek and it's going to be a great place to go shopping, walking and eating. Even a great place for breakfast...can you tell where I'm standing?

Look close. Yup! It's Tiffany & Co.! And yes, I do look gorgeous in my safety gear. Why thank you for saying that. :)

City Creek will be opening March 22 at 10 a.m. Be sure to come and check it out. You can also go to their website for more information at www.shopcitycreekcenter.com. I know this sounds like a plug (it is) but I'm not lying it's going to be a beautiful mall. You'll want to shop and hang out there.

Update

Agent P is doing awesome!! To see him you would never have guessed that he had open heart surgery. He handled the whole surgery process better than his momma did. He loved playing with all of the toys that the hospital had and he flirted like crazy with all of the nurses. Even when we were separated from each other (going with doc to surgery) he didn't cry; that's better than me, I cried. The surgeon said that when they got in there, the hole turned out to be bigger than they thought and they found a second one. They were able to fix both and the valve and his heart is perfect! Agent P was trying to get out of bed on the day of the surgery. He recovered really fast and really well. He loved to run around his hospital room even with IV's and monitors hooked up to him. It's been six weeks since his surgery and he is stronger and has more energy than before. He's tiring everyone and we love it! We're creating a book of his experience with a ton of pictures. Thank you everyone for your love and prayers. We know that he was truly blessed and is continuing to be blessed.

Last Sunday was P's first day in Nursery. Nursery is where children 18 months to 3 years can go during two hours of church so the parents can go to class. Agent P turned 18 months before his surgery but we kept him with us so he didn't get sick from other kids. He also kept him home while he was healing. He really likes nursery. It was a bit sad for us when we dropped him off, he didn't care if we were there or not. Didn't cry. Didn't notice we left. When I picked him up he didn't care if I was there or not. Silly boy! Here's a picture of him on his first day of nursery.

 I'm ready for nursery!! I'll be a perfect angel.

 Ha! Ha! I fooled them!! I'm going to drive those teachers crazy!! heehee!

Ok, maybe I'll be good. :)

With P's surgery last month, I have been terrible at updating my blog. I do apologize to my one reader. I'll try to be better. We had a wonderful Christmas. We were truly blessed by our friends and family. P had a wonderful time playing with his cousins. I had the opportunity to sing with the Midvale Stakes Messiah. I decided to be involved to help keep me from worrying about P's surgery. I also auditioned for a solo. I was lucky enough to be asked to sing the soprano solo "Rejoice, Oh Daughter of Zion." It is a hard solo. I was stressed for a while about it but felt good about in the end. It was a wonderful experience. I'm very grateful for my mom for working with me and helping me have the confidence to perform this song. Here is a clip of me singing it. Not the best recording but it works.

If you listen carefully, you can hear Agent P during the performance.

We've had a lot of ups and downs over the past few months but we're grateful for each and every experience. We're very grateful for our loving friends and family for supporting us and being there for us. We're especially grateful for our parents. There is no way we could have survived everything without them.

Comfort

I promise to type an update of Agent P and his surgery (he's doing great) but wanted to share this wonderful video. It seems that when I need it the most, I manage to find a talk, a scripture or video that really gives me comfort. It's like someone is watching over me and caring about me. :) Here is a wonderful video with a wonderful message that I want to share with you. It has brought me much comfort over the past few months.

Special Fast for Agent P

This Sunday, December 4 we are having a special family/friend fast for our little Agent P. We would love and appreciate any prayers and happy thoughts sent his way.

A few months ago at his 15 month doctors appointment, his doctor noticed a heart murmur. Just to be safe, she sent us to a pediatric cardiologist. He did an EKG and said it seemed abnormal so had us come back later for an ultrasound. That is where we found out that our little guy has a hole in his heart and a cusp on a valve. Normally to fix the hole in the heart they can do the surgery through a catheter but with the valve problem, they have to do open heart surgery. My sweetheart will be having surgery on December 14. He'll be in the hospital for 5-7 days then it will take about 4-6 weeks for his chest to heal.

The doctors have told us that this is a surgery that they do all the time but it doesn't completely soothe my nerves. My baby is having surgery and it's scary. Especially since he's small enough to not understand what will be going on. All we want for Christmas this year is a quick, healthy recovering for our little boy. We have faith in the doctors and in our Heavenly Father that things will turn out well with P. But the extra prayers, thoughts and good feelings sent our way are always appreciated.

Just chillin on the couch with Santa Mickey and his sippy cup. Love this boy!!

This Too Shall Pass

There's a time in our life when we have to accept what life will bring us and grow from it. I know there's a choice to not accept it, but that always leads to unhappiness and that unhappiness can spread like a disease to others. So the best thing to do is accept it. To accept fate, to accept what life has given you. But that's actually the hardest part. It would be easy to be bitter and upset at what trials you have to go through. But where's the challenge in taking the easy road?

The biggest and hardest step is acceptance that you can't change it. That life is going to be the way it is and there's nothing you can do. That's where I have the hard time. I don't like there being situations that I can't fix and make better immediatly. I read a quote that stated, "Accept fate and move on. Don't yield to the suductive pull of self-pity. Acting like the victim threatens your future." Self-pity is always the easy thing. I often times sit and cry to myself asking, "why me?" Why is this happening to us right now? Haven't we been through enough?" Things have happened in our life that just seem to pile one on top of the other until we think we'll burst if more occurs, then more happens.

When you've reached that low point in life, what do you do? Where do you go to? If you're like me, that's when the pride steps in. "I can't ask for help. I ask for too much from others. There are other people struggling, I can't ask for help." This is the moment that you have to kick yourself in the pants. Joseph B. Wirthlin, apostle of the LDS Church, stated, "Because Jesus Christ suffered greatly, He understands our suffering. He understands our grief...sometimes the very moments that seem to overcome us with suffering are those that ultimately suffer us to overcome." President Thomas S. Monson, Prophet of the LDS Church, stated, "At times some may think that no one cares-but someone always cares! Your Heavenly Father will not leave you to stuggle alone, but stands ever ready to help."

I needed the kick in the pants to remind myself of my beliefs and the love that Heavenly Father has for me and my family. Heavenly Father will never give us more than we can handle. If we feel that we are going to burst from trials and problems, that's when we need to remember that God thinks really highly of us. He gives his loving and special children the hard trials because he knows they will succeed. He will put others into our path to help us through it if we can't do it alone.

Dallin H. Oaks, another apostle of the LDS Church, put it wonderfully, "At times we may despair that our burdens are too great. When it seems that a tempest is raging in our lives, we may feel abandoned and cry out like the disciples in the storm, 'Master, carest thou that we perish?' (Mark 4:38). At such times we should remember His reply: "Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith?' (v. 40). The healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ-whether it removes our burdens or strengthens us to endure and live with them like the Apostle Paul-is available for every affliction in mortality."

Heavenly Father is the only one who knows what the outcome of my life will be. I can't control it anymore than I can control the sea. I've come to accept the trials that have been given to me. I might cry and complain still since they will be hard, I'm only human. But I will continue to remind myself that I am loved and will endure to the end. This too shall pass.