My Amazing Nephew

There are a lot of reason of why I love my awesome nephew Liam Duerden. Here are some of them:

• A couple of months ago we went to the Bean Museum at BYU and there was a cougar and a wolverine next to each other (like BYU and UVU). Liam turned to me and said "Isn't that ironic that they are next to each other like that?". Remember this kid is 9. After I asked him if he wanted to go to BYU or UVU to which he responded " I want to go to Harvard to study egyptology Lindsay. Didn't you know that?"
• He always comes up to my room just to hang out with me in my room when I'm doing homework.
  
• I still get in trouble fooling around with him at the dinner table.
• Metalica is his favorite band.
  
• He knows all of my friends and their names and asks about them every once and a while.
• Rocks out to Cake with me.
• He lets me put moose in his hair. Afterwords his mother (my sister Shannon) always treatens to put my future children in flannel if I continue to do that. I told her I don't mind as long as it's Armani or Gucci.
  
• At a vigil we went to last year he wrote 'peace' on the sidewalk outside the courthouse.
• He's always making up jokes of his own.
• When I told him I was writing a paper about sculptures and had to pick me favorite he said "Why don't you do The Thinker? That's supposed to be good."
  

Do Something!

Today could have been a very bad day for me. My cell phone will no longer hold a charge and my charger is broken! That means no cell phone until I have time to go and buy a new one! Which could be tomorrow, Wednesday or maybe not even until Friday! I I feel all are way too far away. Along with that my cable isn't working and I was not able to DVR tons of programs tonight that I was going to watch throughout the week. Instead of just giving up and heading off to bed I decided to make myself feel better by making a new skirt. This was perfect because I plan on wearing skirts (along with shorts) all summer and needed some more. So why not make one out of other clothes I'll never wear instead of buying them all new? I think Stuff Happens ( T.V. show on making your home and other places more eco-friendly) episode on the closet and recycling clothes might have also helped influenced me. This was the end result and it turned out better than I thought it would. What do you think? And how do you beat away your stress?

Things that Kept Me Going this Week

Homemade Blueberry Muffins

Text Messages

Good Friends

Stumble

New Music

Late Night Car Rides

My Ballet Class

My Photo Project Idea

What a Fun Weekend

I have a very fun weekend! On Friday Warren and I went ice skating with Marie, Nate and their kids, Sofie, and Ryan. It was so much fun! The kids were very excited and it was just nice to have fun. After Warren and I went over and played cards with Marie and Nate (like every Friday or saturday night) and Warren made chocolate chip cookies for us all.

Fun just skating with Nate

Hitting the ball around with Ryan

Sofie being super cute as always

Pushing Sofie around on the ice

Warren is such a good uncle!

The girls just hanging out

Sofie with brownie on her face

Three boys just chillin

On saturday I spent around 5 hours shopping and baking for an amazing dinner! I made Saag Gosht (beef with spinach and tons of different spices and an amazing sauce over rice), Saag Roti (flat bread with spinach) and an amazing chocolate and lemon ganache tart. It made my kitchen a mess and took tons of multi tasking but in the end it was all worth it. I love making food for my friends and family.

Yesterday was like every rainy sunday. I cuddled up with a blanket and a book for most of the day and then went over and watched half of Shawshank Redemption with Warren while he did homework. Over all it was a pretty good weekend. I’m so glad I was able to spend it with the people I love most and make other people happy. I hope you all had as good of a weekend as I had.

A Little List of Things I Love

1. Full Moons (no matter how cold it is outside)
2. The feeling of cold rain on your skin when you are sitting in the hot springs!
3. The feeling of a clean sheets and a perfectly made bed after getting out of the shower.
4. The smell of old books.
5. The accomplished feeling of finishing a book.
6. Fire Topaz, Emeralds and Jade.
7. Long hugs with good friends.
8. Late nights when deep conversations flow easily.
9. Sobe Nirvana
10. New writing books, completely blank and full of possibilities.
11. Looking through cook books and baking books.
12. Making something new all out of scratch.
13. Telling someone how I really feel.
14. Making people laugh.
15. Going to local shows, museums and cafes.
    
16. New pictures with old friends.
17. My family sitting in my living room and laughing at how absurd we all are.
18. Helping someone who really needs it.
19. Black and White movies.
20. Trying food I’ve never had before.
21. Sharing something funny with a good friend.
22. Gossiping with my mother.
23. Singing “You’re nobody til somebody loves you” By Dean Martin at the top of my lungs.
24. Awesome bookmarks.
    
25. Ripped jeans and worn out converse.
    

How Much is Too Much?

There are so many things in the world that people allow themselves to become absorbed in. For some it’s books, drugs, money, arts, food, shoes and relationships. I once had a friend who was so obsessed with herself that she destroyed not only her looks but also every single relationship she had with anyone close to her, all in an attempt to fit into those size 2 jeans. Another example of this is a family member of mine who loved alcohol so much that he had to leave his pregnant girlfriend to go to jail for over a year. Another one of my friends loved his school, career, and money so deeply that he is now living in a huge house all alone. I see this time and time again and it’s always made me wonder that if you love and care about something too much, can it only turn around and stab you in the back? I don’t think so. But I do think that there should be an equal balance in all things. It’s just like a diet, you need to eat more than just fruits veggies and water. You need to balance it out with grains, meats and more. I think in life we all just need to look at what we love and realize are we loving the wrong things too much? So tomorrow, a new and great day, I am throwing away half my clothes and asking my sister out to lunch.

Be Creative!

One thing that I love more than anything else is being creative. Now when I say creative I do not mean create a sculpture or write a symphony I mean being creative in everyday little things. One way I love to do this is by making brand new desserts that i’ve never tried before and inventing my own special ingredients. For example 2 years ago after being inspired by Food Network and my cousin’s constant nagging for me to make him something I created for the very first time, my own recipe for an amazing dessert. It was 3 different kinds or tarts. The first was a blackberry raspberry tart, the second a apple and cinnamon tart, and the last and most famous was the pear and lemon tart. It’s such a rewarding feeling to bake something out of scratch and to see the beautiful treat placed on perfect little plates, but my favorite part is to share what I made with others. I think that is one of the reasons why I do creative things, is to share them with others. I began this year making homemade cards and that’s the perfect was to be creative and share. So in remembrance of that great day and my love of all things warm and edible tonight I will create something new! Keep updated, I will post pics asap!

Fondant Birthday Cake I made for my friend last week

Sit, Stand, Walk, or Sprint?

Sometimes things just end. They may do this for the better or worse, but in the end you have to make a decision about how you are going to deal with it. This past weekend has been very emotional for me and I have been trying different things and keeping busy in an attempt to figure things out for myself, or maybe to avoid having to do so. I have tried listening to music in an attempt to wrap myself in nostalgia, throwing myself into groups of friends, sitting alone with a book that I can’t seem to ever get through a page, running until I almost collapse and driving around for hours. The more I sit and think the more I am forced to think and deal with myself and my emotions. But I know that the world is constantly moving and if I just stand still I will be continually falling behind. So do I sit, stand, walk, or sprint?

The most beautiful place I have ever been to.
The Redwood Forrest

Today

Things never turn out how you expect them. Life is changing all time time. Today I feel like time is moving uncomfortably slow. I find that every song I listen to today has lyrics that match my life. The weather outside is beautiful and it makes me want to say or do something profound to change the current views of the world. I know that there is a spot open for me to fill when things in my life finally begin. This excites me, but the process of finding my grove in the world scares me more than anything, because I don't know if I can make it, and I don't know if I'll be happy when I get what I think will make me happy. I don't even know what makes me happy. I guess it would be to be surrounded by people who I love and love me. I wish I could see my future and then I would not be as scared. But I think I'll survive. We all do if we try.

Molten Lave Cakes and more!

I love to bake and lately it feels like I've been baking more than usual but I love it so much. These past two weeks I have made (all from scratch) Cinnamon rolls, Chocolate Chip Cookies, Apple Cinnamon muffins, Samoas Bars, Molten Lave Cakes and more. I love baking, but I also love to cook. Today for dinner with my family and Warren I made an amazing Pesto Cilantro Lemon with chicken and noodles with aged cheese on top. It was amazing! Now I am sorry to keep bragging but here are some pics I took for my cookbook scrapbook I am making. Enjoy!

Inside look of my Molten Lave Cake

Molten Lava Cake

Homemade Girl Scout Cookies: Samoas Bars