Recipe Dillema

I've been having quite the recipe dilemma lately.  For the last couple months.  What to do with all of these recipes?  I wanted a better way to store them.  I have paper recipes, from years and years, recipes from cook books, whole cook books that I kept for one or two recipes, recipes I liked from online, blogs, and pintrest - but I struggled with how to keep them all accessible.  And how to keep them all straight - what cook book was that particular recipe in?  What blog did I get this recipe from?  I spent too much time searching for a specific recipe I knew I had somewhere....

   So I knew it was time for a better system.  I thought about doing a paper version - printing recipes from online, copying them from cook books, keeping them all in one binder, putting them in sheet protectors, organizing them by category, all of it.  My friend did a binder version and likes it because she wants to be able to copy all of her recipes to give to her kids as they go out on their own.  I love that idea, but think there's a better way with technology surrounding us.  I didn't like the idea of having MORE to store, I wanted less.  And I didn't want to print all of these recipes from online - when the recipes online have awesome step-by-step directions and pictures.  I wanted those to stay just how they were.  So I didn't want paper. 

   I knew I wanted something online - it seems to be more enduring than paper.  So I thought about Pintrest.  I thought I could make a lot of boards that were very specific - chicken, beef, pork, cookies, etc. and keep them organized that way.  But then I didn't know how I would get my mom's waffle cookie recipe on there - can't pin it from somewhere.  I definitely needed a way to keep my old school recipes too.  So Pintrest wasn't going to cut it for me either.

     Then I thought a blog... I could enter in all of my recipes easily enough, but what about the online ones I love?  While I was at the cabin a few weeks ago I was lamenting my recipe dilemma to my sister.  I was tossing all of these ideas back and forth with her and we wondering if we could just copy/paste my favorite online recipe into their own posts?  So with her ipad, I went to a recipe blog, copied and pasted a recipe into a new post of her blog - and it worked like a charm!!  I knew, then, I had my new plan.  (I am still kicking myself that I didn't take full advantage of having Jen's blog in my hands... oh the things I could have posted!  All while she was putting kids to bed!  Even if it had been the recipe I'd copied in with the post title:  Will someone please bring me this?  Now?, or  simply:  This is what I'm thinking about right now.  Oh how I missed a golden opportunity of hijacking her blog...).

   So I started a new blog - it's very cleverly named From the Beehive - Recipes, because I'm original and creative like that.  And I went to town entering in my recipes.  I went through all my recipes and entered in the ones I love and make.  Chucked the ones I've had for 10 years and never made.  Then I went through my cook books - entered in the recipes I like, and chucked the books.  If I'm asked to make something I don't have a good recipe for, I know I'm not going to use my old ward cookbook to find a recipe - I'm going to go online, find one with pictures that looks good and has good reviews - so why bother holding onto a cook book I'm not going to use?  Then I started copying/pasting my favorite recipes from online sources.  In a few weeks I got them all entered.

   There are so many perks to this - and I find more every day.  The first being - less clutter (cook books and cook books and paper recipes kicking around), next I'm loving the labeling ability on a blog.  I can label them with whatever category I like (chicken, cookies, veggies, whatever I want) so then when I want a roll recipe I just click on 'bread' and there are all of my recipes.  No more hunting.  Another love - being able to add my own notes - how long to cook it in my oven, I like less butter, etc. - can add my own notes to online and paper recipes.  And another perk... someone wants a certain recipe of mine - I say, "get it off my blog" - take this one step farther and I think that Emily goes to college, and has access to all of her mom's awesome recipes!  Another perk - I have all of my recipes with my wherever I am because of my phone.  If I'm at the grocery store and I remember I have to take carmel bars somewhere - I have the recipe with me!  Love it!  Another perk I just found out about too - today Jen text me and said "see you have a lot of pork recipes - pork's on sale at Albertsons" - sale notifications because of my blog?  Bring it on!  I am loving this new recipe blog.

   As I was going through all of my recipes, I found this one, which is near and dear to my heart.  It's my chicken noodle soup recipe from Andrea (so love right there), but then on the corner Emily has written in a heart, Mom + Emmy = Love.  I love it every time I use this recipe. Me + Emmy definitely equals love.

 

 

Sorry it's sideways!

   

#52!!

This is my 52nd post this year.  You might wonder why that's neat ... Here's why:  for one of my New Year's resolutions I decided I was going to blog 52 times this year.  That is just once a week and seemed doable.  I decided to do it because my parent's are serving a mission and I wanted them to still see the day in and day out things of our family. I knew they'd be in the loop on the big stuff, like Bailey's baptism, it was the little stuff, like a lost tooth, I wanted them to be a part of too.
    Now, here's my guilt-inducing admission:  I'm not historically a New Year's resolution kind of gal. I used to make resolutions - but they were always very immeasurable and mostly unattainable. I'd make a goal, like never yelling at my kids again, blow it by 10:00 am on New Year's day, feel like a failure, and give up.  So after a few years of that routine, I quit making New Year's resolutions all together.  Now this fact probably keeps Derek up at night.  He's a huge goal setter - the poster child of goal setting.  New Year's is one of his favorite days of the year, because he lives to set goals.  He writes them down, posts them around the house, breaks them into smaller goals, makes them measurable, tells people to hold him accountable - the whole 9 yards.  See what I mean... poster child.  And here's he married to a non-goal-setting wife!  I'm telling you, I'm sure it causes him stress.  And he's probably set some goals to fix me.
  But even with all of this baggage, I set 2 goals this year.  Real, measurable, attainable goals.  And one of them was to blog 52 times in 2013.  And here it is - #52!  And in mid-October too, let me just point out.  My other goal (to go to the temple 13 times, get it, because it's 2013?) is in my sights too - just 3 more times this year.
  It's been a while since I could say I reached one of my New Year resolutions, but here it is.  Number 52 feels nice.  And no guarantees there's going to be #53... just kidding mom.

Bailey's Baptism

    Our sweet Bailey was baptized on August 31st.  She was so excited!  She had talked about her baptism for months before - and was all ready for the big day!  We had family come to town (John and Sandy, and Angey's family) and lots of family here to help celebrate her big day. 

 



    It was a Stake Baptism with 2 other kids getting baptized that day.  We were asked to supply a speaker on the Holy Ghost as part of the program.  We told Bailey that she could ask any whoever she wanted to speak.  She picked her uncle Lance.  Bay and Lance have always been best buds.  It turned out that our speaker had to be in our stake, so Lance wasn't able to speak - but he had been the  most gracious and excited to speak.  With Lance out, Tyler was next in line.  Tyler gave such a great talk about the Holy Ghost and I loved that he spoke at her baptism.  He did an awesome job. 

  After the program we went to the font (and our ward got to be first - always a nice surprise).  We were able to FaceTime the baptism for my parents who are serving a mission.  It was so great to have them there, seeing Bailey's baptism - it was the best! Bailey got to be baptized in a very special dress.  My mom had a dress made for all of the granddaughters to be baptized in - Bailey is the 4th granddaughter to be baptized in the same dress (with 2 more cute granddaughters to go).  Derek baptized Bailey, and then afterwards gave her the sweetest blessing while giving her the gift of the Holy Ghost.

 



Off to the font

 

Derek and Bailey

 

 





   We had lots of family and friends there to support this loved little girl.  For family we had my parents - kind of (thank you FaceTime), Derek's parents, Jen's family, Robb's family, Allyson's family, Lance's family, and Angey's family.  For friends we had Steve and Rakelle (our Bishop and his wife - Bailey's primary teacher); Ryan, Kristen and Perry (the other half of Bailey's awesome primary teachers, plus their sweet daughter Perry who is one of Bailey's BFF's); our great friends Kim, Herman, and Taeli; a counselor in the Primary presidency, Audrey; Collin & Shamarie (our great home teacher and his wife); and Sam and Janey (my Sunday angels - Bailey sits with Sam and Janey every Sunday during Sacrament meeting - it is so helpful to me since I don't have Derek's help - I LOVE Sam and Janey).  She had a packed room - full of love and support. 



 

Emily and Bailey

 



Catherine and Bailey

 



Bailey, Paul, and Paisley

 



Bailey and our bishop

 



Sandy, Bailey, and John

 



Lance and Bailey

 



Bailey and me - love her to the moon and back!

 

 

  Afterwards we had dinner at our house for everyone that came.  It was quite the rocking party with that many people - and a complete blast.  Thank you all for everything you did to make the day so special for our family!

   Special shout out to my sister Allyson aka the photographer of the day - she was snapping pictures right and left!  All of these pictures came from her - thank you!

 

Lessons in Service

This past week I've had two good lessons in service.  Apparently I need to learn about service don't I? 
   The first came Thursday while I was at the cannery.  About 2 weeks ago I got email reminding me that I'd signed up to work at the cannery for 4 hours.  In the past whenever I've gone to the cannery I've either gone with Derek or with friends - so that cannery was no big deal, didn't feel like service, and kind of fun.  Not a party by any means - but not bad at all.  This time was different.  It was a Thursday afternoon so Derek had to work and I didn't have any friends I knew going.  I got the email, and a sense of dread set in.  I just was really not looking forward to 4 hours of work, with a to-do list I'd rather be doing.  I'd think about the cannery every day, and just dread it.  To be honest it took me a week to email the guy heading up to tell him I was in.  I knew I was available that day, and I knew I'd end up going, I just didn't want to commit to it I guess.  So I finally emailed him back and told him I would go.  He immediately emailed back simply saying, "well done thou good and faithful".  I immediately emailed him back and asked if I was going to have any friends going ... I was really trying to find something good about this.  He answered saying he didn't have the list with him but, he assured me, I would have "the companionship of the spirit of service".  The spirit of service wouldn't want to ride with me or talk to me for 4 hours!
   Thursday came and I was simply glad it was finally here (a little overdramatic of me, I realize).  So off I went to the cannery - not thrilled, but there.  I got there and saw that I did have friends there, and lots of others from my ward.  It's always so inspiring to see people you know at the cannery, the temple, doing YM/YW, activity days, visiting teaching, etc. - just people in the act of service. 
   I got put on the assembly line working with a billion pears and a lady from my ward, that I don't know very well, worked across from me.  We talked a little, and I must have said something about  not loving being at the cannery.  She said, "I'm just happy that I'm volunteering at the cannery, and not the one who needs the cannery".  It really struck me as poignant.  Of course she was right.  I am blessed to not need the food from the cannery - how stressful it must be for people who need the cannery to feed their families.  Derek has a job that provides for our family.  Feeding my kids is a huge stress and worry I don't have.  And I am blessed with a healthy body that can work - can stand for 4 hours at an assembly line taking bruises off pears.  I am so fortunate to be able to work at the cannery, not need the cannery, and help others who are not as fortunate.
    Next time I'm at the cannery I hope I remember her wise words - I am lucky to be volunteering there.  I shouldn't see it as a chore, but as a way to help others, as well as realize my own blessings.
   The next lesson came today.   A month ago the sign up list went around our ward for families to sign up to clean the church.  Now, unlike the cannery, I don't mind cleaning the church at all.  It's quick, it's great service, and my family does plenty to dirty the church - so sign me up.  I had signed up for today - Oct. 5 - not realizing at the time that that would be the Saturday of General Conference.  About a week ago I realized that I we were supposed to clean the church on Conference Saturday.  Great ... I thought ... there goes my cinnamon roll breakfast and there goes my time to get a million conference activities prepared for my kids.  I didn't want to clean the church on Conference Saturday.  I tossed the idea around of calling the guy in charge and seeing if I could switch weeks.  Happy to do it any other week ... but Conference Saturday is kind of an unofficial holiday right?  I thought about calling him all week, but just couldn't muster the courage.  I felt like a squeaky wheel, and I felt like why should other people clean the church when I'm not willing to.  So in the end I never called.  And then in the 24 hours before we went to clean I started thinking that it might not be so bad ... getting us out of the house a little could be great (I really start to climb the walls Conference weekend with being home so much, with the TV on, and all of us in the same room for so long) and a little physical activity couldn't hurt either - get some wiggles out before a TV marathon.  And then I thought, isn't this exactly what President Monson would want?  For us to be doing service?  Isn't this what I was going to hear I should be doing while watching conference?  Here I know what I'm going to hear I need to do, and I'm trying to get out of it in the name of Conference??  And I realized that doing service, 2 hours before Conference was actually a wonderful thing to do to prepare for Conference - way better than cinnamon rolls, and way better than the "Color the Ties of the Apostles" I would be home printing.  Serving was taking what I've heard a thousand times at Conference and turn it into doing.
   So at 8:00 I was off with my 3 youngest kids (Derek and Tyler were in SLC to attend Priesthood session - Tyler's first Priesthood session and he gets to go!  Definitely a post in it's own right, but just in case I never get around to it!  How awesome is that?  His first time to see the prophet too!  I couldn't be more thrilled for him.) and we were off to the church.  We vacuumed and dusted and straightened Hymn books for an hour and it was all done. We had a great morning serving and cleaning the Lord's house.  We topped it off by going to get doughnuts before heading home to watch Conference.  There was no big awesome breakfast this morning, and I wasn't all the way prepared for Conference when it started, but I was so happy that we started our morning with service. 
   I'm not committing myself to anything, but doing a service project of some sort before each Saturday session of Conference would be an awesome tradition. 
   Though I apparently I have a lot to learn about service, I'm glad this week I was able to learn some.