'Tis The Season

Christmas is wonderful! The music, the atmosphere and especially the meaning of it all.  Last year my Young Women's Leader, Sister Allen, decided she was going to give each of us a special gift. This gift is my first very own nativity.  It's one of those breathtakingly beautiful ones too. This is one spectacular gift.  I think one of the things that makes it even more significant is that fact that she let us make them.  It is a ceramic set and so we spent the time cleaning, painting, and finishing them.  Because of this, we put a great deal of time into them...nearly a year actually.  We felt kind of silly working on a nativity in the middle of July! It was difficult to find time that worked for most of us laurels to get together and so that is mostly why the process was delayed. In the end it was rewarding to see all of our time create something that displays the true meaning of Christmas.  This is one of those timeless nativities and therefore it is a timeless gift that was given to me.

ATTENTION

If you do not have:

YOU MUST GET IT!!

This album is simply sensational!!!

I adore Michael Buble.

 His music is fantastic and I could literally listen to this music for hours. Everyday. 

Want it. Get it. Crave it. Love it.

Giving Thanks

For Thanksgiving this year we did something a little different.  It was just 3 of us!! It was kinda strange to not see a table smashed full of plates and cups....we actually added decoration(as seen below haha) to fill the table.  We made all the typical yummy Thanksgiving food: turkey, potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, etc... It took us about 20 minutes to eat and that's it then we looked over at all the food and it barely looked like we put a dent in it! sooo we had a couple turkey sandwiches the next few days.

My contribution to all this food was making the pie crusts....that was it. My amazing mother put together everything else! However I did put a lot of effort and concentration into those pie crusts and they turned out rather well if I do say so myself!

  Later that weekend we had Dan and Jodi and their family come visit and that's when we celebrated another Thanksgiving. Unfortunately I had to work so I didn't get to participate in that one.  But it was definitely great to see them because it has been a while since we've spent more than a couple hours with them. Carson and Briley sure were entertained the entire time since they had kids that played with them constantly! We all loved their visit

Holidays are great because you really think about what you have been blessed with and it gives you an opportunity to give to others in whatever way possible.  One thing I am especially grateful for is my wonderful family. They are so loving, fun, and simply fantastic!

12am : Breaking Dawn

The last book of the Twilight series is finally out on a movie! Unfortunately only Part one of two is out which means we have another year, give or take, until the final one comes out.  However, Breaking Dawn Part 1 was the first movie that I went to the midnight premiere.  It was worth it:) I have decided that deep down I am one of those crazy Twilight fanatics haha. And even though I love Jacob I have decided that I find Edward more attractive! So to this eventful night I invited my fellow friend Kelli!! I took her for an early birthday present.  It was a fun night full of kettlebells, Zumba, Twix, and hot vampires! I cannot wait for part 2 to come out!!!!!!

The college life before going to college

so yes I am still home at my parents. Luckily I have 3 jobs yet I still manage to have days like today where I have done absolutely nothing.  and that is no overexaggeration.
I sleep in a lot.  Sometimes I do it just for something to do because if I got up all I would have to do would be...nothing. When I want to be productive I set my alarm for 8 or 9 but in the morning I realize I didn't have much to wake up to so I just go back to sleep for a couple hours.
Occasionally I can fit in trips to the gym and maybe a class of zumba if my schedule works out.
I do the very repetitious check of Facebook oh about every 2 hours.
I search pintrest and youtube where sometimes I find cool things and songs.
oh and sometimes I get so bored like today I cleaned my room....who does that?!?
Then after checking Facebook and being disappointed I have no notifications I decide to post about my boredom on my blog where people who have busy lives probably don't have time to read this but if by some small chance they do please feel free to ask me to hang out or call me or send me a text. please:)

Visitors!

This last weekend, my brother Scott, his wife Brittany and their adorable baby Camden came to visit us.  It was So good to see them and let me tell ya, Camden is THE CUTEST baby EVER!!!! He's such a sweetheart and i just gobbled up every chance I had to hold him:)  

Unfortunately while they were visiting I had to work but I loved seeing them! We played the game LIFE (which I won by having the most money$$$) haha it twas a tremendous amount of fun though. Also Brittany and I made homemade Twix!! yum yum

It was sad saying goodbye to them because it is always unsure when the next time we'll see them is.  It may be a year from now for Christmas. I sure hope it's sooner!! Thank goodness for Skype. I love my family especially the cute cuddly little munchkins:] <3

Transform Yourself

Our attitude towards the trials in our lives completely define us. Our attitude in general is who we are.  

Road Trip!

This weekend my friend Kelli and I went to Rexburg to see our friends Kambrie and Kaycee who are at BUY-I.  It was a BLAST!!! Every night was so much fun and I met soo many new people! chances are I won't see half of them again but you never know.  

First we started it out with a nice little Birthday dinner for Kaycee and well we were starving!! So we went on over to Applebee's

This is thanks to our lovely friends that we hung out with after Applebee's.  I met up with my sister-in-law's brother Blake and his cousins and friends. Lemme tell ya they are CRAZY FUN!!! 

The next day was Arctic Circle before the Haunted Straw maze.

This is some of us after church

Then....we got back at some boys across the street while they left to church and took their couch cushions, remote and stools. Where they gunna sit now??? muahaha Never leave your apartment keys unattended

Overall this weekend was absolutely splendid!!! :) 

I cannot wait until I will be up there for good!

The Recipe for Happiness

This last week was General Conference and with that came the General Relief Society meeting which unfortunately I was unable to attend because I was working.  However, today I looked it up and began reading some of the things that were said there. There were sooo many good things said but this statement I believe is exceptionally important to remember.

"The happiest people I know are ... those who, while in pursuit of worthy goals, discover and treasure the beauty and sweetness of the everyday moments. They are the ones who, thread by daily thread, weave a tapestry of gratitude and wonder throughout their lives. These are they who are truly happy."

-President DIETER F. UCHTDORF

(I love this man! He is absolutely amazing)

Forget Me Not

So I Have this BEST Friend...

...and her name is Kambrie. We've been friends our whole lives. Literally. We have grown up together and you could practically say we're like sisters.  We fought over silly things, have gone on trips together, did weird things thinking we were funny. We've also looked out for each other and I know she's always there to listen. 

So I had this idea.  I wanted to get her a really meaningful gift for birthday/Christmas/graduation/birthday again/and Christmas again. (if you couldn't tell this gift took a lot longer than I expected.)  I wanted to paint a picture of us. Oil painting is one of my "developing" talents.   I really enjoy it, it just takes forever to get a painting done.  I finally got it done today! I framed it and everything and since it took so long to complete it  I didn't waste any time getting this gift to her.  

I think she loved it:)

Kam i just want you to know I don't often spend that much time doing things for just one person, but you are so important in my life that it was totally worth it.  I will miss you when you go to college. I guess it could be worse and we could be going to completely different colleges (AGGHHH I shriek at that thought!). But it will definitely be hard adjusting to not seeing you nearly everyday since I'm pretty sure that out of 365 days in a year we are somehow in contact about 350 of those days haha. and that's like every year of our lives! So pretty much, to sum it all up: I love Kambrie Nield :]

Food for your Belly

You know that time of year when all the bugs start coming out, the air gets a little bit cooler, and your garden begins to overflow with an unusual amounts of zucchini and tomatoes that you had no idea could come from a small plant? yes that time of year is NOW. As for our garden...let's just say it's a little wimpy haha. It only has like 6 types of tomatoes, some green peppers, and a few pumpkins. (That was all that survived). so with all of these tomatoes I have this recipe, it is divine, delectable, and delicious!!! By far my most favorite soup. I figure I'll be nice and share this recipe with you to help you use any of those excess tomatoes. Also, Bonnie asked for it :)


oh and it is easiest to double the recipe  


Tomato Soup
serves 4
2 cups peeled/blended tomatoes
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp flour
1 tsp salt
Dash of pepper
1/4 tsp celery salt
1 1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 tsp garlic salt
1/4 tsp basil


1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup Half and Half


Put flour and spices in blender after blending tomatoes, put in pan with butter.  Bring to a boil, simmer-add soda, Half and Half, and chicken broth.  Heat through.  ENJOY!!

Food for Thought

I love Sundays mostly due to naps, Skype-ing distant family, and of course the wonderful things I learn at church.  Today in Relief Society we had a lesson on trials, prayer, and enduring life because Life is Hard.  Our adorable teacher was so scared to give the lesson but she did a fantastic job and she even had a great recent experience to share that went along with the lesson.  So from this lesson I found some statements that are timeless and we can always remember no matter what stage in life we are at.

• Endure:  (verb) to suffer or bear patiently.

• "Sometimes the Lord calms the storm, and sometimes he lets the storm rage and calms his child."-John H. Groberg

• First pray for your desired blessing, second pray for understanding

I am so blessed to know of a gospel that has taught me I can communicate with my Heavenly Father.  He can make miracles happen or he will let you Endure trials, whichever one happens one thing is for sure: He knows what is best.

I'm Prepared for the Kitchen

I did it!!! I made one of them handy dandy aprons all on my own. (although my mother did help quite a bit).
Here is how it all started-One day I walked into Pier One because I love looking around at all the cool stuff that store can pack in there. I was actually with my sister-in-law Bonnie and we were using a gift card that my mom had there.  We found some cool stuff for Bonnie and her brilliant new house and I ended up finding THE most spectacular pillow I've ever seen. It was definately a "Jessica Pillow" because it had all of my favorite colors on it, how rare for such a thing to happen. Anywho, we were looking around and that is where I saw my inspiration. They had aprons in the kitchen section and one that looked super cute with all sorts of ruffles and such.  It definately wasn't the average apron, however, the only problem was I didn't like the fabrics it was made out of sooo I decided it couldn't be too hard to make an apron like this. Then off I went to the fabric store and found some more suiting fabrics that fit my style.  From then on I've slowly been working on it and whala!! Here it is:

Imma workin woman

Soo since most of you know I won't be attending BYU-I until January (which seems like centuries away!!!) I figured the best use of my time would be spent working and making money.  Apperently college isn't cheap....haha As of today I now have two jobs.  The newest and most recent of which is (insert a drumroll here)............................................................

Yes, mmmmmm :)

I'm so excited to start! I've heard it's such a fun place to work and what gets better than free frozen yogurt topped with delicious fruit or other goodies?! I can't wait to start this job!

I've also kept busy with another job at here:

The best part of this job is that I get to indulge in my overcompulsiveness of being organized by folding shirts into piles on tables and straightening things. hahah but I really do enjoy it because for some odd reason it is somewhat therapeutic! I also get to see lots of people that come through the mall PLUS I get discounts on adorable clothes!!! Sometimes it is a bad thing though because I end up spending my paycheck there but I just found out today that I can save my receipts and write them off on taxes as a "work uniform". Good news for me:] 

I find it quite a blessing to have two jobs right now, especially in our given economy.  It's also a blessing to have two jobs that work with my schedule and let me work with such great people. I love my jobs and so I guess they'll have to do while I wait to go to college.  I can't complain, although my friends will be having fun at college, I'll be makin the big $bucks$ at two wonderful jobs!

~Zumba~

Tonight I did Zumba for the first time in a while and let me tell ya...It is Invigorating!!!

It's one of THE funnest ways to get active plus you get to jam out to music:)

.  .  .

Zumba gets 2 thumbs up from me.



Must Reads!

Oh boy do I have something for you....

 

As I was sitting all day waiting for my pain from my wisdom teeth to go away (which it never did) I entertained myself with something I rarely do which is Read.  I didn't just read any random book, I happened to read the captivating first book of the Hunger Games which was reccommended to me by Brian and Bonnie. I read it in a matter of 2 days!!! I think that's a record for me to read that fast by choice!  So you know it's gotta be good and I highly reccomend reading them if you haven't already!!!

 They're full of adventure and suspense with a little spice of romance sprinkled in there...what book would be a success without romance right?! ;) hahah But seriously these are good! more than good, they're Superb!

I can't wait to get my hands on the second book...

Running--Anyone? Anyone??

Ok sooo I just saw this quote and it couldn't be more true!!! This is my newest statement to whenever my avid runner friends (Kaycee and Kelli) ask me to go running with them or that it's "Fun". Don't get me wrong, i like being healthy however i'll just find another way of doing it rather than running. this just made me giggle because we know it's all true...When in the world have you ever seen a jogger smiling?!? my recollection is 0.


So if you wanted to know something new about me it is this:
Jessica DOESN'T ENJOY running.
                         ^Insert 'LOATHES' here

um yeah that about sums it up!


p.s. Today i was reminded of the only thing that may be an exception to this post...That is if there is a Hot Mysterious Runner Dude who looks like a greek god running around town.  I don't care if he's not smiling while he's running! bahaha in that case i no longer Loathe running

Gotta love 'em

Here are a few kids I'd like you to meet! Avery, Aspen, Carson, and Briley. These are some of the most important people in my world.  It's so fun being an Aunt Jessica :] Actually it's more than fun, it's exceptionally superb!! Earlier this week Brian and Bonnie stopped by as they were traveling to a family reunion in Island Park and they also brought along with them two of the cutest little girls I know.  It's so fun being able to see them, especially since it's not very often i get the chance to see them since they live 14 hours away.  While they were here for a day we stopped by the falls which had tons of water busting over the edge and it was really pretty. I just love these little guys and they're sure to make me smile.  I especially can't wait for little Camden whom we're anxiously waiting to arrive any day now.  <3

The Beginning

So after years and years of contemplating on getting a blog (jk it took me a mere matter of minutes to decide I wanted a blog thanks to my fellow friends Bailey Whitehead and Gentry Funk), anywho I FINALLY GOT ONE! oh and another inluential person on getting this blog together was Kambrie.  She came over to be all "technological" and help me with my itunes which took just a few seconds then she practically told me to make one right then and there.  So off we went. We began and after about a century later it finally worked out.  Getting the background was a huge milestone we had to overcome and finally we got something to work.  Little did we know that the background was just the beginning of our journey.  We had to retry and retry again on just about everything else.  I think we've finally gotten it to the point where we're both satisfied. 
The main thing i was concerned about with making a blog was actually being an interesting person.  As many of you know...well let's just say i'm not the most entertaining individual so i'll try my hardest to have a interesting life with interesting events in it and i'll do my best to tell you all about these events in the most interesting way possible. So do me a little favor and pretend to be interested. Thanks:)