C is for Cookie

I love sweets! I could eat candy, ice cream, cookies, cakes and anything with sugar in it all day long. When I was growing up we would have ice cream almost every night and I have had a very hard time breaking that tradition. Unfortunately I have gained almost 10 pounds since Christmas so I really need to back off. I just love baking cookies and sweets and I can't stop! I love looking at cooking blogs and I found this amazing recipe for chocolate chip cookies. They are thick and chewy and oh so freakin' good!!! I got the recipe from My Kitchen Cafe.

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes about 30 cookies

2 1/8 c bleached all-purpose flour (about 10.5 oz)
1/2 t table salt
1/2 t baking soda
12 T butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 c brown sugar (7 oz)
1/2 c sugar (3.5 oz)
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
2 t vanilla
1-2 c chocolate chips (I used a little more than half a package of choc. chips)

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-middle positions. Mix flour, salt, and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

Either by hand or with electric mixer, mix butter and sugars until thoroughly blended. Mix in egg, yolk, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients; mix until just combined. Stir in chips.

Form dough into balls (I use my handy-dandy cookie scoop) and place on parchment or silpat-lined cookie sheets.

Bake, reversing cookie sheets’ positions halfway through baking, until cookies are light golden brown and outer edges start to harden yet centers are still soft and puffy, 15 to 18 minutes (start checking at 13 minutes - these cookies really do need longer baking time than most average cookie dough recipes). Frozen dough requires an extra 1 to 2 minutes baking time. Cool cookies on cookie sheets. Serve or store in airtight container.

Tulip Festival

Last Monday Dan and I went with my sister and her kids down to the Tulip Festival in Woodburn. It was 80 degrees that day, the hottest day of the year so far, and it was fabulous. I was actually sweating it was so hot. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the tulip festival. It is just absolutely breath taking to see all those beautiful flowers in one place. When you are at one end of the fields you can look off into the distance and see Mt. Hood.I just felt so grateful for the beautiful place that I live in. Oregon is serisouly the most beautiful place in the world and I can't imagine living anywhere else.

Final Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince Trailer

So, I promise this is the last HBP trailer I will post. I had chills the entire time. It is definitely the best trailer yet. I can't wait!!! Only 90 days!!

DISNEYLAND!!!

We've been home almost two weeks and I am finally getting around to this post. The day after we got home I had all 200 pictures printed and in a photo album. I just didn't have time to do a post until now. As I was reflecting back on the trip it seems like a dream. We had an AMAZING time! We loved being there with the Daley's and everyday I find myself daydreaming about Disneyland. For me, it really is the happiest place on earth!I will share some of my favorite things about our Disneyland extravaganza.

• We decided to leave a day early and stay over in Sacramento. That was THE BEST decision we made. It was a long drive and I am glad we did it in two days.
  
• We LOVED the new Toy Story Mania ride at California Adventure. It is similar to Buzz Lightyear, but totally cooler. It is a 3-D ride where you play carnival type games. I wish they had fast pass because we only got to ride it twice.
  
• It was so nice to be in the sun and actually feel hot! I didn't bring any capris so I had to roll up my pants to look like capris, so I probably looked kind of dorky, but it was nice to be warm!
• I loved eating mint chocolate chip ice cream cones, the famous Dole Whip at the Tiki Room, Rice Krispie Treats covered in Chocolate and my favorite Sonoma Chicken Salad from the Pacific Wharf Cafe.
• We totally worked the fast pass system and kid swap. We went on so many rides it was awesome. It was pretty busy, but I don't think we waited over 30 minutes for any ride.
• I love the Dream's Come True fireworks show. It serisouly gives me chills. We saw it 3 nights and it is one of my favorite parts about Disneyland.
• I love having my arms up on Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. Dan thinks I am going to hit my hands and break my arms off, but it is too much fun.
• We were there for opening day of the new parade: Celebrate! A street party. It was a really fun parade with lots of music, dancing and interaction. It was awesome, but it doesn't compare to the Dreams Come True parade.
• It was so so so fun to be there with the kids and to make this wonderful memory as a family. I am so grateful for the Daley's and their beautiful children. They bring us so much joy and happiness. We won't forget Dawsie saying "Choo Choo" everytime a train went by, or Kelsey being so excited to see the White Rabbit's house (she was the white rabbit in her school play) and Jenna being a little apprehensive to go on Grizzly River Rapids and then loving it SO much that she went on it again.
• It is probably the best Disneyland trip yet, and we hope to have MANY more!

The Soundtrack of My Life

So, I was thinking about music today. I went to ward choir practice and I just love the song we are singing. I started thinking about how much I like music. Sometimes I wish there was a soundtrack playing in the background of my life. There are definitely songs that bring back vivid memories of days gone by. So, I spent this afternoon looking through my CD's, iTunes and Playlist to find some of those old and new songs that I have loved or currently love. I literally laughed and cried looking through and listening to all these songs. I got VERY carried away and what I thought would be 25 songs turned into 50 songs. I might even add more if I think of any others.

I know that no one is going to listen to this playlist except me, but maybe you will find a couple songs that bring back memories to you.

I will share just a couple memories with you:

• Your Song- Elton John: TOTALLY reminds me of breaking up with my first boyfriend (wait I was 14 so I should not have had a boyfriend!!)
• Sunday Bloody Sunday- U2: Reminds me of when I worked at The Iron Blosam Lodge at Snowbird from ages 14-16. I worked Saturday's cleaning hotel rooms and I would bring my big CD player and blast U2.
  
• My Hero- Foo Fighters: Oh so 9th grade! One night The Elite Five (don't ask) was hanging out in my room and we turned the lights out and I had a flashlight and I was singing this song. Let's just say I was wearing pants with huge, I mean HUGE, pockets and were 40 inches around at the bottom. Everytime I think of this song I have to laugh.
  
• Comptine d'un Autre ete- From the movie Amelie: I haven't even seen this movie, but we used to listen to it when I worked at the Sharper Image so it reminds me of those good old days at TSI.
  
• No Cars Go- Arcade Fire: Reminds me of last summer. I listened to this song at the pool, in the car, at home and on the plane to and from Nauvoo. I LOVE it.
  
• 100 Years- Five For Fighting: This song is on our wedding video and I always think of our wedding day when I hear this song. I think of that first summer we were married and how wonderful it was.
  
• Pinch Me- Barenaked Ladies: Just reminds me of Fall. I don't know what it is. When I hear this song I think of driving down Highland Drive, down the hill from Bengal Blvd. and it just feels like fall.
  
• Motorcycle Drive By- Third Eye Blind: I used to listen to this song as I walked to the bus stop in Middle School. I had this black Adidas hoodie that I ALWAYS wore and I would put my Discman in there and listen to this song.
• A Thousand Miles- Vanessa Carlton: When my missionary was in the MTC I really loved this song. I was driving my red Ford Taurus at the time and I remember trying to get to the same day MTC shipping place by noon and I would be going REALLY fast and listening to this song.
• Fred Jones Pt. 2- Ben Folds: I LOVE Ben Folds. I would say he is one of my all time favorite artists. This song reminds me of driving home from Cedar City when I was going to SUU. I would listen to this CD over and over again on that drive.
  
• The Piano Man- Billy Joel: I listened to this TAPE, yep that's right a cassette tape, when I went on a trip to Yellowstone with my brother, mom and dad. It also reminds me of seeing BJ in concert when I was a Sophmore. I think he was drunk!
• Martha My Dear- The Beatles: I LOVED LOVED the Beatles when I was in 7th/8th grade. It happened to be when the Anthologies came out and they had all those specials on TV. I was a freak and I loved them to death. I can remember listening to this particular song on Saturday afternoons when I was supposed to be cleaning my room.
  

OK, I could go on and on. This was so much fun for me to think back about my life and all the different songs I have loved and that have made memories for me.

YAY for music!!!

Cheese is funny

On Sunday night "The Dan's" were playing computer games and my sister and I watched the first episode of Amazing Race. I haven't laughed so hard in a long time. The teams had to carry 200 pounds of cheese down this big hill and it is absolutely hilarious. If you need a good laugh take the two minutes to watch!

8

8 FAVORITE SHOWS
1. The Office
2. The Biggest Loser
3. Ugly Betty
4. American Idol
5. Little People, Big Word
6. Jon and Kate Plus 8
7. Survivor
8. The Bachelor

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY
1. Answered the phone at 7:30 AM and found out I would be subbing at a different Head Start classroom.
2. Made spaghetti for dinner
3. Hung up my countdown chain for Disneyland
4. Took dinner to a lady in my ward
5. Played Chocolatier 3: Decadence By Design
6. Watched American Idol
7. Played Duck, Duck, Goose
8. Worked on my monthly report

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO
1. Going to DISNEYLAND!!!!
2. Seeing WICKED!!
3. Summer- I love being a teacher :)
4. Seeing Kelsey, Jenna and Dawson on Presidents Day
5. Camryn's Baptism on Saturday
6. Eating ice cream while I watch Biggest Loser on my DVR tonight
7. Dan's birthday on Saturday
8. Going to bed

8 FAVORITE RESTAURANTS
1. Cheesecake Factory
2. Cafe Rio and Costa Vida
3. Bocelli's
4. PF Changs
5. The Garden (top floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building)
6. Training Table
7. Gustav's
8. Cheap Mexican

8 THINGS ON MY WISH LIST
1. one BILLION dollars
2. All my kids to come to school so I can take a class picture
3. For Dan to finish school so we can finally have a REAL life
4. A clone of my nephew Dawson so I can keep him for myself
5. To lose 10 pounds without diet and exercise
6. To be on What Not To Wear
7. To sleep in EVERY day
8. To live in something bigger than 700 square feet