happy forf.

Have a happy, safe holiday weekend.

MC Commercial and Russian Place-mat

We did this while Maddie and Carson were at Ma’s house.

I helped my mom make this. She and my Dad are going to be Youth Conference mission presidents for the Russian mission. It is going to be a place mat with facts on the back and they are going to give each missionary in their “mission” one of these to take home.

…

…

Hiccup.

So, I suppose you are wondering how I could possibly be writing this post. As most, and probably all of you know by now, I had a change of plans, or rather a temporary change of plans. I did my whole MTC thing…4 weeks of amazing awesomeness that I will never forget. Really, I could go on about the MTC for days! What an incredible place!

But, I was having trouble with…yep, you guessed it! My FEET! My cursed feet! I had to get surgery on my left foot. All I know is that this must be in the cards for me. I will be honest and say I was not a happy camper to be released from being a missionary, but I am on what is called “medical release” so my missionary clock is not ticking. I will get to go back and do another 17 months. I can’t wait!

When do I go back on my mission, you ask? Good question! There are some requirements I must meet according to my Stake and Mission Presidents. The big requirement that I am working on now is being able to walk 6-8 miles per day for one week. As soon as I do that, the Stake President can make some calls and I can be sent on a plane as early as the next day. But, my Stake President, who is SO amazing, is big on me taking my time and not pushing it. I totally see why he would feel that way. He doesn’t want me to do too much too fast because I could hurt my foot further. Anyways, I have been doing my walking for about 2 weeks now and I am up to 2 miles. Baby steps, right?

So, I have been back since March 18th. Yes, the first week or so was pretty weird. (I can only imagine how weird I will feel after 17 more months. hehe.) The surgery that I had requires 6+ weeks of recovery and I was so worried that I would be sitting around for that time doing nothing. Well, the Stake President gave me some assignments, which I couldn’t be more thankful for. Some of the assignments are

1. Read Jesus the Christ by Easter
2. Continue my personal study
3. Go out with the Sister Missionaries

I did read Jesus the Christ, but finished it a couple days after Easter. It was so incredibly good! I am reading it again since my time was very much occupied by reading it before. I have continued my PS and have gained a better understanding of so many things through Jesus the Christ and my recent experiences. I still have not gone out with the Sister Missionaries, but I will. It has been a busy few weeks.  I have also tried to maintain the missionary schedule. I have good and bad days. All in all, I want to continue to progress during this time. I don’t want to jump back in to my mission and it feel unfamiliar. I want to feel confident.

It has been so great to study for me. I know I am not studying for my benefit, but for the potential investigators. What I mean is that I am not studying for a class or a test as if I were in school; I am studying so that I can become a better instrument in Heavenly father’s hands.

So, I feel like this time is not a road-block in my mission plans. It’s just a detour or hiccup. I can’t wait to get back out there.
PS: Adri just put in her mission papers and could get her call any day now!! I am so excited and I feel so blessed because I will get to go through the temple with her.

Siyanara Suckers!

I am off to the MTC in Provo. See you in 18 months. Don’t forget to write me.

what else is new…

Check out the scale giveaway on Roni’s Weight Loss Blog! I can win an Affordable Food Scale from Eat Smart and so can you! Click here for contest details!

small changes

I decided to get bangs today. It was something I really needed–a small change that makes my current situation more exciting. It goes in the same category as rearranging the furniture in my room and cleaning out a cluttered closet (check, and check!).

yum

I made the BEST cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning and I thought I would share the recipe with all.

I found it here but I tweaked it a little and I have a few pointers that helped:

• I double the called amount of instant vanilla pudding mix. I read that in the reviews and it was good.
• For step 1, I don’t have a bread machine, so I just combine all of the ingredients in step one and let the dough sit in an empty unheated oven (or any room-temp place) for like 20 minutes.
• For step 3, when it says “let dough rise in a warm place until doubled, about 45 minutes”, mine didn’t really double or rise much at all. I still do what the recipe says and give them the chance to rise but they never really did. Don’t worry because when they cook, they rise a ton and are INCREDIBLE!
• Keep an eye on them and don’t cook them too long or they get dry. Mine even *looked* a little undercooked, but weren’t.
  

I wish I could take credit for this recipe. However, my efforts did not go unnoticed. I think Collin might have hugged me out of gratitude.

New pup

We got a new Maltese puppy.

I swear I am not one of those “dog people”. I don’t think dogs are the same as humans, I don’t take Christmas card photos with dogs, and I believe it is morally wrong to put a dog–or any other animal–in clothes. But, who can resist that face?

She fell asleep on the remote control. Then, she fell asleep in the hood of my sweatshirt.

Carson’s Kitchen

Adri and Carson wanted to make a cooking show. Then, after realizing the cool stuff I could do to edit it, we got a little carried away. We added the other kids and even the dog. Then we added commercials and a blooper reel. This is easily one of the highlights from this holiday. I hope you like it!