Table for Eight

I am SO excited: today is my first day back at BYU after a very very long break. (My last class was in April--before the Survivor Caramoan finale!) I love BYU. Absolutely everything about it.  So I'm really happy to have school begin today. I hope wherever you are today, it's a great day. Much love. Sidenote: This is an "old" photo taken last year on my first day of Fall semester at BYU. Elder Meehan took it. And, we heard from Elder Meehan late yesterday--so I thought I should repost it. (Psst: All's well in Indiana. He's doing great. Yayhoo!)

Yesterday while we were out shopping for school supplies, we happened upon this this little fella: University of Utah Gnome And with just one quick glance, I knew what I had to do-- message our friends Liz and Whittney and tell them I couldn't wait for fall football season and the rivalry between The University of Utah (Utes) and Brigham Young University (Cougars) to begin. Translation: I told them to watch their backs--because this guy was gonna kick that gnome's can this year. BYU Cougar mask. What is it about athletic rivalry that makes grown women (moms!) TP each others' homes, stick plastic forks in their lawns, and plaster our teams' merchandise ALL OVER one anothers' porches? I have no idea. But I love it. And I have Liz and Whittney to thank for that--because they are the ones who gave our neighborhood the "Spirit Of Prank." I mean I wouldn't admit this to them, but I'm not really that invested in any one spo...

Silver the service hamster, on duty. A few weeks ago my BFF Janae told me her hamster, Silver, has calming effects on their family/friends. To which I said, "Well, he's not a service animal unless he has a Service/ADA vest."  How does he know he's "working" vs. "playing"?  (If you missed my previous post, I've recently read a book about a service dog--so I'm basically a Google Expert on ADA service animals now. You can ask me anything!) Anyway, my point! I told our friend Kristi about Janae's hamster and how I wished I could find a tiny vest for Silver--as a joke for Janae. To which Kristi said, "Oh, I can totally make him one." What the what?   "People still sew and needlepoint? Kristi, it's 2013!" I asked thought to myself. Turns out they totally do! Kristi made my dream a reality! And it's the cutest thing you've ever seen: a bright orange vest, needlpointed name/job titl...

(c) Chef-in-Training, 2013. I know it's summer, so the last thing on most people's To Do List is "Make Cauliflower Soup." But this is INCREDIBLE cauliflower soup. Like, my kids can't stand cauliflower, but they get it EVERY time we go to Zupas . (PS: Zupas doesn't know me, but if you are in Utah, Nevada, and Arizona, they have locations near ya. Jussayin'.) Anyway, I have a huge bag of cauliflower, so we decided we are going to try and copy-cat Zupa's recipe for Wisconsin Cauliflower soup tonight. And just in case it doesn't turn out supa, we're making bread. (You can always fill in the gaps with a big chunk of bread. Carbs have a way of making everything A-OK.) My bread. (Tee hee) Here's the complete recipe, in case you'd like to try it, too. It's from Chef In-Training (which is a beautiful blog, PS): http://www.chef-in-training.com/2012/09/copy-cat-zupas-wisconsin-cauliflower-soup/ **** PS: In other...

Harriet with her homemade Service Dog backpack. (Made by Lu. Filled with First Aid supplies.) We have always been a pet family. (In fact, Dave brought his dog--a Golden Retriever, Barney--on our very first date.) There's just something about having animals that makes our family/life seem more normal and more fun. So over the years we have had cats, guinea pigs, fish, turtles and beautiful dogs. They have each been a huge part of our lives. (And the reason for our expertise in carpet cleaning. Ugh.) But my point! This past week I read a book about a "Service Dog" entitled "Comet's Tale," and as a result I learned that there's a whole world of animal care/life I didn't even know existed. Sure, I'd always known what a "Seeing Eye Dog" was, and our local library has a "Therapy Dog" that the kids can read with once a month, oh--and I remember from childhood cartoons that Saint Bernards carry bourbon in a tiny b...

Lu and me--many months ago (However, I did wear this cardigan yesterday, so it feels like yesterday. Ha!) About three or four times a week, I'll see a friend and we'll each say our normal "How are yous?"--only my friend's  "How are you?" seems to have much much more emphasis on the HOW . And at first I'm thinking, "I must really look like heck today--if they are putting that much emphasis on the HOW ." (Like, HOW on earth did you go outside looking like that, Dawn?) And that's when it hits me: this is a friend who reads my blog ... and since I haven't been blogging regularly, they're really wondering HOW I am doing . So, I just want to make sure everyone knows, I am doing well. I'm healthy and happy--and grateful for each day.  But, I'll be honest, life has been really wonky these past 5 months and it's made it hard to blog daily or even weekly sometimes. But I am doing well.  A...

Sunrise this morning. Utah. Today I'm sending all my love, strength, and prayers to my friend NeYoda. She was diagnosed with leukemia a few months ago and is receiving a long-awaited bone marrow transplant next week. (Amen.) NeYoda (aka Neola) means the world to me, so if you have any extra peace or prayers to shoot out into the Universe, will you please send one out for her today? Here's a little about her and how we became the best of friends: About three years ago I'd been cast for Survivor 21 and cut a few weeks before we were to leave for the game. I. Was. Devastated. Being on Survivor had been a lifelong/10-year goal of mine (My first audition was at age 30, and I was 40 at the time.). I just couldn't believe I was that close --and now my dream was gone. I didn't know what to do? So, I did the only thing that seemed natural: I went to the gym and met my friend Neola for a workout. (We'd been meeting at the gym for months as I prep...