Table for Eight

The cast of Survivor South Pacific (S23). My tribe, Savaii, is on the R side of the photo. We're wearing the lighter side of the color wheel. LOL! Seriously friends, every time I see myself in a Survivor South Pacific picture , I'm DYING! I keep thinking one of these times I'll look for myself and I'll be GONE! (And S21 cast member Holly Hoffman will be in my place--whom I love and adore, BTW.) I say this because, silly as it may be to some people, being on Survivor really was a DREAM of mine (for a VERY long time). And I'm just so grateful my dream became a reality (no pun intended). Anywho, this has been an exciting month, being able to share the experience with family/friends AND to feel the support and love of so many people. I feel like everyone on Planet E deserves to have an experience like this--a kind of out-of-body, fun and funny, exciting, fulfilling experience. (And you can. I really believe that . Just fill in the blank: MY dream IS __...

For most of my life I've been a "yes" person. I don't know if that makes me a people-pleaser, kind-hearted, or just plain silly, but those have been the ABCs of me. Up until my 40th bday. It was then that I had some things going on in life that took all of my time, making it impossible for me to say "yes" to the things I would usually say "yes" to. Now, at first I felt horrible saying "no" to these things. I even felt kind of guilty about it. You see . . . I like helping in the classroom. I like filling in for a friend at work.  And I like church activities. BUT . . .  saying NO was also super LIBERATING. (Smile.) You see, saying NO actually gave me this kind of freedom that I have never felt before.  There was even a kind of relief. (I'm so-not kidding.) And . . . saying NO also gave me some much-needed time to refocus my attention on my family and myself. (I think sometimes you/me/we can "lose ourselves" and our f...

I don't know how long it's been since I've read a print-based newspaper--I get so much of my news online. So it surprised me when our friends Jeff and Janae said, "Saw your family in the paper today." What paper? I had no idea. And immediately I was transported back to first grade--the LAST time I can remember seeing my picture in a newspaper. (That picture featured me and 20 other girls from my Bluebird Troop working on a parade float. A Winnie the Pooh float, to be exact. PS: I think my parents bought 212 copies of that newspaper. They're still stored in the shed at my Great Grandma's house, I'm pretty certain. It was Big Time News back in 1977.) Anyway, my point! Jeff and Janae gave me their copy so I could share it with our kids and Dave-man . . . who were SOOO excited to see themselves in the paper! There's just something WAY COOL about seeing a photo of yourself on that smudgy black and white printed page. I think everyo...

This summer was one incredible adventure for me .  I learned so much.  (Most of which I am writing about.) But probably THE most important thing I learned on my adventure is how important it is to CHALLENGE  ourselves in life.   Everyday. And so, our family is officially on a mission--to CHALLENGE each other in new and fun ways. This weekend, "The Challenge" came in the form of a 5K Mud Run and obstacle course in beautiful Cache Valley, Utah (Logan area). It was so flippin' fun--and challenging. And rewarding. And funny. PS: If your family wants to do something like this, ya can! Just google the phrase "mud run" and you'll find a race near you, for sure! They're so dang popular. (PS: Next Challenge on our list: A Foam Run !) Jr. Zu. Random participants. Britney Spears. Section of the course. The course (you run in teams--which is WAY cool!). The course finish (a huge slide lead up to this...

Sunday seems like a good day to share a recipe. And it seems like an even better day to share a recipe that's been shared with me by two of my favorite girlfriends: Janae and JenJ.  It's a joint-venture kinda recipe.  Janae shared it with JenJ. JenJ made it for me. Then, I told Janae I loved it . . . so Janae gave me homegrown zucchini so I could make it myself. (NOTE: I got the better end of this deal all-around. Thank you Janae and JenJ.) So now I share it with you: Janae and JenJ's Zucchini Soup Ingredients * Serving size . . . depends on how much ya share. 3 cups sliced zucchini 1/2 c water 1 Tbs onion 2 buillion cubes (chicken) 2 Tbs flour 2 Tbs butter Pepper 1 cup milk 1/2 cup light cream (I often use milk) Directions 1. Cook zucchini, H20, buillion, and onion until mushy. Puree. 2. Melt butter, add flour to make paste. 3. Pour in milk and cream; whisk. Stir until thickened. 4. Add pureed zucchini. (It's super easy and pretty fast...

Press-photos from Survivor South Pacific. Press photos from Survivor South Pacific. I look at these photos this morning and I'm still in shock : I can't believe I was able to live  one of my dreams! And you'll probably hear me say this a lot, but this year I learned how truly important it is to have DREAMS . BIG DREAMS! In fact, I think the BIGGER the dream the better.  Because the stretch and growth that come from pursuing that dream will be SO WORTHWHILE. Promise. (And, Happy Labor Day Weekend.)

Life gives us more than enough reasons to frown: poverty, war, disease, the economy, global warming . . .  But here's my deep thought for the day: laughter releases us from the prison of sorrow, negativity, and frowny faces. If only for a few seconds, when we laugh, we feel relief. We feel joy. I love that. And I love the people in my life who help me LAUGH (and smile) every day. They remind me that even though life does give us real reason to frown,   life also gives us greater reason to SMILE (And PS: Now, you can laugh/smile because I think I'm a motivational speaker. LOL!) (And PPS: This week's posts are reworkings of previous posts here on The Deseret Housewife. I'm recovering from oral surgery--yeowch--and haven't been able to do my normal writing routine.)

NOTE #1 :   This excerpt comes from a book the Book Fairy gave me ( thank you! ),  Life is a Verb , by Patti Digh: *************** Let Go of the Monkey Bars "When I let go of what I am, I become what I might be." --Lao Tzu   Sometimes taking flight takes letting go. Letting go takes faith. Faith takes letting go. It all requires wings. And so it goes. As Kierkegaard said, "Without risk there is no faith, and the greater the risk, the greater the faith." Flying begins with a leap of faith. At the end of each year, I ask myself two questions: What do I want to create in this New Year and, perhaps even more importantly, what do I want to let go? This year, I needed to let go of a project I had been holding on to, one that was lucrative but deflected my attention from my real work. I needed to really let go, not pretend to let go, or hold on to vestiges of it to keep me comfortable. It was a letting go that sent me flying into that space between t...

Thanks to everyone who entered the King-Size Candybar Giveaway! We had 31 entrants on the blog and three entrants via email (who were unable to post their comments for one reason or another). That gave us a total of 34 entrants. And according to Random.org's awesome random-ness function, lucky NUMBER 2 is the winner of our contest! (PS: I assigned a number to each entry AS they came in. Rank order. First person was #1. Second was #2. And so on.) Congratulations to our winner: LUCKY #2 Shanna! 10 King-Size Candybars coming your way!

WARNING: Today's post is kinda yucky.  In a medical kinda way. You may think that photo above is Alvin the Chipmunk. But actually, the above photo is ME. Well, me for the past 48 hours. Let me 'splain, Lucy. You see, I broke a molar tooth this past summer, and due to circumstances beyond my control, I wasn't able to have it fixed right away. So, Friday was The Day to have it repaired (code word = oral surgery). And, in true-to-me-form, the repair was not an easy one. No. We didn't get to go with Plan A (get a crown). Or Plan B (put in an implant). Or Plan C (put in an implant and have a bone graft). No. We went with Plan D (Put in an implant, have a bone graft, AND a sinus "lift.") (Apparently, when there's a lot of bone loss, your sinus can kind of "sink" into the area where your tooth was/is. So, the dentist has to RETURN the sinus to its place of origin.). Now, if you know me, you know that I can't stand the dentis...

Usually, I reserve the word LOVE for people, animals . . . things that can love you back. BUT, I do have two exceptions. I absolutely LOVE Granola and Bread! That's right: I love granola. And I love bread. (BTW: I'm pretty sure they love me back.) And since it's the weekend, I thought it would be fun to share a couple granola recipes with you--with hopes that you will LOVE them, too. (We'll post a bread recipe next weekend.) Now, I've already shared my love of Elvis Granola with you--banana chips, dark chocolate, peanut butter. YUM! (See archives for August 16, 2011.) PS: Not my Elvis Baby, but so cute! And Elvis Granola is probably one of my Top 3 Favorite Granola Recipes of All Time. (I love that phrase: "Of all time." Hyperbole rocks!) So, now I'd like to share MY OTHER TWO FAVORITE GRANOLA RECIPES OF ALL TIME : 1) Coconut, Chocolate, Cherry Granola  from KeepItSimpleFoods 2) Aunt Melissa's Granola fro...

Okay, so this is going to sound super silly, but I have to write this down (if only for myself): It's never too late. Never too late for what, you ask? Never too late to change. Never. No matter what your life is like or has been like, change is possible. I know, deep. I'm deep. (OMGoodness that makes me laugh.) So, how do I know this truth? In other words, what qualifies me to play a Life Coach on The Deseret Housewife Blog? Well, here's my story . . . for a good portion of the last 30 years, I lived a pretty sedentary life. Meaning, I wasn't one for working out and exercising. Sure, I had brief spells of exercising--a 5K here, a Walk-a-Thon there, using barbells at home for a month or so--but overall, I wasn't really challengeing myself physically. That is, until about a year ago, when for some odd reason my brain just locked onto this idea that I was going to push myself physically. Now, mind you, I've made dec...

I am so thankful for all of the kindness and support I've been given this week . . . I just HAVE to have some way to return the kindness . And while my first choice was to bake a loaf of bread for each person I know, my second choice seems a little more "do-able" (And, doesn't require a Food Handlers Permit.): A King-Size Candy Giveaway! Entry Guidelines 1. Contest ends at 11:59pm on Monday, August 29, 2011. 2. One winner will be selected using Random.org . 3. Winner will receive 10 King-Size Candybars. 4. Winner must be in Continental US (for shipping purposes). 5. Family, friends, and previous Giveaway Winners may enter. 6. One entry per email address. Simply place a comment in the "Comment Section" for THIS POST (see below). 7. All information is kept confidential (aside from posting the first name of winner on the blog). PS: Happy "ALMOST" 12th BDay, Jr! Can't wait for tomorrow!

One of our youngest daughters (we have two the same age), has THE most beautiful, incredible, curly hair! I had never really seen anything like it . . . until they announced the cast of Survivor: South Pacific. Because one of the cast members HAS her hair, too! I love that! PS: Tomorrow is GIVEAWAY DAY . (It's been such a long time since I've held a giveaway. I can't wait!)

One of my first loaves of " Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day ." Love their recipes! A about 8 years ago, I went to an "Enrichment" class at church in California. The class was taught by our bishop's wife, a woman I absolutely love and admire (Sister Tanner). I signed up for the class because SHE was teaching it. I really didn't know what we'd be learning that night (these monthly classes run on all kind of topics--service auctions, birthday dinners, game nights, etc.); I only knew that I needed to bring a pie-tin if I wanted to participate. And so, I went to class pie-tin in-hand--and learned . . . to bake bread. And the rest, as they say, is  history . What I'm saying is, that night really changed my life. And I'm not exaggerating. To date, I think I've made bread--rain or shine, feast or famine, sickness or health--at least once a week EVERY week for the last 8 years. Learning to make bread was like a revelation to ...