A belated birthday gift

For Dan's birthday (in April!) I got him a gift certificate (Groupon is my favorite) to Max Zip Line in Provo Canyon. We had gone before and had a great time so I figured it would be a good birthday gift date thing. Well with work and school and a wedding over the spring and summer we didn't really make time for such adventurous outings. Unfortunately the gift certificate expired at the end of September so by the time we got through our first few weeks of school we were kind of pressed for time in the zip line department.

We eventually made time for our date (easier said than done with our schedules) and had a blast! It had been rainy earlier that day and we missed our scheduled time but they were super flexible and let us jump on with the next group. It was kinda cold (we went about 6:30 pm and it was snowing in the mountains higher than us) but with thick enough coats it was great! (Although I definitely needed thicker socks/shoes) We zipped through the trees and changing leaves of Provo Canyon and chatted with the super friendly staff. We'll definitely keep going as long as there are Groupons.

PICTURES

You should definitely check out Max Zip Line in Provo- they have a groupon right now for a night tour. We did it last year and it was super fun!

On choosing a wedding dress

Confession. I bought my dress before Dan even proposed.

We got the ring custom made and it was taking forever to get done and my mom was in town so we said to heck with it we're getting the dress. I told Dan the night before we went shopping for the last time that if he was going to back out he'd better do it then cause we were bouts to drop monies on a dress. To which he replied why would you think I'd back out. He had a point. 

Back on track

Choosing a wedding dress wasn't super difficult for me. I knew what I liked and what I didn't like (lace yes but not too much, beads yes, but not too much, mermaid NO, princess No, A-line maybe, Full skirt- yes, tulle yes, etc.) We'd looked at wedding dresses before and I had found some on Pinterest that I LOVED.
ex:

There was one especially that I just wanted so badly. V-neck, beaded fill, full tulle skirt. Gorgeous. And it looked amazing on the model.

See. It's gorgeous. 

My mom and I looked at a few places and there were a few dresses that we liked at each one. We went to Gateway Bridal down in Salt Lake City, UT (which, though we didn't buy the dress from there, I'd recommend it- good selection and not outrageous prices). I showed the lady helping me the dresses I liked and wanted to base my ideal dress on. I showed her my "ideal dress"and she told me that they had it!!! AND it was on sale- it had been a sample so it was old and worn but nothing a good steaming couldn't fix. I thought my dreams had come true. I had her pull the dress and put in on and BAM! the dress looked AWFUL! cue tears. It made me look fat. I'm 5' 6" and fluctuate between 125-130 lbs. Not fat. I have a 34C chest which is big but not outlandish. But this dress made me look/feel plus sized. 

It's the same dress as above.

 I just looked like a whale in it.

So I didn't really cry. It was fine. I just blamed it on the dress. It was old and worn and it pulled weird across my chest etc. The darn dress! But you know what? It wasn't the dress. It wasn't that I was fat. The dress of my dreams just wasn't meant for me. The model wearing the dress probably had an A or B sized chest and was a model. Lets be honest- I'm skinny but I'm not size 00. This dress was made for someone who needed to look fuller not for someone who actually has to wear a bra. And therein lied my problem. I wanted a dress for a model not for me! The dresses I looked at were meant for women who didn't have my body type.

Up to that point I had only been looking for dresses that had full skirts and didn't really accentuate the curves that I have. Luckily- because I figured this out after I bought my dress- my mom pushed me to try some more fit and flare (not mermaid) style dresses that were more flattering in showing off my figure instead of hiding it under tulle. My mom actually had a dress pulled off a mannequin that caught her eye. I had totally ignored it because it was all lace and tight fitting and had this huge flower feather sash thing that I was 99% against. Luckily the sash came off so that changed my mind about it about 50%- enough to give it a chance. This also meant we could add a sash that had some jewels on it which broke up the lace making more my style. {Also- side story- the first time we looked at dresses I found this other PERFECT dress that had this polka-doted lace-y fabric that was perfectly summery. It's called point d'esprit and it's fabulous. Simple and fabulous. I'd kind of been looking for another dress in that fabric because, like I said, it's fabulous}  Anyway side story over- this dress my mom had pulled had point d'esprit fabric underneath the lace in the train! It was a sign from the wedding dress gods that I needed to get this dress. Eventually, this dress that I had completely written off at first glance became the wedding dress of my dreams. 

After I decided on the dress we had to bring in alterations. Originally the dress was sleeveless and a little too low in the front and back so we had to fix that up a bit. We continued the point d'esprit fabric in the extension of the sleeves (1/2 sleeve flow-y with lace trim) which was a dream come true. We purchased an entirely different sash from BHLDN. We got some lovely jewelry to go with it (earrings Anthropologie and necklace Nordstrom's) and the most perfect shoes (online somewhere). It was perfect, perfect, perfect. 

Perfect

Moral of the story. Just like in all other shopping dress for your body type. Find a dress that flatters your shape. Find a dress that you love and that makes you feel beautiful. Also be open minded- don't write off dresses just because they're not exactly what you think you're looking for. Try on all kinds of dresses- you'll actually know instead of assume that something looks good or bad on you. I'm not saying you can't get a princess or mermaid cut dress- if that's what you dig then dig it hard. Get what you love but make sure you're not leaving your actual perfect dress behind. 

Looooooong Beach

Easily the WORST thing about going to school at BYU is that it is not within simple driving distance of the beach.

THE WORST

Dan and I got some good beach time whilst in Hawaii for our Honeymoon (ps. I'm married and we went to Hawaii for our honeymoon) but it wore off far too quickly. So we decided to get the H out of Provo (the day of the first snow fall) and drove 15 hours to Long Beach, WA to spend some quality time with the sand, water, and family.

My family and my aunt+uncle+4adorablekids rented a beach house in Long Beach and invited us to come spend the weekend with them. It was a perfect getaway.

Dan and I left at 4 AM Provo time and it had just started snowing. (suckers) and we pulled into the beach house at 5:00 PM exactly Washington time. Being the first ones there we took a little stroll on the beach and watched locals and tourists clamming in the sunset. The Westover's and my family finally showed up and then the craziness began.

If there is one thing you should know about my little cousins it is that 75% of them are in absolute L. O. V. E. with Dan. And the other 25% are boys. So with 4 little kids in the house Dan always had 2-3 girls <10 climbing on him or chatting his ear off. One of my favorite things about Dan is that he doesn't get bothered by kids- he truly loves them and is so patient with them even when he's stressed about school.

The rest of the time at the beach house was spent eating, listening to conference, playing mexican train, hiking, and playing on the beach.

It was a truly fabulous weekend with family and the love of my life.

I don't know why I live in Utah.

Women and the Priesthood: Conference - a working essay

*I wasn't going to post this but because only 16 people follow my blog and on a good day I get 8 blog post views I feel safe in posting this. Please if you're new to the blog save your negative comments for something else, they will just be deleted here.


This is a really touchy subject. Women and the priesthood.

A little background: I'm Mormon. Mormons believe that during the restoration of the church by God through Joseph Smith the first prophet of the latter days (modern times) the priesthood (or power of God ) was also restored to the earth. side note- this isn't to say that Mormons believe that God didn't have power on earth between the time that Christ died and the time Joseph Smith received the priesthood- we just believe that men just didn't have the proper authority from God to work in his name. It has been passed down through worthy men and is now given to young men (boys 12 and up) if they are worthy and continue to live righteously.

Women are not ordained to the priesthood.

This is the current "issue". I put issue in quotation marks because I think the situation lies in the eyes of the beholder. I know a lot of women see this as a full on issue. I know a lot of women don't see this as an issue at all. All believe what they believe for different reasons. This is especially a hot topic right now because of Conference. An event that occurs twice a year where members of the church gather (literally and metaphorically) to listen to the words of the living Prophets and Apostles give counsel and tell us what God would have us know. It is a special event because we believe that we are receiving counsel from our loving and gracious Father in Heaven through his chosen and ordained messengers. There are 6 sessions every conference. Four sessions for every member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints- and actually for every person on the earth. And two sessions: one in which the Women of the church (18+) or the young women of the church (12-18) (it switches each time) are invited to hear special messages from their leaders and prophets directed to their own special needs; and one in which all the men (12+) are invited to do the same. The problem right now is that a lot of women feel as though they are missing out on important counsel by not being invited to this "Priesthood Meeting" (that's what it's called they weren't ironic or sarcastic quotation marks). The truth is though that all of these meetings have been posted on the internet, printed in the church magazine the Ensign, and now all are broadcasted via satellite, television, radio, etc. to the entire world. (this is the first conference in which the priesthood session is broadcasted live time via radio or television) There is no person in the world that is completely barred from receiving any knowledge or revelation that the Lord would give to us. God, or my god, is not a respecter of persons for He loves all of his children equally with a pure and infallible love.

Women want tickets to the Priesthood session of conference. These tickets are not sold for a price- it is essentially a drawing- but as far as I am aware women will not be let into the conference center where the Prophet and the apostles will be speaking. I have no issues with this. As far as I am aware men are also not let into the Relief Society or Young Women broadcasts. The reason I am okay with this is because these messages that Prophet Thomas S. Monson, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Henry B. Eyring, and who ever else might be speaking will be giving at this conference have been directly revealed to them for the men of the Church. The men of the Mormon church are the main recipients of these revelations. Women have had their turn at the Relief Society session of conference- we received those revelations which are directed to us.

I will listen to the Priesthood session. I am excited to. I will benefit just as much by listening to it on the radio or the television as I would if I were at the conference center. I would benefit just as much by reading it in a magazine or on the internet if I were at the conference center. God has not taken anything away from me because I have not been allowed to go to the Priesthood session of conference. God has not taken anything away from me, ever, because I am a woman.

There is so much more to be said on the topic of Women and the Priesthood in the Mormon church. There have been so many broken hearts over this issue. The issue of the haves and have nots. I can't comment on everything that this issue encompasses. In this little essay I have only addressed the issue of the Priesthood session of conference. I took down this little shelf "issue", dusted it off, and now I'm putting it back on the shelf for now. I will say one thing that I think encompasses the whole issue. We as women, as people, as children of God, need to overcome this big issue of "haves and have nots". This is not a proletariat or bourgeois issue. Men have the priesthood, women don't have the priesthood. When we think of it this way we get ourselves in trouble- we start thinking for God. We start telling God that he things that women are of less importance than men because they don't have the priesthood. God has not and will not take anything away from anyone because of his race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, or anything else that makes us different from one another. For God sees us as equals. He loves his Prophet just as much as he loves the most awful sinner. God loves his sons as much as he loves his daughters. He loves those who love him just as much as He loves those who hate him. God is not a distinguisher of haves and have nots because he has given us everything. He has given us a beautiful world, He has given all of us a way to overcome our sins and live with him for eternity in Heaven no matter our path on earth.

God does not distinguish between haves and have nots because God has made us all haves.

Attempts at Being a Domestic Goddess: Ravioli Lasagna

Those who know me understand that I have food issues (no veggies, no peanut butter, no trying anything new unless I have fully mentally prepared). One of those issues is just Italian food in general. Whenever my family goes out to get Italian food I always order the wrong thing (unless I order pizza, in which case I always order the right thing). I kind of have an aversion to tomato based sauces, wine based sauces, and thick sauces in general. They just don't sit well on my pallet. Hence why I never make spaghetti, ravioli, etc. I'm just scared of it.

Well now I'm married. I'm not just cooking for myself and my 5 year old diet and I want to cook things that both Dan and I will like. This means trying (and tasting) new recipes. Tonight it was Ravioli Lasagna. I found a recipe for skillet lasagna (it used ravioli) that seemed harmless enough but then it got too complicated because I didn't have all the ingredients. So then I started searching for other ravioli lasagnas (we had just bought some spinach cheese ravioli from Costco (I love Costco)) and I discovered the tricks of the trade.

Here's what I did:

First I got out all of the ingredients I was going to use:
Ravioli
Hamburger Meat
Creamy Pesto Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Garlic
Italian Seasoning
Olive Oil

First I browned some hamburger meat
     Maybe the best thing my mother taught me was how to turn a hamburger patty into ground beef.
     You just put it in a frying pan and shred off the cooked parts of the patty until it is all shredded.
     Because I used some pretty junky hamburger meat I cooked it with some garlic and some Italian    seasoning.
     Then I let it sit on the stove on warm while I prepared the lasagna

Lasagna time
     I used my little Bella dutch oven so I prepared the heck out of it by washing it and spraying it heavily with non-stick cooking spray.
     I then lined the bottom of the dutch oven with some olive oil and the sauce
     Then layer raviolis, mozzarella, meat, sauce, raviolis, mozzarella, meat...
     I only did two layers since only two people would be eating it- you could probably do more though most of the recipes I read said only do two layers
     Top layer was sauce.
     Bake at 375 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes
      Take out of oven add another layer of cheese (this is where I mixed in some parmesan) and put back in oven for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

We waited a little while to eat (30-45 min) but the little dutch oven kept it warm that whole time with the cover on.

So there really aren't any specific measurements on this recipe- basically just cover each layer in whatever layer it is- meat and cheese don't really follow this rule-add to your hearts content.

The pesto cream sauce is Archer Farms brand- Target's in-store brand and it was super good although I'm sure you can find some other good sauces out there.

Enjoy!