My Grown Up Christmas List

I love Christmas music and one of my favorite songs is "Grown Up Christmas List", and as I get older this song really comes alive I guess you could say. Especially this year as I am about to leave for college and begin a new chapter in my life. Certain things about this month that used to be important to me such as how many presents had my name on them under the Christmas tree, or how big, or how much food I could eat because we only cook certain things around this time of year, all the parties I would hope to get invited to, all seemed to not matter anymore. Some of the most precious moments and memories that I have made this month have truly opened my eyes to the true meaning of Christmas and what I truly do want for myself, my family, my future family, and the world I live in. I had the opportunity to sing in a Rest Home and there are no sweeter spirits on this earth than those old wise people who everyday wish for the gift of a visit or someone to talk to them or to listen to them. I found that I didn't really need to ask them questions about themselves because they just went on and on about so many interesting things! I am definitely not going to make visiting a rest home just a once a year thing. I also had the opportunity to go work in the Garden City Cannery for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, and the work really turns into fun. Isn't that what Christmas is all about? Helping those less fortunate than us? But it also reminded me that Christmas time is not the only time of year that people need our help....everyday people suffer from hunger, sickness, and other ailments. I think I can take 4 hours out of my busy schedule to do a little service. Plus you get to see a new side of people that you never knew. You find those that are hard workers who make the most of what they are given, those who frequently have to take breaks, those who make things into a game, or stick their fingers in rotten pears hahaha. (That's also a good place to take a date because you figure out a few things ;) ) But the most important thing I have been able to do this past month is spend time with my family. Whether it was singing while Malia played the piano, going shopping at the last minute for Christmas presents with Lauren, taking an evening to watch a whole season of Cake Boss with the family....these are truly the moments and gifts that I hoped for this year. Those with my family and those with my Sizzler family who I have grown to love and hold dear to my heart...This Christmas I'm not wishing for new shoes, a laptop, a new dress, or even my prince charming ;) .......my hope is that Santa will bring me the gift of giving, the gift of hope, and the gift of faith in my Savior who's birthday I will celebrate not only on December 25 but everyday of the year. Merry Christmas!

Killing Two Birds With One Stone: My Trip to Salt Lake

I can remember since I was a little girl walking around the Salt Lake Temple, gazing up at the tall spires and dreaming of going inside, finding my Prince Charming and being married there. This past weekend I fulfilled part of that dream, unfortunately it wasn't the man of my dreams going inside with me but I guess you take what you can get. I had the opportunity to go inside the House of the Lord that my great great great great great grandfather dedicated, President Wilford Woodruff, and doing baptisms for the dead. It was one of the most amazing and spiritual experiences of my life. Elder C. Scott Grow.....Love his name (think about it for a minute and you'll figure out why it's funny)! Came and talked to us and I learned a ton from him about families and my role in this world, and he gave some great insight into finding that Prince Charming of mine out there ;) Who I hope is behaving himself ;) But some of the most fun and memorable moments of this trip was the car ride up there and the activities going on besides the temple. I can honestly say when you put five girls in one car you end up with a couple of things.....dancing in the car, singing Christmas music, man hunting (the most fun and my fav and a funny story behind that one), and eating junk food and getting away with it :) Haha I also fulfilled one of the items of my life of traveling 100 mph, and what was funny about it is that I didn't even know we were going that fast until someone told me so idk if that counted? I can honestly say I love every single one of those girls and now have one of the coolest relationships with them, which I couldn't have achieved anywhere else. ;) So we show up to our hotel and open our room and it was DIRTY!!!! it was gross! so we got a new one and in that room the TV was broken which was hilarious! The cute guy downstairs at the desk sure had his handsful and I felt sorry for the guy! We took a side trip to Chuck A Rama for dinner which ended up with full bellies, then a trip around Temple Square during Christmas time.....it takes two words to describe it BREATHE TAKING! Oh my word it was beautiful and the lights were amazing and the Spirit there was strong. We also went and saw the new and improved Joseph Smith Movie.....while we were waiting the Sister Missionaries just got out of a meeting and I can honestly say that if I have the opportunity to go on a Mission I'm TAKING IT! The testimonies of those women are nothing like I've ever known! Couple that with the movie and you have girls bawling their eyes out and guys trying to not cry and some crying anyway.....it was so moving.......I can honestly say I had a very fulfilling weekend and a much needed break, and I hope to be able to go back soon.......These are definitely things on my bucketlist that I would do again and will do again :)

Mama Mia Eat Some Meatballs: Playing with Food

I am such a big pasta person and one of my all time favorite movie scenes is on Lady and the Tramp when they end up kissing because they were sharing pasta....(need to add that to my bucketlist!) Haha so this kind of inspired me to make something with meatballs but I was in the mood for lasagna and so what did I do.....I put them together ;) haha it was one of the messiest weirdest looking things I have ever seen but all of that didn't matter because it all ends up right where it's suppose to be...in my tummy ;) The best part about cooking up this concoction was doing it with people I love. Me and my sisters rolled up our sleeves and put on our aprons and set to work, but in the end it turned out to be throwing spaghetti sauce and cottage cheese everywhere and getting down and dirty in meatballs and noodles. All while listening to Christmas music......All in all I think I'll sell my recipe to Olive Garden and leave my mark on the world....haha probably not but one could only dream :)

My Christmas Present Is a New Bumper: Car Wreck :(

Everyone has their nightmares of getting in a car wreck; we see or hear about them daily, and some of us are unfortunate enough to be in one and experience them first hand. Saturday morning was just another day in this good old holiday season. I left early to go do a little shopping before I went to work. I was stopped at a light, and started to pull forward when the car behind me rammed into me, then sped off....Hit & Run! I am just so grateful that I have a family who cares about who came to my rescue and knew what to do, and the kind police officer who was there to help us. I have a new found respect for the police force and am grateful to them and their families...I walked away with only a few bumps and bruises and only a few scrapes on my car. The only bummer is that I can't shut my trunk, so it'll be hard to hide my christmas shopping in there haha....To be honest compared to other wrecks I've seen I'll take it! This was definitely not on my bucketlist of things to experience in life, but in a way I'm grateful for this experience and the things that I learned...

My Attempt at Being Spiderman: Rock Climbing!

Idk if you have ever watched the Spiderman movies, but I have and I have always dreamed of scaling the walls of a building and flying through the air, not so much the tight blue and red out fit but that's why it's only a dream. However I got a little taste of that dream this past weekend. Every friday night they have Ladies night at the Rec Center in Nampa where ladies get a free harness to go rock climbing. Soooooo I thought this would be a good time to try out being Spiderman and try my hand at scaling the wall....and oh boy did I have my work cut out for me! Haha sometimes there is quite a disadvantage at being 5'3" and a 1/2 haha and this was definitely one of those times....but divide and conquor I did :) I had an enjoyable time with my sister who is an AMAZING rock climber, (her strong forearms and hands from piano playing came in handy ;) ) haha, then afterwards we attempted to play raquetball.....actually we just hit the ball around and tried not to get hit....all in all fun times for all. If there's one thing I take away from this experience is that it is all mental! The minute you say you can't do it then you're body literally can't....I guess you can apply that to anything...So the next time I try my hand at rock climbing I'll come out on top....Literally! I'll let Spiderman stick to swinging on the web and I'll stay with the rope and harness ;) but I can always dream!

Hymns of Thanksgiving

I love this time of year and it allows for so many opportunities for us to uplift others and to be uplifted ourselves......This year I decided to do something I had never done before and that was to sing in a choir....but for some reason I couldn't just stick with a good ol' church choir I had to go BIG....haha go big or go home they say......So this year I participated in the Hymns of Thanksgiving choir...it was one of the most AMAZING experiences of my life! Singing hymns of thanksgiving and praise to God, there's nothing like it in this whole world! How many people can say that they've sang on television with an orchestra? Not many, but I can.......if there's one thing I can now mark off my bucketlist it's singing in a choir, but I hope that this not a one time only deal, I hope to continue to work on this talent and to make beautiful music not only for my God, but for the people around me, and my own family someday :)

Having a Sister is Like Having a Best Friend Around for Your Whole Life: Girls Night Out

I have the most amazing sisters, and everyday is filled with new adventures. To be honest a lot of the time I would rather be having a girls night out with these two wonderful little ladies than going on a date with a boy. So this weekend was definitely one of those days and oh boy did it NOT disappoint! It started off with making cupcakes! Something me and Malia have sorted gotten ourselves into. This time we made them with band aids AKA laffy taffy rolled out and shaped like band aids, I call then the non useable edible bandaids haha. We also invented a new frosting color and named it Smooth as Babies Bottoms! (if you didn't guess it was pink ;) ) So while we were frosting and rolling and decorating, I helped my little sister prepare a talk for church. I have never been so proud than I was when she delivered her message flawlessly :) makes me look forward to having my own children and helping them with their talks. Anyway getting ahead of myself a little. So we finally finished the cupcakes around 7:00 and delivered them a friend, of course we left some for ourselves to fuel ourselves. We danced and sang to songs like Holding Out for a Hero, I Will Love Again, Believe, just really good hopeful/bashing guy songs that we girls like to sing when boys are driving us crazy :). After we delivered the goodies the fun didn't stop there! We headed to the store and bought the infamous Velveeta cheese, good old processed cheese!Came home to sit down and watch Thumbelina.....I think me and my sisters fell in love, but sadly the prince was the size of our thumbs and taken so I guess we'll have to find our own Prince Cornelius some day ......huh sigh.....haha but what I found underlying beneath the plots and romantic love, was that you can't let other people influence you on how you see yourself. Thumbelina was either really happy with herself or thinking she was ugly and dumb......if there's one thing I learned from this small little person is that you have to FOLLOW YOUR HEART and believe that you can do anything and be anything. :) and yes someday my prince will come :)

Cars+Popcorn = Awesome Times

I have never been the best cooker, no matter how much I love to eat food, I just always seem to mess up recipes that others perfect everytime. However I have found that when you cook with friends, family, or whoever, it not only provides opportunities for great conversation, but in my book two heads (or more) are better than one so fewer mistakes are made.....or you just make the other person do all the strenuous things and you stir ;). One of my goals in life is to be able to as good of a cook as my mom, grandmothers, and aunts, and I have no doubt that one day I will......but it's easier said than done. Tonight I attempted to make caramel popcorn........if I were to write a summary of that experience, I would have to said success with a burnt wrist haha! Haha I made it while talking to a friend and watching Cars 2 , a movie that talks about being yourself and being yourself best self, just like good ol'e Mator.....So I might not be the best cook in the world, but as long as I'm the best me no matter what I think my future husband, family, etc. can overlook a burnt meal :) Ka Choi!

Purpose of This Blog

I have wanted to start a blog for the longest time, but I didn't have anything to blog about....till now! I was inspired by the movies "A Walk to Remember" and "The Bucketlist". Each mentions about creating a bucketlist; a list of things to accomplish before you die, such as skydiving, dancing in the rain, break a world record, so on and so forth. However, I believe that everyday is a bucketlist that we create without us even knowing! Life is a gift and every moment is priceless, and each moment is a piece of a puzzle or a chapter in our story. This blog is my bucketlist; the things I hope to do my AND the things that I am doing everyday to build the person that I am or a chapter in my own story. Never take any moment for granted, even in the times when things aren't all laughs and giggles. However, life wouldn't be as much fun if we were doing it alone, that's where YOU come in :) I love to be uplifted by the stories of others, and the ideas you have. :) When we put our heads together nothing can stand in our way :)