Tell me, do you have this kind of energy?

I got to spend the last 24 hours with my favorite kids. They are so wild & crazy but always so much fun!

Josie

McKenna

Ruby

Declan

Let's not forget William

And of course Wilfie

My grandma was one of the most amazing women in the world.
And she raised my amazing mother.

I miss her every day.

Today a little more than usual.

I love you so much Grandma.

Always.

The title says it all, my girlfriends & I have started a new tradition. We get cute and we get tacos. It's pretty much amazing. 

And I love Brit & Jenn. 

I shared something from The Oatmeal a few days ago but I feel once again that I've found something to share. It's just too funny to pass me by. When I read this I realize I have at least one of each type of "facebook friend" and it makes me giggle. So give it a read and figure out what type of friends you have. For your enjoyment, How to Suck at Facebook.

I hope your day was as wonderful as mine!

My friend Melissa is awesome. She graduated with her bachelor's degree yesterday & I am so proud of her. We had a huge graduation party last night to celebrate. Although I forgot to pull my camera out for the actual party these came before. I love her!

I got my hair done today. There are few things I enjoy more than this. Katie is my amazing hair stylist & I always feel wonderful when I leave her. Today she added more highlights, made me more blonde & gave me cute bangs. My neighbor Kate was sweet enough to model with me for some pictures, what do you think?

After hair pics Kate decided she needed to try on my shoes. She's learning young. Heels are a girls best friend.

Tonight's delicious dinner was southwest chicken wraps. Tasty. Amazing. So many flavors. They made for a wonderful meal. What will I turn out next...?

I had a request to share my homemade doughnut recipe with you all so Dani, this is for you! You will need a bread maker machine for this recipe.


Ingredients
3/4 cup warm milk
1/3 cup warm water
1 egg
3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
4 Tbsp vegetable shortening
2 tsp fast rise yeast


Directions
1. add warm milk, warm water & egg to bread pan.
2. Add flour, sugar & salt to pan. Tap pan to settle dry ingredients, then level ingredients, pushing some of the mixture into corners. Place shortening into corners of pan.
3. Make a well in center of dry ingredients & add yeast. Lock pan into bread maker.
4. Program for dough. Start bread maker. When done, remove pan from bread maker. Place dough onto floured surface. Let rest 15 minutes.
5. Roll dough into a rectangle, about 1/2 inch thick. Cut with doughnut cutter (or a cup!). Leave on counter to rise, covered. Knead together scraps of dough, let rest 10 minutes and reroll. Cut into doughnuts. Let doughnuts rise, covered, in warm draft-free place for 30-45 minutes or until double in size.
6. Fry 3 to 4 doughnuts at a time in 3 inches of vegetable oil, preheated to 375 degrees F. Fry 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown on both sides. Remove and place on paper towel to drain. 
7. Frost or sugar as desired. 
My favorite glaze is simple and delicious:
Mix powdered sugar & milk until you have a good consistency! 


I hope some of my friends get a chance to try these because they are delicious!

time spent playing with 2 adorable children - 9 hours

time spent cooking in the kitchen making delicious food - 5 hours

time spent sleeping in my comfy bed - 4 hours

i have my priorities straight

Abby, I hope you enjoy this. Seriously. If someone can laugh along and understand exactly how hysterical this is it's you my friend! But not to worry, everyone should read this! With a sense of humor please. Although... if Twilight is your favorite book in the whole wide universe maybe you should skip it. If you are like me and a bit perplexed on the subject then continue on to find out 

How Twilight Works

Please enjoy.

Today is my best friend's birthday. I absolutely adore my Jess. She's such an amazing, beautiful, strong person and one of my favorite people ever. Last night we went out for Cafe Rio salads & had a movie night to celebrate. Today my mom made her delicious homemade enchiladas for Jessi's birthday dinner. Then I made her some of my fabulous homemade doughnuts. It was a wonderful two days celebrating Jess. I'm so lucky to have this wonderful girl in my life!

Last night Melissa called me and said she needed pasta. She was supposed to load up on carbs since she was going to run the Salt Lake City Marathon. She invited me out to dinner but since I've been on my cooking kick I decided I'd cook for her instead. Let's just say it was the right choice. I made the creamiest, cheesiest alfredo sauce I've ever tasted in my life. It was so wonderful, I can't wait to make it again. Dinner anyone?

And of course Melissa finished her marathon. I'd like to think it's because of my alfredo but if we're being honest, it's just because she's awesome.

The cooking kick continues. Today for lunch I made chicken salad. The amazingness also continues. It was wonderful. So wonderful in fact that it was devoured within minutes of being done and I didn't get any leftovers. I'm considering toning down my cooking skills because I like leftovers and when I make such yummy food I don't get any!

After the chicken salad I was still in the mood to cook so brownies from scratch became my next project. They were perfect, hershey syrup in the brownie mix and melted chocolate chips were part of the frosting. That's right, chocolate frosted brownies. Delicious. 

Today has been fun and very unexpected. When I woke up this morning I had no idea I'd be spending the day watching a 4-year-old, twin 3-year-olds & a 1 year-old but that is exactly what happened. And truly, they could not be cuter girls.

We had a very active busy day and they enjoyed every minute of it. Happily, so did I.

Also, my mommy bought me a pineapple. It was heavenly.

I decided to make myself & the girls cheese soup for lunch today. I've been craving something warm and cheesy & this hit the spot just right. I looked through several cookbooks and none of the recipes appealed to me so I took tips from them all and made up my own. It turned out cheesy, tasty & completely wonderful. I ate it with warm french bread & a glass of milk. Perfect, especially since it snowed again today!

I hope that your day was as happy as mine!

I want to share a favorite quote.

Some of the greater things in life are unseen, that's why you close your eyes when you kiss, cry or dream.

Today I've spent some time with The Happy Book. In the first pages it tells me to create an arbitrary rule for writing in my book. So I chose: You may not write in my book if you are wearing shoes. This alone made me happy. But it gets better. The Happy Book is nice enough to give me extra pages to do whatever I want so Morgan and I decided that today we were going to make homemade doughnuts. It was the most delicious project we could have planned for the day. We did both glazed & sugar toppings and they were eaten up within minutes of being done. The last picture is all I have left from doughnut day but do not worry, even they won't last long!

Today I made the most delightful sandwiches for the family for lunch. Meatball subs. They're so quick and easy and of course everyone loved them. Sometimes it's the little things that make life so wonderful. 

When I was 6 years old my Grandma said to me

"Let the world be the world and you be you." 

I have never forgotten this.

I miss you Grandma.

I love you.

I have a new goal in my life. It's not a new concept to me but I'm making it into a true goal so I have something to focus on. 

My goal is to find happiness in my life, in everything that I do. 

This is me:

And this is where I live:

Mother Teresa said

"Joy is very infectious; therefore, be always filled with joy."

When I was little I thought there were monsters under the bed. Today while cleaning I found 

chocolate

a dr. pepper bottle

hairstyle magazine

cotton balls

nail polish remover

my favorite lip gloss

blank cd's 

a water bottle

ipod cord

camera charger

two books
a wii remote

a shoe

the game of things

and

my missing blow dryer

But NO MONSTERS!

Thank goodness.

Today was 2011's One Day Without Shoes. Last year Morgan & I went all over the place without shoes on. This year I didn't leave the house once. BUT I usually have shoes on in my house because otherwise my feet get very cold. So that was my sacrifice this year. I always love this day. If you have any interest in it you can read all about One Day Without Shoes. Until next year...