Karma

So, a couple of days ago, I accidentally thought a thought that I wish I hadn't though.  Are you following me?  Call me superstitious, but I believe that you get to a point in your life when thoughts like "life's easy right now" or "gosh, we haven't had a hard time in a couple of months, how nice" etch across your mind.  And it usually means that things are going to get really hard really fast.  Those are the fateful words I thought a few days ago.   Don't get me wrong, I know that life is not supposed to be easy.  I know that I grow the most when I'm in the "depths of despair" (Anne of Green Gables is my hero by the way).
   
Anyways, as soon as I thought that everything was going smoothly, our lives are turned upside down.  I have realized that even though our lives don't go the way we think they should, they go the right ways.  I am trying to be open to God's plan for us, especially when it is directly opposite to our own plan.

I guess it's okay.  I really do like packing after all.

Anniversary!

So, it's official. We've been married for a whole entire year. It has been a great year, a year filled with lots of ups and downs. My favourite part of this year though is the fact that I got do it hand-in-hand with the man that I love. Here are some highlights:
1. May 9th 2009 - we got married :)
2. Our long vacation in Canada
3. Seeing a bear in the wild
4. Surviving a wild tubbing adventure
5. Buying our first furniture
6. Putting up our first Christmas Tree
7. Family Home Evenings and Date Nights
8. Seeing the Penguins
9. Doing home things together (grocery shopping and laundry is so much more fun with Zach!)
10. The lessons we've learnt and the ways in which we've grown in faith and together.

To celebrate our Anniversary, we went to the the Living Science Aquarium and to dinner. The penguins were so funny to watch. Plus, I just love penguins. They are so funny! Zach liked the sharks, but I think they are less funny than penguins.

Zachy - I love you very much! Happy Anniversary sweetheart. How does another million sound? :)

Oh, the dreams of summertime!

So, I want to move. I want to pack up all of our things and lug them to a brand new location. I want to endure the countless hours of unpacking and organizing. I can't help it. The good of renting is that you can move often and start again afresh, and this is what I am itching to do. We are planning to move towards Salt Lake in August. Does that mean that I shouldn't start packing now? Would that be a little bit eccentric? Maybe... Anyways, I don't know what it is about me, but I have a hard time staying still. I think I'll blame my mission where I was forced to move every 6 weeks or few months, or my years as a college student where I was never in the same place for more than 6 months or so. There, I have been trained. I can't stay still. I am going to pack.

Good Books

okI love reading. I love reading good books. I eat them up. But then they end. Don't you hate that?
I rush through good books, finish them, and then feel sad for the rest of the day that my good friends - the characters of good books - are gone forever. This hits me really hard especially with good books that are part of good series. I grew along with Harry Potter and the Traveling Pants girls, and then they die and it makes me so sad. Why, oh why didn't Rowling/ Brashares just keep writing??? Now I have to go and find a new good book with some new good friends to love...
Any suggestions?

Thai Chicken Soup

So, I am done school. Now I have nothing to do but cook and blog. I hope you're ready for lots of posts about food! Tonight, we had Thai Chicken Soup. It a spicy Asian delight!
Dice 2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breast
Cook through in a saucepan on medium heat
Once the chicken is cooked, add 1 onion, chopped, and 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
Sweat the onions (cook them until they are transparent, but don't brown them)
Add 1-2 cans of coconut milk (depending on how much soup you want to make. For just Zach and me, I used 1)
Add a cube of chicken bouillon
Add green curry paste to taste
Add a teaspoon of lemon juice
Let soup simmer 15 minutes or so
Just before serving, add a couple hand fulls of spinach (I used chopped frozen spinach)
Place some bean sprouts in the bottom of your serving bowls and cover with the soup
Garnish with bean sprouts
And finally, ENJOY!

Faith

A few days ago, some sweet Sister Missionaries were practicing teaching me. One of them explained to me that faith is "a belief that moves you." Maybe it was because of her cute southern accent, or maybe because of the spirit, but those words really stuck with me.
I realized that having faith is different than having expectations. I probably knew that once, but I obviously forgot it. To have faith in God's promises is believing in Him, and trusting in Him, but it is also doing whatever you can to bring those promises about in your own life.
As Christ himself explains: If ye will have faith in me ye shall have power to do whatsoever thing is expedient in me (Moroni 7:33). He doesn't say that if we have faith in Him, He will do whatsoever thing with us, but that he will give US the power to do that thing.
As I learnt this lesson this past week, I felt a strong desire to recommit myself to Heavenly Father. I know that His perfect plan teaches us to become as He would have us be, and that our faith in Christ gives us the power to do so.

"Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ" by Gene R Cook (lds.org)

What's for Dinner?

Today felt like summer. Spring at least. Okay, it wasn't snowing. Anyways, it was so nice to be warm I thought I'd make a summer treat for dinner tonight. Rice, blah. Chicken Kabob, blah. Mango Salsa, EXCELLENT! (and super easy too!)
1 Mango, peeled and cubed
1/2 a small red onion minced
1 green onion finely chopped
1 handful of cilantro finely chopped
2 tablespoon lime juice (or lemon juice is fine)
- combine all ingredients
- chill for an hour or so until all flavors mingle
- serve with chicken, steak, or tortilla chips
You won't regret it!