Violated

Thieves broke into my home and took my things. It didn't happen to someone else, it wasn't far away, it happened to me, and my family. What an awful feeling. They messed with my bed- took my pillowcase!, they riffled through our underwear drawers, and they took our things. We don't have a lot of nice things, but they took our laptops, our camera, my jewelry, and over 100 DVDs. It is hard to think of your home as being as safe as it was before someone came in- it feels open and vulnerable. They took all of my photos. They were stored on my hard-drive, and now they are gone. Luckily I use google docs and most of my documents will be recoverable because they are stored online, but my pictures, they are probably lost forever.

I'm so grateful no one was hurt, no one was home or came home to find the people still in our home. I'm grateful Heavenly Father was watching over Steve and keeping him busy elsewhere. I hope this never happens to any of you.

A to Z, From Me

Although the idea of sleeping in sounds fantastic, I can't make myself stay in bed past 8 am on the weekends. Often not past 7.

Blogging has become one of my favorite pastimes, but I usually do it at work.

Cats are lot less smelly than dogs. Steve and I are not dog people.

Drawing is not my forté, but I enjoy it. I know I would get better if I did it more often, but I get discouraged that I'm not as naturally talented as my brothers.

Elementary school was where I got all my height. I haven't grown more than 3 inches since 5th grade, I was taller than my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Laffy. I'm taller than my husband, too.

Flynn is a fun name to inherit, it rhymes with a lot more things than Smith does.

Google is the number 1 tool on the Internet. I love that I can link my e-mail, blogs, calendar, news, pictures, and search engine. Everything just meshes so well!

Haircuts are one of those things where I understand I should tell the stylist exactly what I want and bring pictures, but I still often say, "Please help, I don't know what to do. I need a change and I trust you not to make me look awful." Don't say this. They always make you look awful when you say this.

I love to read cookbooks and the recipes in magazines.

Jeopardy is one of my favorite dinner-time shows. I prefer not to watch TV during dinner most of the time, but once in awhile it is fun.

Kissing is fun anytime. Even during dinner.

Large families make me happy. I love hearing about other people's large families, and I read several blogs from people with large families. I hope to have one myself, someday.

Mom and Dad are names that are hard to apply to people you didn't grow up with, but for me it is just the remembering part. I often stumble when I call my in-laws Mom and Dad, but not because I don't want to, its because I forget!

Nursery is a really fun calling, and as an added bonus you learn to appreciate Relief Society (and adults in general) more, as well.

On my 24th birthday my husband threw me a surprise party at my brother's house. He told me he was doing this before he invited anyone to the "surprise" party. My job: act surprised. We had a lot of fun.

Photography and editing photographs are on the top of my list of things I want to learn to be better at. I love photography.

Quilting has become a lot more appealing as I've grown up. I used to shrink from the idea (I hated to be exact in my cutting and seams), but now it is fun and the results are fantastic!

Recently, I have started learning Russian. Steve is a slow teacher, though, because we forget to practice and have a lot of other things we do together. I will, hopefully, be taking a Russian class soon.

Sewing is one of my favorite things to do, but I'm really slow to get things done. I even procrastinate doing things I love.

Time is something there will never be enough of. I am saying this now and I don't even have children yet. Scary thought.

Umbrellas are one of my favorite photography tools. I have a pretty yellow umbrella that I plan on taking millions of pictures with... someday.

Vancouver Washington was the first place I lived without my family. I only stayed there 4.5 months.

When I was very little I went to the hospital a few times, and each time I denied that what my parents said happened had really happened. My parents stories were never investigated.

Xrays would show you I've broken my left wrist, and my right big toe. I don't recommend either, but the wrist was a lot easier to deal with.

Yakima is not my favorite place, but I'm enjoying it much more as an adult than I did as a teenager. I'm sure that most people would say that about the towns they grew up in, though.

Zoos are super exciting places for me. I love to go to the zoo. I have never been to a zoo with Steve.

Amazing Chicken Dinner

Steve is an inventor. He creates book series, designs things, and makes up recipes in his head. Wednesday night our family was treated to a series of chip-coated chicken nuggets by my one and only. It was delicious! He marinated the chicken all day, in several different types of marinade, then he coated all but the lime-marinated chicken in different varieties of crushed up chips. He used regular Doritos, Ranch Doritos, Chile Cheese Frito's, and Fiery Hot Cheetos. Yum! My favorite was his Fiery Hot Cheetos Chicken, so I'm going to share that recipe with you. It goes really well with some black beans flavored with lime juice.

Steve's Hot Cheetos Chicken

2 Chicken breasts, cubed

1/4 cup Plain Yogurt

1/3 c Vinegar

3-4 large dried chili peppers

5-6 garlic cloves

1/2 onion

1 (99¢ size) bag of Fiery Hot Cheetos

Combine the chili peppers, garlic, and onion in your food processor, processing until smooth.

Make a marinade with all the ingredients except the chicken and Cheetos.

Put the chicken cubes into the marinade and refrigerate for 3-5 hours.

Crush your Cheetos. A food processor works best, but you can do pretty well if you spend some time at it with a rolling pin.

Roll your chicken in the chips to coat. Place on skewers.

Bake at 375 for 20-30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink inside.

Enjoy!

I Won! And I'm Not Pregnant.

I had a fun surprise today: I received a comment from C. Beth, the blogger who started One Minute Writer telling me I won the previous day's writing contest! (See previous blog post comments.) I also received another fun surprise- she (inadvertently) announced to my friends and family that I was pregnant! I'm just setting the record straight, I'm not. Definitely not. That is still "around the next bend." But, if you want to read my winning entry, take a look!

Creativity Fettered

I'm taking a cake decorating class! I am so excited, because this is something that I've been wanting to do as long as I can remember. I'm acquiring the tools and techniques I've wanted for years. I made a yummy coconut cream cake for our Sunday dinner at Cory & Lisa's house, and I'm working on a yellow cake with lemon filling now.

I am also finally working on my sister's Christmas present, I'm making her a coat. It is a more extensive tailoring project than I usually tackle. It is going to be fantastic. The sewing machine is out, the ironing board is up, the bedroom is a disaster, and I'm sewing again!

I finally have the time I needed to get some of these things done, I've been home all day for the last 2 days! I can watch TV, read blogs, do some writing of my own, its almost perfect.... except one thing:

I'm sick.

You know, the winter plague- deep chest congestion, sinus headaches, drippy nose, loud cough. All of it. Which means: I'm not getting a heck of a lot done. I'm not at work, because my body won't let me work. So, I try to rest.

I lay there.... thinking about my cake.... about my coat... about my blog... This isn't rest. This is unrest.

Wouldn't it be great to have a few days off, get the to-do list checked off, maybe even go to a mid-week matinee? Too bad I have to use up my sick days on the real thing.

Rock 'em, Sock 'em

Last weekend Keith & Stacy came up for a visit, and we went to Ben's house so Keith could deliver his Christmas present. It was fun watching my brothers play like they did when they were kids, I love this picture. Good gifting, Keith!!

Journal

I'm excited. I'm getting back into keeping a regular journal. I think I may actually keep it up, too.

I've decided for my journal this year, I am going to write down at least 1 thing I am thankful for that day, as well as something I learned that day. It is important to me to make sure I'm always learning. I've also started using the prompts from the One Minute Writer when I journal. It helps me to practice my writing skills, and to remember memories I wouldn't otherwise include in my journal. This is definetly the most fun I've ever had keeping a journal!

Here is (part of) my journal entry for today:

January 15, 2009

Today I am thankful for "Honey-do" lists. Steve told me that he likes it when I leave him a list of things to do while I'm at work. And if I leave him a list, he does everything on it. It is fantastic! Today he cleaned up his clothes off the floor, washed our sheets... and I actually can't remember what else, but he loves to be helpful and I love him for it.

Today I learned... the word adjuvant. Well, maybe. We'll see if it sticks. It is a pharmaceutical term which means taking one agent to change the way another agent works. I'm also learning that my supervisor is lazier than I thought!

Today's one-minute writing prompt is "If you could be the best in the world at something, what would it be?"
I think I would be the world's best cookie-maker. Fancy frosted sugar cookies, jelly-filled thumbprint cookies, oatmeal cookies with the perfect ratio of cranberries to white chocolate chips to pecans. I would make cookes that made tears dry and tummies rumble, that made little eyes grow big and dark eyes sparkle.