Bonjour!

Bonjour!
I’m a 51 year old mother of five amazing daughters and wife to a caring, sensitive AND sexy husband. I adore my family. I’m dedicated to my faith. I enjoy a good laugh. I'm nostalgic and love to reminisce. "Remember" is my favorite word in the English language. I love life! I’m passionate about music, food and {dreams of} traveling the world. I wanna be a castle and waterfall chaser. I’m fascinated with anything European. {PARIS! Hello!} I love celebrating anything and everything! I love to read, especially a good biography, mystery, Regency Era Romance or Historical fiction novel. I love thoughtful gift giving. To me the gift wrap is almost as important as the gift itself. I have a bit of an obsession with gift boxes and gift bags. As well as old world maps & globes, apothecary bottles and jars! I love being creative…bolts of ribbon, coordinating scrapbook papers, producing a table scape, or planning décor for a themed party puts a smile on my face. I love the details! I’m a freak for anything theme oriented. I enjoy event planning, but oddly enough do not like to host or entertain. I enjoy fashion, but have to really be in the mood to clothes shop. I love purses and funky costume jewelry. Especially big rings! I’d rather wear wedges or heels any day than flats. I enjoy decorating and searching for the perfect decorative pillow or picture. However, you’ll never see me frequent high-end stores. I'm more of a Ross, TJ Maxx, Tuesday Morning kind of gal. My favorite decor style is an old world rustic Italian chateau/Spanish Villa look with a hint of bohemian! OR a vintage shabby chic French country cottage/English cobblestone farmhouse. My #1 cookie-Molasses! Autumn is my favorite season. I’d go through childbirth a million times. I enjoy biking with my man, Pilates, and power walking. You’ll never find me in a gym working out. I love movies, whether watching them in the theatre or cuddled up on the couch with my family. I enjoy a good chick flick or real life drama! I'm a sucker for movies on the Hallmark & Great American Family Channel. I have a tender heart for the elderly. I adore Disneyland. I enjoy being in the canyon on a summer or fall evening at dusk. I love my friends. While I have some extroverted characteristics. I’m a self proclaimed introvert. I’m generally quiet, calm, reserved and pretty darn private. Why in the heck do I blog? It’s a creative way to record family history. I enjoy photography. I really don’t like to write, although I write in my journal often. My journals, patriarchal blessing, scriptures, quote book, and beloved Christmas tree filled with ornaments of family memories are among my prized possessions. I love the beach. I enjoy WWII history. I love a clean, orderly house, but ours usually looks lived in. ;) PBS Masterpiece is my friend. I adore Jane Austen films. They transport me to another time and place. If I had to choose another time period in which to live, early 19th Century England would be my pick. "Sense and Sensibility" is my all time favorite movie. My 3 favorite TV series are...BBC's Larkrise to Candleford, the 1950's Spanish Drama "Velvet," and the travel/food show "Somebody Feed Phil." My biggest pet peeve is people who blow their noses in public. So gross! {Take it to the bathroom people.} I’d go on a wine tasting vacation if it wasn’t against my religion. I’ve always wanted to adopt a baby from a foreign country. I’m an avid BYU football fan. I'm a Educational Support Professional. I tutor elementary kids in phonemic awareness, phonics, reading, fluency and comprehension. I love our campfires at Scofield Lake. I have a 'thing' for fairy gardens, Gallic French roosters, fresh flowers in a vase, pretty bowls & plates, and yummy smelling candles & soap. I love summer rainstorms and warm baths. I'm a scripture podcast fanatic. I'm also a fan of several Fox News shows; Hannity and Dave Ramsey Talk Radio. I very much miss Rush Limbaugh! I hate when my kids have homework. I'd rather clean 20 toilets than give a talk or prayer in church. I have quite a collection of Madame Alexander Dolls, children's books, Disney pins, and quotes. My favorite quote is "Don't underestimate me. I know more than I say, think more than I speak & notice more than you realize." True True LOL! I always prefer sitting in a back row versus the front. {I'm sort of a seat snob..yikes} I also have high expectations for my lemonade, salsa, and french fries too. HA! I work well behind the scenes. I love a good Dateline, 20/20 or 48 Hour Mystery. I’m a night owl. I'd rather be cold than hot. I love to budget our finances! I enjoy being a chauffeur to my children. I'm not a huge fan of social media. I don't snap, pin or tweet. All I want for Christmas every year is a ticket to the Tabernacle Choir Christmas Concert. It's my FAVORITE. I’m an Anglophile…a royal watcher who loves anything English! Especially tea parties! I would like to serve a church mission to England with Jaren someday. I'm queen of paper towel, used kitchen dishrags and sponges kinda make me squirm. You’ll rarely find me out of the house not ready for the day, except when driving the kids to school on the days I don't work. I feel naked without lipstick or lip gloss. Mismatched socks, chipped fingernail polish, chapped lips and brownie crumbs on the floor drive me nuts! I like to organize and BE organized..but not saying I always am. ;) I enjoy hiking to waterfalls, ATV’ing with my family and snowshoeing with the hubs. Although I enjoy collecting recipes and occasionally watch cooking shows... (Sandra Lee Semi-Homemade, Paula Deen, Jamie Oliver, and the Pioneer Woman are my favorites) I’d rather not cook. Eating out is so much more fun. I'm a foodie. I live to EAT! LOL Trying new foods and restaurants is a favorite past-time, and believe it or not so is intermittent fasting. I'm not good at a lot of things... but gosh, if you need help with a themed celebration or someone to enjoy good food with, I'm your girl. I love the joy of anticipation and the celebration of holidays. Family traditions are important to me. I'm a memory preserver. I'm a pathological picture taker ;) a visual storyteller, and a lover of happy lists!

My Fam!

My Fam!

The Hubs and I

The Hubs and I

My Girls!

My Girls!

Kyleigh Dawn (28)

Kyleigh Dawn (28)

Emma Abigail (26)

Emma Abigail (26)

Hannah Isabelle (23)

Hannah Isabelle (23)

Brielle Olivia (19)

Brielle Olivia (19)

Kate Evangelene Lyllie (13)

Kate Evangelene Lyllie (13)

Mr. Charles "Bingley" Wentworth III (4 yrs.)

Colonel Edward Fitzwilliam "Darcy", Duke of Westridge (3 yrs.)

My Man!

My Man!

Good Times!

Good Times!

Wedding Day 5*17*22

Lillian "Lilly" Belle

Disney Food Fun! 2019

Disneyland Tips

What I Believe!

Our Missionary

We Bleed Blue! {Except for the Poppi}

My list of favorite movies!

Learn more about Dyslexia!

Music To My Ears!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

What's On My Happy List?

Pale Pink Piggy's for Kate....
While you were sleeping mommy couldn't resist...



TV Overload

Ahhhhh! Orry Main and George Hazard in North and South. My favorite miniseries of all time! I have a memory of watching this with my mom on TV when it first came out in 1985. I was thirteen at the time and remember being captivated by it. Fast forward twenty five years.... I knew towards the end of the school year that Kyleigh had been studying the Civil War in her History class. What better way to make what she learned in the classroom come alive than by watching NORTH and SOUTH? That was my excuse anyway for purchasing the six disc collection and watching 20+ hours of TV. LOL Kyleigh was so taken with it, as I knew she would be, she would have watched the whole thing in a couple of days. But we spread the viewing out over the course of about a week and a half. We'd often get our chores done for the day and would watch it in the afternoon or at night. Gradually the younger girls became totally enthralled with it too so it kinda became a family affair. Even little Brie would ask me, "Are you glad the war is over?" We absolutely loved the movie adaption of the first two books. In our opinion the author, John Jakes, should have just left it at that. The last part of the trilogy, Heaven and Hell, we didn't care for at all! So in our minds we pretended the mini series ended after book two. Anyhow, love war history and loved the memories we made watching this together. We became so attached to the story line that I told Kyleigh it will probably be another twenty five years before I can emotionally handle watching it again...
KILLER PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

I actually baked cookies last night! Which I'm sure shocked everyone in the family as I haven't baked in quite some time. LOL I even managed to kill the hand mixer in the process. The whole cooking/baking thing I'm afraid will always baffle me. I have such a love affair with food. The art of it, the eating of it. I even enjoy looking at cooking magazines, cookbooks and have quite a collection of fabulous recipes, but frankly, I have to really really really be in the mood to cook and or bake. It's more of a chore for me than enjoyment and I sure hate the time it takes and the mess it leaves. Sadly, any kitchen skills my children learn will most likely not be from me but gratefully from their grandma or their dad. I'm all about the planning and presentation as long as someone else wants to fix it. :) I'm telling my girls... marry a man who enjoys being in the kitchen! You'll be eternally grateful. As I am. Kudos to Grandma too, who has amazing culinary skills, and is frequently sharing her leftovers or baked goods to satisfy any ones sweet tooth around here. My successes are few and far between in the kitchen but last night was a winner despite the batch I over baked. I found the world's best peanut butter cookie recipe from cooks.com. I can tell from the consistency of the dough if its going to be a keeper or not. And this one I had to share.
2 sticks butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups peanut butter
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract
I added 1 cup of Nestle peanut butter & milk chocolate morsels and a 1/2 cup of Heath English toffee bits for an added surprise. YUMMO!

2 comments:

  1. Cute little piggies!
    And I am so with you on the whole cooking thing. Just not my "thing". I either burn myself, the food or start a fire every time I cook. No joke. I wish I had a personal chef to handle that part of being a mom. Those cookies look scrumptious!!!

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  2. I have to say - North & South was one of my all time fav. mini-series also! I taped it on like 3 videotapes...remember those?! I love Kate's painted toes! When the girls were little I always wanted to do matching fingers...but they go in their mouth so it was a no-go!

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