Weekend: Conference + Editing

My weekend is pretty much scheduled out. I've got 6 sets of headshots to edit and get on proof sites. And conference is on, so I have something to listen to while I do it, at least :)

Waiting on Our Road to Damascus

This video really hit home for me.

How Church is Going--3 Months

Sew.

Here's an update on the whole church thing.

I'm getting back into the flow of church being a regular thing. At first it seemed like Sunday came way too often, but I'm actually surprised how little time its taken for me to get used to it. This week will be 3 months. I'm preparing myself for the novelty to wear off, and for thing to get hard again sometime in the near future, but for now, it's mostly okay.

Right now, I really, really just don't want to have to worry about getting up on Sundays. Waking up to no alarm clock on Saturdays is the best part of my whole week (at least ONE of the best). I realize that as my life changes, with kids and other things, Saturdays won't always be like that. Maybe then, I'll be grateful for a 9 AM "late start" on Sundays. When spring and summer get here, I'll probably have to nix the Saturday sleep-ins for photography sessions--but that's FUN :)

Thinking about churchy things throughout the week has been a different experience than I remember. Yeesh, lookit me, I sound like I've been away for eons. I'm telling you though, it is so easy to forget. Different periods in my life have shown me that scripture study and prayer come more easily at different times. But I have never had so much in my life direct me towards reading daily. My mind hasn't ever felt so open to the concepts and guidance in the scriptures. I feel like this is one gigantic mercy Heavenly Father has decided I need right now, and I'm incredibly grateful.

It's not all easy; it's not all hard. Some things will take lots of time to make right. But I'm here. I'm doing my best to be a part things.

We hear all the time (and it's so easy to start thinking of it as cliche; try not to though) that God's hand is always outstretched, we just need to take it. Or that the door is there, we just need to knock. It's true. My back was turned, not his. It's so easy to feel like we have to climb this huge mountain in order to be spiritual. That God waits for us to get far enough and then decides to help us if we've gone far enough. That's SO wrong. As soon as we decide to climb, He's there. As soon as we think about getting ready to climb, He encourages us; and we can feel His encouragement if we listen. Soon, other peaks and valleys that seemed impossible to begin with, aren't so bad once you get there.

Also, today I ate a Snickers bar. An entire candy bar, all to myself. It's been years. There's something so delicious and satisfying about eating a whole regular sized candy bar all by yourself, especially when there's no guilt for actually buying it yourself--we had some extras at work they were giving away. I could feel the calories sliding down my throat and settling in my stomach, but they were glorious, and I was willing.

Pictures of Bella

Sorry to all of you who see this twice since I put it on my photography blog. But it's a personal shoot too, and I wanted the people who get emails of my posts to able to see the pictures without going to the blog.

I got to hang out with my sister-in-law and my niece last week! We went to the aquarium and saw some penguins and otters. And then we played at the park and had dinner. I don't get to see them very often, so it was really nice to be able to hang out and see Bella be herself. 

I'll let the pictures do some talking for themselves :)

Tortilla Soup

Look at me big! I'm a pretty picture :)

Mmm, tortilla taco-y soup. I have no idea what to call this kind of soup. It doesn't have tortillas in it... so is it still tortilla soup?

Whatever it's called, it's delicious. I made it on Saturday night--and I just have to say, I chose all the ingredients at the store BEFORE looking at a recipe, and I chose correctly! Not sure about you guys, but every time I try to do that I always end up missing something. Go me :)

I added up all the calories in this soup, and it's ridiculously low. If you have a medium sized bowl, it's about 400 calories with chips and no sour cream.

It turned out to be a little bit taco soup, a little bit chili, a little bit tortilla soup. Kinda just a Mexican-y soup. The chipotles really make it what it is though--they have a very distinct spice and flavor. I'd never cooked with them before, but I'm definitely going to again! You can find them in little cans on the Mexican aisle at the grocery store, and you'll have lots of leftovers.

Speaking of leftovers, this fed us dinner plus lunch for 2 days! Convenient? Uh, yeah.

Here's my version; it's based on Rachel Ray's Tortilla Soup only it has all stuff I wanted.

stuff you'll need:
1 pound ground beef
1 yellow pepper
1 medium white onion, diced
crushed garlic, to taste (1 tablespoon ish/ 3 cloves)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground rep pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 minced chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
1 14 ounce can diced tomatoes
1 8 ounce can tomato sauce
4 cups beef broth
1 14 ounce can black beans, rinsed
2-3 tablespoons corn starch
1-2 cups frozen sweet corn
1/2 to 1 cup chopped cilantro

optional toppings:
shredded pepperjack cheese
fritos or tortilla chips
sour cream

here's how you do it:
First, you halve and de-seed the pepper, and stick it either on a grill pan over medium high heat for 10 minutes, or in the oven to roast for a few minutes. This grills the outside and sweetens it. If you don't feel like doing this, just add the chopped pepper in with the onion when its turn comes; it will be tastier if you grill it though.

In a large pot over medium high heat, brown the beef with salt and pepper. Add chopped onion and garlic while it's browning. If your meat is very lean, you may need to add a bit of oil to saute the onion. Add seasonings and chipotle peppers. Continue to cook for a minute or two.

Lower the heat to medium, add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, black beans, and broth. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat to allow a simmer.

Using a ladle, spoon out about 1/2 cup of liquid from the pot. In a small bowl, stir the liquid in with 2-3 tablespoons cornstarch until it's dissolved. Add it to the simmering pot. You may want to start with a little corn starch, cook the soup for a few minutes, then repeat the process until the soup is the thickness you're looking for.

Stir in corn, cilantro, and chopped pepper. Cook until corn is heated through, about 5 minutes. Remember to taste test to see if it needs more seasonings.

Top with cheese, serve with Fritos or tortilla chips, and/or sour cream, as you like.

Who are the Mormons?

I thought this infographic was pretty neat.

VODNIK review, as promised

Vodnik by Bryce Moore
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

My husband won an ARC of this book, and we've both loved it. I won't include any spoilers for you, but I'll just let you know that I've never read anything like this. I don't give out 5 star reviews willy nilly. I 100% enjoyed this book! It was the complete package for me.

The simple fact that it's set in Slovakia, and revolves around Slovak folklore sets it apart from other books. The setting feels real because it IS real. The magic is exciting and new.

This book is COMPLEX; moreso than I was expecting. You're figuring new stuff out, making guesses as to who's the bad guy, what's going to happen, and getting clues all the way up until the climax. It's paced wonderfully, giving you just the right amounts of information to hook you at the right times. It's PACKED with stuff! I felt like I was reading much more book than there was, which was great because I loved the story.

The characters are developed nicely; I believe their motivations. One tricky thing the main character has to deal with is deciding how much to involve his parents in his troubles, which, I think, is exactly what happens in real life. Our parents seem to take the back seat when we're trying to deal with tough situations on our own. And the characters have a great blend of magical and real-world obstacles to overcome.

There's an underlying conflict where the main character deals with racism, and it is handled with the care it deserves at the same time as being frank and open about real life situations.

This book would be great for anyone 12 and up; It's not too simple as to feel like reading a Fablehaven book, but there's nothing so dark that a 12 year old couldn't handle it.

View all my reviews

smell in fridge, ruined soup, shred, new calling, and church

I haven't posted yet this week, so I thought I'd share what's been going on. Nothing super fantastic. Mostly normal stuff.

• The smell in our freezer/fridge is going away--Oh wait. I don't think I told you about that. Basically, one day there suddenly came a horrible stench from our freezer mostly, and filled our fridge, ruining 90% of its contents. We threw away at least $50 worth of food, if not closer to $100. Basically, anything not sealed tighter than Superman could open tasted like... nasty. When we cleaned everything out there wasn't even anything super old or rotting that had obviously caused the smell. It's a mystery. We spent a week or so with a mostly empty fridge, trying a new remedy each day. Lysol, bleach, baking soda, vinegar, vanilla... just a few. For now, we have a freezer that just smells like off vinegar, and we're sealing all our food, like, triple. 

• Speaking of bad food. I recently had one of the worst food foibles of my life. Remember this delicious butternut squash soup? Yeah, the one that takes an hour to roast the squash? Well, lucky me, I used cream that had gone sour and ruined the whole batch. Needless to say, Wendy's never tasted so blah after that. 

• What else is going on... I started Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. This evening will be day 6. It was incredibly hard the first 2 days, and now it's getting better. But it's still really difficult. 20 minutes of intense workout, at home, where I don't have to drive anywhere, or wear appealing clothing, and I'm allowed to pant and grunt as much as I need to because no one can hear. I make Trevor stay in another room while I exercise--best idea ever. 

• I'm now officially the Relief Society accompanist. Who'd have guessed? ;) I was expecting it, and hoping for it, actually. When I was set apart, it was said that I could use my calling as a means of healing some of the old hurts I have, and using the spirit of music to move forward with my spiritual goals. I totally 100% agree. I always feel like the pianist is the luckiest person in the room. I love playing prelude music, and I feel like I'm getting the long end of the stick by being able to sit and enjoy it. I don't even know if other people listen that much. 

• I bore my testimony in church and completely ruined it. Five seconds after getting up to the mic I became one of those ladies who talks like a mouse and pauses for unknown amounts of time. After that my goal changed from bearing testimony to just saying a few sentences that would actually make sense to the congregation and sitting back down as quickly as possible. I even snorted uncontrollably as I was heading back down. Oh gosh. And I have to show my face there again.
• I'm speaking in church this Sunday. I don't know what came over the bishopric to make them think I'll be any different than last time, but okay. I just need to steer clear of anything that invites the spirit, then I won't cry. Sounds like a terrific plan.
• Lastly, this hasn't happened yet, but I'm looking forward to it a bushelfull. My sister-in-law and my niece are coming for a visit tomorrow! We are going to have loads of fun :)