Hiking Zion's Subway

Call me crazy, but I woke up at 6 AM this Saturday morning to drive down to Zion's National Park with possibly the cutest boy on planet Earth. We decided to spend the day together hiking The Subway. I had never hiked it before and was not disappointed! With fall just around the corner, the weather was perfect and the trail weaving through the ravine was stunning. We climbed over boulders, splashed through water, and slid down waterfalls all the way to the tunnel carved in the cliff called "The Subway." We held random conversations, laughed a ton, and met people from all over the world. How fortunate are we to live in Utah and to have this beauty within reach! We ended the day cleaning ourselves up and making chicken fettuccine at my house for dinner. Today was the perfect Saturday :)



See? He's pretty dang cute!

Just starting out!




I <3 Fall!

 

The Subway



Inside the Subway



We did it!

My Daily To-Do List

I don't know about you, but I love lists. I write lists for everything. Grocery lists, to-do lists, wish-lists, project lists, you name it! I write lists because they keep me organized and productive. I feel like I am in control of my day and can better manage my time when I have structure. But despite all of these lists, at the end of the day I feel that there is never enough time to accomplish everything I'd like to. There is always one project left unfinished, one more item awaiting completion, the last checkmark calling my name. A woman's work truly is never done.

But maybe it's ok that I am only human. Maybe it's even a good thing that I will never have a finished to-do list in my life. President Uchtdorf says it best:

Isn't it true that we often get so busy? And, sad to say, we even wear our busyness as a badge of honor, as though being busy, by itself, was an accomplishment or sign of a superior life. 

           Is it?

I think of our Lord and Exemplar, Jesus Christ, and His short life among the people of Galilee and Jerusalem. I have tried to imagine Him bustling between meetings or multitasking to get a list of urgent things accomplished.

I can’t see it.

Instead I see the compassionate and caring Son of God purposefully living each day. When He interacted with those around Him, they felt important and loved. He knew the infinite value of the people He met. He blessed them, ministered to them. He lifted them up, healed them. He gave them the precious gift of His time.

These inspiring words by an apostle really put life into perspective for me. I realized that I don't want to live my life at such a fast pace that I lose the time I am so frantically trying to save. I want to live each day purposely, and as a result I decided to make a different kind of list today.

Although this new to-do list seems daunting at first, I know that it will be worth every effort! Below is one of my favorite video clips of all time. The simple message has done a lot for me over the course of my life. It especially lent me inspiration for this blog post, and I think it will help get me started and properly motivated for this new to-do list of mine. I can't wait to see how my week goes! Enjoy lovelies :)

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

Are you ready for the easiest dinner ever made? Prepare to be amazed. My sister and I tried this recipe last week and you bet your bottom dollar we are making it again this week! Say hello to slow cooker chicken Caesar sandwiches.

 

 

 

Slow Cooker Chicken Caesar Sandwiches

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup Caesar dressing

1/2 cup Parmesan, shredded

1 tablespoon dried parsley

2 teaspoons pepper

2 cups romaine lettuce, shredded

Hamburger buns

 

 

Arrange chicken breasts in a single layer in base of slow cooker. Pour ½ cup water into basin and cook on low for 3-4 hours. Remove chicken from slow cooker and shred with two forks. Drain water from crock pot. Return chicken to basin and stir in caesar dressing, parmesan, parsley, and pepper. Cook on low for 30 minutes. Remove and serve on buns with romaine.

Gone Camping

This weekend I escaped the monotony of everyday life to go on a young single adult campout at Navajo Lake. My sister and I headed up the canyon right after work, and the drive alone was enough to make me sing of happiness! The green forest landscape against the vivid red cliffs was absolutely breathtaking. As I took in the sight, I felt the weight from my stressful week begin to lift off my shoulders.


We were half-way to the lake when it began to rain. Hard. Assuming that our ward members had ditched the lake and headed for cover, we passed Navajo Lake in search of the cabin we would be lodging in that night. We had a map and instructions to follow the signs with orange tape. Well, the map was nothing but a line scribbled on a half-sheet of paper and there were NO signs with orange tape to be found. The dirt road quickly became a mud slide streaming with water. After about a half-hour of searching in frustration, we decided to give up and get a pizza in town instead. But just as we were passing Navajo Lake, we saw a figure standing on the side of the road. As we got closer, I peered through my window and realized it was the YSA bishop from the 12th ward! He flagged us down and said that everyone was down by the lake having dinner. Hallelujah!



Navajo Lake

The sun started to break through the clouds as we ate our hamburgers grilled on the camp stove, and the rain let up just enough so we could go walk around the edge of the lake. The water reflecting the sky was stunning, and I couldn't get enough of that fresh mountain air in my lungs! After exploring for a bit, we had our stake president Brother Esplin speak to us for a fireside. He spoke about Satan's biggest tool - discouragement. He said discouragement is dangerous because it allows for us to look back at things that happened in the past and lose hope for our future. We discussed different ways we can continue to live life with hope and remember our worth, such as relying on the Savior's atonement, looking to positive role models in our lives for guidance, staying true to our values, etc. I felt truly inspired by the topic, and the discussion combined with the beautiful mountain backdrop made me feel revitalized.









Members of YSA 2nd Stake
 

After the fireside, we played volleyball on the lake's edge until it was too dark to see. Then we loaded into our vehicles to head to the cabin. By sheer miracle, by Dodge Stratus made it down the winding, muddy path to the cabin hidden in the forest. The place was quaint, complete with a vintage cook stove and a massive stone fireplace in the center of the living room. We played the card game Scum for awhile and then the girls went to bed upstairs while the men set up a tent outside. Although the mattress was lumpy and I had seen way too many large insects crawling around for comfort, I fell asleep immediately and woke up bright and early the next morning for breakfast. The bishop from the 12th ward cooked us pancakes, eggs, and sausage on the camp stove, and it was delicious! It had rained all night so the world seemed shiny and new. We took a group picture and headed for home. I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to breathe in some fresh air this weekend and clear my head. Sometimes life gets so crazy busy, and it takes going somewhere new to disconnect from all that & find yourself again. I feel more alive among the trees.

"Yay pioneers!"

Mormon pioneers

pi·o·neer noun : 1. a person or group that opens up or prepares for others to follow.

The Mormon pioneers made it to Utah July 24, 1847

Yesterday I had the privilege to celebrate "Pioneer Day," or the 24th of July, with the rest of the state of Utah. To start the day off right, my sister and I met up with a bunch of friends on Main Street for the city parade. We laid a blanket out on the side of the street and cheered as people walked by dressed as their pioneer ancestors pulling handcarts. We compiled quite the stash of candy and popsicles during the course of the parade. I guess some things never change! 

After the parade, we headed to Great Harvest for a yummy lunch and then walked around the city park for awhile. After lounging in the grass and giving each other fake tattoos, we decided to cool off at the city reservoir. The water was so cold we could only bear to go in up to our waists, and then we'd freak out whenever we thought a fish touched us. One guy even ran out of the water screaming a fresh-water eel had grazed his leg. Chaz, our friend from the Caribbean, said very seriously, "There are no eels in this water." Yeah. We always have a good time.

Well, the reservoir quickly became a little too cool for us after it started to downpour. Welcome to Cedar City in July. Although the thunder was quite impressive as it echoed across the water, we decided to ditch the beach and make chicken parmesan for dinner instead. There is something about a rainy summer's afternoon that is so comforting to me. I loved the feeling of spending time with good company: pots and pans clattering, people laughing, distant thunder and the smell of rain wafting through the windows. Could life be any more perfect? Yes, yes it can because we followed dinner with cheesecake and the movie "Star Dust," which is probably one of the best movies ever made. We ended the night with a bang by playing some mud volleyball in the Stadium Way Apartments volleyball pit. Due to the thunderstorm, the pit was full of wet sand and big puddles of rain water. We slipped off our shoes and had a ball running around in the squishy sand, splashing water and oozing sand between our toes. For one hilarious moment we tried to use the parking lot garbage can to scoop up some of the water, which worked to no avail. The night air was so clean and fresh, and there were fireworks exploding  in the air all around us as we played two rousing games of mud volleyball. I am so fortunate to have such a great group of friends!

Brent, David, Chaz, me, and Quinn at the parade.

 

I am even more fortunate to come from a strong pioneer heritage. My pioneer ancestors on my mother's side traveled all the way to America from England. The two women were sisters, who also happened to be royal duchesses, and after meeting two Mormon missionaries on the street one day they snuck away on a ship to come to Zion. They gave up all their riches and comforts of life in exchange for hope of a better future. These women packed only the bare necessities in a little wooden handcart and made the treacherous trek across the continent to settle in Utah. I can only imagine the determination, the pain, the relief that these women, and countless others, must have felt on their journey.  And I can only hope that if I were to be  given the same opportunity, I would have the strength and courage to take it. I owe everything to my ancestors. I would not be where I am today without them, and I will be forever grateful for their sacrifices. I am hopeful that I can continue to honor our family name  as a latter-day pioneer by paving the way for future generations to follow. 

Crockpot Italian Chicken & Breadsticks

Wow. Today my unhealthy addiction to carbs has greatly deepened. My sister and I typically crockpot it up on Sundays, and today we tried crockpot Italian chicken with taste-a-like Olive Garden breadsticks. This stuff isn't just yummy, it's yum-OH!



Crockpot Italian Chicken & Breadsticks

Italian Crockpot Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 packet Italian dressing seasoning
1 8-oz cream cheese (I use a little less)
1 can cream of chicken soup

Layer ingredients in the crockpot and cover with tinfoil. Top with crockpot lid and cook on low for 4 hours. Serve over pasta (I use rotini).

Olive Garden Breadsticks

1.5 cups warm water
1 packet active dry yeast
4 1/4 cups flour
2 T. unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup margarine
2 T. sugar
1 T. salt
2 tsp. garlic powder
Parsley flakes

In a large bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water and allow to sit for 10 minutes, covered. Mixture should be frothy.

 

In a separate bowl, combine flour and salt. Add to yeast mixture. Add melted butter. Mix with paddle attachment of stand mixer or wooden spoon until fully combined. Knead dough for a few minutes just until dough is smooth. Do not overknead!

 

Grease a cookie sheet. Pull off pieces of dough and roll out into strips. Cover the dough and let sit in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and slide in the bread sticks.

 

In microwave, combine the following: 1 stick unsalted butter (or 1/2 cup margarine), 2 teaspoons garlic powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. After bread sticks have cooked for 6 or 7 minutes, brush the bread sticks with half the butter mixture. Then continue to bake for 5-8 more minutes.

 

Immediately upon removal from the oven, brush the other half of the butter on the sticks. Allow to cool for a few minutes before eating. Enjoy!

          

Kill Them with Craftiness

I heart crafts. Give me an afternoon, some scrapbook paper, and a glue gun and you have one happy girl. This also explains my unhealthy obsession with Pinterest. A-hem. Anyways, I like my crafts to be sweet, short, and to the point. That being said, if you are looking for a fun, practical project that is relatively cheap and never takes more than an afternoon to complete, read below!

Menu Board

Let's get organized! I don't know about you, but I plan my meals by the week, and I wanted a place to organize my meals so I could refer to my plans throughout the week. With a cheap picture frame, some scrapbook materials, and a couple of clothespins, I was able to recreate a craft that I found on, you guessed it, Pinterest. Click here for detailed instructions on how to make your own menu board.




My menu board

Paper Flower Bouquet

After my sister moved in with me, I figured it was time to revamp our bedroom with some new décor. Using materials laying around the house, we were able to create a paper flower bouquet to place on our nightstand. For starters, I smoothed down some sticks from the backyard and spray painted them black. While the sticks dried, I added white beans to the bottom of a glass vase and chose three scrapbook paper designs to use for the flowers. For details on how to cut the flowers, click here. Next, I layered the paper cutouts and used a mini brad to secure the flowers. Then I arranged the dry sticks in the vase and hot glued each flower to a stick. Pretty darn cute, eh?

Our paper flower bouquet

 

Embroidery Frames & Glass Jars

The women in my family are professional seamstresses, but unfortunately for me, the word "sew" might as well be the s-word. Surprisingly, I have recently picked up embroidery to design my own frames. And trust me, if I can do it, anyone can do it!

 

To start this project, I used my computer to design the lettering and graphic image in Microsoft PowerPoint. Next, I laid my material over the computer screen and traced my design lightly with a pencil. After picking my color palette, I went to work outlining my pencil tracing with needle and thread. Next, I cut down cardboard to fit in the picture frame, centered my material over the cardboard, pulled the edges tight, and stapled the material to the cardboard. After securing the cardboard in the frame, I had a new cute-as-a-button decoration for my home!

 

As for the jar, I am one of those weirdos who saves every glass sauce jar from the store and washes it out "just in case." Well, this year I had many "just in case" situations, and I have been having a grand ol' time wrapping each jar in scrapbook paper and adding ribbons, buttons, glitter, you name it! These jars could not only be used for decoration but for stuffing with gifts as well.  

Embroidery frame and craft jar


 

Well, that's it for today. I promise to share my new craft findings as I go. As for now, remember: Kill them with craftiness!