Happy Birthday Dad!

Today is my Dad's birthday! And for courtesy reasons, I won't disclose how old he is today :) But in order to give tribute, I want to talk about how great he is!

To start, I want to show my appreciation for my dad's talent of being an expert cook! He's the one who always made delicious recipes for our family when I was growing up. He's the one who helps me learn to cook better every day!

When he was here visiting in Provo, I asked him if we could make sweet-'n-sour chicken. I had the sauce, the chicken, and some flour and I figured that's all I needed. But then he said, "Well, we're going to need some garlic, ginger, onions, green peppers, etc. This is when you know someone can cook! So I went to the store to make a delectable meal!

He taught me how to fry things better! The trick is to add corn starch and baking powder! Also, to put the meat in an egg bath before the powder! :) Then the batter gets fluffy and amazing!
This is how the chicken turned out! YUM!
And of course, we had some steamed edamame on the side!!
And a plateful of rice to put the chicken on. It truly was an amazing meal made by an amazing dad!
But other than being a great chef, my dad has been wonderful in so many other ways! He's a sweet, loving guy, he loves music, he has supported me through every walk of life and taught me a million things! I couldn't have asked for a better father! I love you Dad! Happy Birthday!

Mike Got His Mission Call! :)

This past Wednesday, April 15th (aka tax day to most of the world), my brother Mike's mission call came in the mail! I was so excited when I saw it in the mailbox I was shaking for the next hour! :)

Here are a couple pictures for your enjoyment. This was when he was waiting in anticipation for my parents to be able to get on the phone! He had to wait about 30 minutes. Poor thing :) So we'll make you wait to scroll through the pics to get to the big answer - WHERE IS HE GOING?
Where???
AHHH Where?!!?!?
And the answer IS... He's going to Boise, Idaho! English speaking!!!
And no, Mom, he's not kidding! :)

I wish you could see the video. It won't upload to anything probably because it is too big. So, until I can figure out how to make it work, you'll have to enjoy these pictures!

I'm so proud of my little brother for choosing to serve an honorable mission! He's going to make one fantastic missionary!

Ashlie's Baby Shower

Last Thursday, April 9th, I went to my friend Ashlie (Jensen) Heiner's baby shower! I know Ashlie from DT during our first year here at BYU. Her shower was put on by Burgundy (Flammer) Heiner, also a friend I met on the same floor at DT, and Shea Heiner (Ashlie's sister-in-law)! Ashlie and Burgundy married Ryan and Trevor Heiner who are brothers! Small world huh? And I hope that wasn't too confusing haha.Anyway, Ashlie's shower was so much fun and was so cute thanks to Burgundy and Shea! Since Ashlie is having a little girl, I bought her a cute little pink BYU blanket and pink onesie that says "You're lookin' at one CUTE Cougar!". You cant tell that they are pink in the picture, but they are! :) This next picture was the "cake" made of diapers! SUCH a cute idea!
The party had a delicious soup bar (I think I had three bowls of soup!) and it also had a guessing game where there were items in brown paper bags labeled with one letter. All the bags spelled out "B A B Y S H O W E R". So the object was to guess what was in each of the bags and the only hint you got was that the letter on the bag was the letter that the object started with (AND the fact that it could fit in a lunch-sized paper bag). Then Ashlie got to open all the bags and whoever guessed the most correctly won! And guess who won!? ME :) I guess I'm lucky- or a good guesser! Anyway, I got a cute little flowerpot with lotions and sprays of my favorite scent (Coconut Lime Verbena). Since I never win anything, I was pretty excited!!
This last picture is Ashlie with a couple other shower guests. We had such a fun time chatting. In fact, I got there a little after 7 and didn't leave until 11!!! Whoops! Everyone else was gone around 9, but Ashlie and her friend Nikki and I just kept talking forever and it was wonderful! I'm sure our husbands were wondering where we were! Oh well... sometimes girls just need to talk their heads off. It's nice, you know? :)

Thanks for such a fun time Ashlie! I love you girl!

Hiking the Y!

This was my second time ever hiking the Y. Last time was 3 years ago, during the first semester of my freshman year at BYU. I remember not really enjoying the experience because I had a bit of a cold. So, when my brother Mike was in town and he proposed hiking it, I was somewhat wary but decided to challenge myself. Besides, Monday was a gorgeous day and the tennis courts were full. We needed to do something fun and I was up for hiking the Y! So we did! And here are some pictures we took:

Taken at about turn 3 or 4 (of 12)... I was dying by this point so we took a breather:
Mike got a candid of me hiking:
This is probably turn 7 or 8... cheering that I was going to make it!!:
And we DID make it! To the top top! We decided to go big or go home and hike a couple more turns to the very top of the Y. A nice lady took this picture for us:
Then we wanted to go back down to the trail that goes to the bottom of the Y. About 10 steps in, we changed our mind and took pictures instead. Here's Mike posing:
We made it all the way up and all the way down!:Mike posing again on top of some sort of informational monument about the Y:Jumping off.... action shot of course!:
Showing off my 10x zoom. You can see all the little people WAAAY up at the top:
Hiking the Y was fun, hard, and rewarding. I couldn't believe how steep it was! My heart was pounding and I was trying to catch my breath almost the whole way. We met a lady on the trail who said she was 52 years old and hiked the Y 3 times a WEEK to keep looking young. And I guess it works because she didn't look anywhere near 52! Anyway, I'll have to make a point to do it again sometime! Thanks for a fun adventure, Mike!

A Hodgepodge of Pictures

There will most likely be no method to the madness of this post. Just some random pictures that represent what Trevor and I have been up to lately:

1. This picture represents the Draper Temple Dedication that we were able to watch/attend from our Wymount Stake Center on March 22nd. We didn't have the necessary white handkerchiefs needed to attend the dedication, so the night before at about 11pm we stopped by Walmart to see if they had any hankies. I walked up to the fabric desk to ask the lady there, and before I could finish my sentence she said "we don't have any left but you can cut out some of this white fabric". Then I noticed the nice group to my left who informed me that that was what they were doing! :) Oh dear... there were probably a dozen people who lined up to get white fabric as I was standing there. I thought it funny how last-minute we all can be!

Anyway, I didn't want just frayed fabric for the dedication, so after church the next day my wonderful friend Tammi Kirksey helped me sew two layers together to make some home-made handkerchiefs! They turned out so wonderfully I had to show off our work of art:The dedication really was wonderful and I am grateful for the opportunity I had to attend my second temple dedication in 10 years! Last time was the Raleigh, NC temple in December 1999.

2. This second picture is the only representation I have of our trip to Las Vegas on March 28th and 29th. We went down for our niece's baptism. Madison is the oldest of all the nieces and nephews and therefore was the first to be baptized! It was such a special experience and I am glad that Trevor and I were able to make it down to visit Mical and her family. Since living there (for many years) this was Trevor's first time visiting them! The weather there was sunny, warm, and wonderful and I was hesitant to make the 5 hour drive back to wintry Provo. On the way back home I snapped this shot:
I am sad that I got too lazy to break out my camera for other pictures, but you can find more on Mical's blog as well as Meghan's (see my blogroll on the right).

3. General Conference was the first weekend in April (4th and 5th). Trevor and I really enjoyed taking time to relax and listen to the wonderful words of our prophets. For the Sunday afternoon session, we invited the Shipp clan to come to our little apartment to watch the session and then eat a nice spaghetti dinner afterward. The session was wonderful, the spaghetti was tasty, and the company was enjoyed. When Jill announced she had brought her clippers if anyone needed a haircut (perhaps a hint for Trevor) I have to admit I was somewhat relieved. Trevor was in dire need of a haircut. So here they are on our porch at Wymount with Jill going at Trevor's hair:
I truly cannot believe how much hair that man has. I think more hair grows on his head in one month than I have on my entire head currently. I was shocked at the amount of hair on the ground. Anyway, his haircut looks much better now! :)

4. These pictures, for me, are the antithesis of Easter tradition. As usual, for Easter this year I made a bunny cake to bring to the Shipp's for Easter dinner. My brother Mike came in town on April 10th, so he helped out with decorating the face and bow tie. Here is the finished product of our cake:
And here is my fun, sweet brother holding our creation:
However, Easter is not all about bunnies and chocolate. For me this year, I really tried to focus on how grateful I was for the Atonement of Christ. I am so grateful that He suffered for every single person's sins and was willing to do so in order to allow us to return back to live with Heavenly Father. He suffered so we do not have to if we repent. He rose again the third day so we could all be resurrected. I am truly indebted to this merciful act that Christ performed for all the world. What a wonderful holiday Easter is! As it comes with the rebirth of Spring, it is a reminder of the spiritual rebirth that we all could experience if we allow the Atonement to work in our lives. I am so grateful for the Lord's grace and for His love for me.

As I was making this post, I realized that all five pictures had to do with events based around my religion. Sometimes I forget what a huge role being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has in my life. I am so grateful for the blessings I have received from following the Lord's gospel.

If you are curious to know what I am talking about or would like to know more, make sure to visit mormon.org. Having this knowledge of Jesus Christ and His Atonement has really shaped my life and molded me into the person I am today.