Happy in Hanford

My weekend was amazing!  I relaxed, played with James, baked and cooked to my heart's desire, caught up on TV shows and slept almost twelve hours every night.

Oh! And I got to baby-sit James while these two went to a fancy formal.

I documented everything I ate because I hadn't eaten this good in a long time.  Prepare to be jealous.

Belgian Waffles for Breakfast on Friday

Twice Baked Potatoes from 'The Pioneer Woman Cooks' for Dinner on Friday

Sour Cream Pancakes from 'The Pioneer Woman Cooks' for Breakfast on Saturday

Filet Mignon from The Harris Ranch (just down the road) and Mashed Potatoes for Dinner on Saturday

Chicken Chili from 'The Barefoot Contessa' for Lunch on Sunday

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes from Martha Stewart's Cupcake Book

It's probably time for me to go to the gym now.  And to exercise for nine hours every day to work this weekend off.

The only things I didn't do in Hanford were buy surprises at Target (didn't really have time to look the one day we were there ... although they DID just put in the HUGEST Forever 21 I have ever seen!) and drink root beer at the root beer place.  They were closed for renovation :(  But I did find out that Hanford has not ONE, but TWO Starbucks ... in the same parking lot.

The Retreat

So the last time I was here in Hanford, I thought I might have been scarred for life. I was working on the impossible - a wedding cake for 200. Might I mention, this was the first time I had ever attempted anything but a classic 9" x 13" cake. Needless to say, what was supposed to be a relaxing few days turned into whirlwind of baking cakes 24 hours a day.

I didn't rest.  I think I wore the same clothes the entire time.  My mom even gave me this apron afterwards because I was so attached to it.

(It had been a birthday gift to her from a friend a month earlier).

But the finished product brought relief.  Relief that it was finished.  Relief that it didn't fall apart.  Relief that it looked presentable.  Relief that I was still alive.

I definitely would not have survived what was supposed to be a low-key girls weekend without the help of my mom and sister.

But enough about the cake I am so proud of.  The truth is, I'm not actually scarred.  I came back to Hanford and I relaxed.  And I baked too!  Well, actually I cooked.  The baking is happening this afternoon.  I'll share my masterpieces with you later.  And yes, I have tried two of The Pioneer Woman's recipes.  And yes, I loved them both.  More to come in a later post ...

This Weekend ...

... I'm going to Hanford to see James be blessed!  I am so excited to see him (and Alli and Mike of course)!

Other reasons I am looking forward to visiting Hanford:

1.  The high temperature there today is 72 degrees - a temperature I haven't felt in months, years even!

2.  Target is the only store in the whole city that sells clothes and so it is always stocked really well.  Maybe I'll be able to find some surprises?

3.  We're (hopefully) going to try out recipes from these new cookbooks:

4.  Their house is like a retreat.  There are no distractions in their town (like malls, movie theaters, Starbucks etc.) to take you away from reading books and catching up on favorite shows on Hulu.

5.  There is a store with 500 million kinds of root beer for sale and I have been craving root beer since I gave up soda in May.  I can't think of a better place to start drinking soda again!

Hope you have a fun weekend ahead too!

Henry M. Gunn Gives Me Hope

I went to a wonderful high school in Palo Alto, Calif.  A high school that always ranked in high in Newsweek's Top 100 Public Schools and sent more kids to Stanford than anywhere else.  I graduated from there in 2005, but things have changed drastically since I attended.


In the past six months, four students have committed suicide by stepping in front of a train at the same intersection.  A fifth student attempted suicide in the same manner but was stopped by his mother and a passing motorcyclist.


I drove past the train tracks about 15 minutes after the second suicide occurred and it was a sight I'll never forget.  I immediately called the editor of the newspaper I was interning at over the summer and reported what I had seen.  He took over and updated the paper's Web site throughout the night.  The next morning, I was assigned to go to Gunn High School and write a story on the girl who had committed suicide.  Going back to the hangouts on campus where I had stood four years earlier, anxiously awaiting my graduation and the adventures in my future, I was sobered by the mood and disbelief among the current students.  And the universal question -- why?

I didn't get it.  Four years earlier I was thrilled to be where those seniors stood.  Senior picnics, graduation parties and a summer of fun awaited me.  So what would drive someone to take their life when that is what they too had to look forward to?  I'll never know.  And I've learned that wondering can drive a person crazy.

But these musings are not the point of this post.  A certain blog I recently heard about is.

Recently, the news of a suicide contagion in Palo Alto has been spreading across the nation.  I've read about it on AOL, MSNBC and in the LA Times.

Through these stories I learned about a blog -- Henry M. Gunn Gives Me Hope, better known as HMGGMH.

People from Austin to Australia have posted on it and shared their feelings, views and anything else that comes to mind regarding the recent suicides and about things in their lives that give them hope.  For many, the HMGGMH blog is what gives them hope.

Someone in Florida wrote:

"I’m not to the point where I’m ready to talk, but knowing that there is hope out there GMH. I have thought some things, but never really acted on them. After reading all of these stories, I promised I wouldn’t hurt myself anymore. Someday, I’ll let people in. I’m not in any way connected to Gunn, but the strength and love in this community has shown has meant more then you all can realize. Thank you. HMGGMH."

A freshman wrote:

"Today, I was feeling really depressed. I’ve been fighting a lot with my best friend lately and my parents are constantly pressuring me. I was crying in my room when i got a Facebook chat from a girl who I don’t know very well. She said that she was worried about me and asked if I needed to talk, and gave me her cell number. With everything that has been going on lately, her kindness and concern for others GMH. You don’t have to do something huge to make a huge difference."

These both GMH (give me hope), but especially the second one.  How hard is it to reach out to someone?  You never know who is in need.

My friends GMH.  And so do memories like the one brought up by this picture.

More Birthdays

This ad played online while I was waiting to watch a video and it brought me to tears.

The American Cancer Society has started a campaign dedicated to helping people to have more birthdays by beating out cancer.

Cancer is always a difficult thing with me.  My favorite Uncle Steve has been battling a form of cancer called chondrosarcoma for the past four years.  In fact, I think it is four years this month.

He's the funniest guy you'll ever meet and he's also the toughest.

He lives just 40 minutes away and I love going up to visit whenever I get the chance.  So here's to more birthdays with him.

It's That Time of the Year ...

You know, that time when skiing and snow is on the brain!  Halloween is over, November has begun and Christmas decorations are for sale in every store around.  Naturally, I start thinking about SNOW!

I purchased my midweek pass to Sundance and am excited to try out their new night skiing program!

As if that doesn't have me excited enough, I came across this fence while on a road work detour through Heber.  Blair and I were driving up to his aunt and uncle's cabin for a family dinner and I made him pull over so I could check it out.  Isn't it amazing?  Don't you wish your house was surrounded by a fence like this??

Halloween Haunting

I've always been the kind of person to wear cute Halloween costumes sewn by mom or pieced together with crafty items collected over the month leading up Halloween.  But my ambitions quickly diminished this year ...

What started as an idea to be a jellyfish ...

... eventually turned into being a classic witch (I'd never been a witch, ghost or pumpkin before)!

But the day of Halloween, I found myself at the Halloween superstore with Nat, Blair and Graham purchasing masks.  When I told my mom, she was horrified because she thinks that kids who wear masks on Halloween are the trouble makers. But wearing a mask was so fun!

We went up to a cabin party in Sundance and danced the night away with friends.

At one point, we stood outside the window of one of the rooms in the cabin just looking in.  Two girls walked in and just about had heart attacks!  I laughed my face off, until I learned that they had just seen The Strangers the night before, then I felt a little bad.

I loved wearing regular clothes because I got to wear Halloween socks!

The costumes people wore were amazing though!  Awards go to Nate as David Bowie in Labyrinth:

And to Kate as a troll!

Maybe next year I'll get my act together enough to look as amazing as these two!

Pumpkin Chocolate Tart, Oh My!

Earlier this week, to get in the Halloween spirit, Lani and I decided to channel Martha and make this pumpkin chocolate tart, courtesy of Martha Stewart's Halloween magazine.

It was time consuming because everything had to set or chill or bake for a really long time.

But it was fun to have such a spooky result!  The spiderweb on top made all the difference - and it was easy to do!

Now that it is Nov. 1, I get to break out the new Martha Stewart for November and Lani and I will have to pick a new treat to make!

Football Frenzy

Last weekend BYU played TCU in a home football game. Even ESPN College GameDay showed up for the event.  They favored the Horned Frogs.  It was a smart choice considering we lost 38-7!  The Cougars were definitely not playing their best ... but it was fun putting on a show for everyone watching from home.

Blair and I bundled up because it had rained all day and we were worried about it maybe snowing!

Then on Tuesday night, the Lady Wingmen had a flag football intramural game against some team called "Team Bauer."  We pulled out a win, 7-6 in the last minute of the game!  We were shocked because for some crazy reason the Intramural Office ranked us no. 9 of the 60 women's teams.  This was ridiculous because we played all of our games in the third division, and the only D1 team we played trampled us 50 million to zero! Even though we petitioned it, we are stuck in the upper division and just have to try our hardest...

Note:  We lost our second tournament game a million to zero last night against the no. 1 team.  It was not fun.

Brown Paper Packages

To me, there are few things better than receiving packages in the mail.  Especially unexpected packages!  I received a few this past week, none of which I knew was coming.

My mom sent me my third fall/Halloween box in a matter of a month.  I absolutely love her boxes - they are always filled with such great surprises!

Like this adorable vintage postcard tied with orange and black ribbon to hang by.

My favorite cupcake mix! It's from Sprinkles.  These mixes turn out so well.  I've never tried the pumpkin but am so excited to! It's on my to-do list this week.

The newest Martha Stewart. I've promised myself that I will not open it until after Halloween.  I need something to look forward to come November 1.

And these fleece pants. If you don't already own a pair, I highly recommend going out and purchasing some for yourself.  I was visiting home last fall and my mom had recently purchased a couple pairs for herself. I "borrowed" one of the pairs and still wear them all the time.  My sweet mom was nice enough to send me a new pair for this fall and I am so glad because i wear them all the time!