Projects

It's been a while since I've posted anything on my blog.  I'm going to go ahead and blame school, work, hulu, and Darren for that.  Darren is out of town this weekend, though, and its Sunday so I'm not at school, work, or on hulu.  So I here I am.

I finished the baby blanket I was working on for Julie's new baby several weeks ago and sent it to her.  Here is a picture of the finished product:

It took long enough!  I'm happy with the final product, though.

I've had a few more crochet projects to keep me occupied.  I did an ipod cover for Daniel, a hat for karah, some hand warmer things (similar to gloves), among other things.  I'm not going to post pictures of them, though.  Just know that they were amazing.

In other news, Utah is COLD!  That fact, in itself, is horrible; but along with the seasonal weather comes my much beloved pumpkin desserts and apple cinnamon inspired desserts.  A few weeks ago Darren and I made a fabulous crock pot apple crisp.  I was super easy and DELICIOUS!

Anyways, the holiday season is upon us...which means school is getting hardcore and I need to start gift shopping.  Wish me luck!

Aaron Alan

So, it has come to my attention that I failed to include my brother, Aaron, in my last post about the siblings.  I think it is fairly obvious which one he is, though.  He is the boy. To undo any offense I may have caused, though, I donate this post to him.

Aaron Alan Thompson was born March 14, 1995 into a family already blessed by the presence of 2 daughters.  He was an adorable, smiley baby.  Everyone loved his tan skin and brown eyes, a huge contrast to his blue eyed, white skinned sisters.










Aaron had a passion for life and a passion for chocolate milk.  He also loved his toys.  He distrusted anyone with anything that was his.  Sharing was not a skill acquired at any point in his childhood.  He does not share.

...but sometimes he meditates.

Despite that minor defect in his childhood development Aaron did learn a lot.  He became surrounded by women with the birth of 5 younger sisters. He learned to love his little sisters and guard them like any good older brother would.

He can also be abusive...

He managed to hold on to his manliness despite the strong womanly presence.  Aaron never stoops to womanly chores like cleaning the kitchen, cooking, vacuuming, tidying, laundry, toilet scrubbing, sweeping, mopping, or any other indoor chore you can imagine.  He knows his place in the social order and never yields to the inappropriate demands of his family to help out around the house.

 ...though sometimes it cost him.

 Aaron used to be fat:

But exercising made him skinny like Gollum...

And that is Aaron Alan Thompson....the boy.

Homelessness

Oh Provo, why must I be homeless for a week before each fall term that I want to move to a new apartment???

On the bright side, I'm a pro at fitting most everything I own into my car.

Just to give you an exaggerated idea :)

On the downside, I'm went to Farmington with my family that wouldn't stop feeding me, and I feel like I've gained 89 pounds!

On the up side, I got a break from Provo

Well my homelessness has now ceased, and I'm moved into my new apartment at University Villa.  The apartment is definitely a downgrade from the last place I lived, but I think it will due quite nicely.  The kitchen is tiny, but apart from that I'm finding a place for all of my things.

Its exciting to be in a new ward and all...

The Cool One

I've been thinking a lot lately about how people quite often end up being what people tell them they are from a young age.  I've noticed it in my own siblings.  They each have their own label within the family.  It seems to me that the more that label is encouraged or emphasized the more the kid identifies him or herself with it.

For example, my 10 year old sister, Lena, has been told that she is beautiful since her birth.  She is tanner than the other kids and has huge brown eyes.  She is beautiful...but a lot of the reason we told her that is because she was so different from the rest of us...the other girls are beautiful too.  Lena now thinks of herself as the pretty one, though.  She is extremely confident when it comes to boys; she likes everyone and everyone likes her.

Cami is the weird one.  When she was very young she had some strange or different personality quirks.  Plus she is the 5th kid...which we always say is the odd one, ha.  Because of this, though, she can never escape the label of being the different one.  She has embraced it even.  She does things to get a reaction.  She intentionally perpetuates her "odd ball" image.

Caroline is the responsible, maternal one.

Katie is the fat one, haha, just kidding.  She's a clone of my mom's personality.

Amy is the outgoing one.

Afton is the perfectly adorable one.

And I'm the coordinated one, slash bossy oldest sister, slash the one they hardly remember, ha.

My point is that these kids have the ability to be anything they want, but they stick to their labels.  The labels are initially based on some level of reality, but I feel like they morph into something much more shaping.  People's self-identity is important to them.  We tend to label and categorize others, but sometimes we don't realize how much we do it to ourselves.  So if you have to label yourself, make it a positive label...I hope you all have a positive self image.

Keeping this all in mind I'm going to tell my kids (whenever I have them) that they are beautiful and smart.  Then they will make it true...which, of course, will be genetic anyways ;)

A Little Taste of the South

My wonderful grandma, MawMaw, had this fantasitc recipe for gumbo.  I always do the chicken gumbo because seafood is not my favorite...as in I hate it.  But if you do like seafood, this gumbo is supposed to be freaking awesome!  And the chicken gumbo is just my favorite meal on earth.  

Seafood or Chicken Gumbo

Boil Ingredients:

Boil all ingredients except crabs & shrimp with water until all the vegetables are real tender.

Make Rue:

While you are waiting for the ingredients to boil, make the rue.  To make rue, put about 3 tablespoons of cooking oil in a skillet and heat.  When it is hot, add enough self rising flour (usually about 3 tablespoons) slowly stirring in.  Keep stirring until it is brown, but don’t let it burn.  After it is brown, pour it into the pot of boiling ingredients.

Final:

After other ingredients are tender, add shrimp & crabs and cook until they are done (this part doesn’t take very long).  For chicken, you can boil it with the ingredients and remove all bones and gristle before adding rue.  Chicken takes a little longer to cook than the seafood.

Cover and turn heat off and let sit for 10 or 15 minutes.



 
*When I make the chicken gumbo I boil chicken quarters (on the bone) in water until it is done.  I then take the chicken out and let it cool.  I use the chicken water to then cook the veggies, add the rue, then put the chicken back in (without the bone)*

Eat the gumbo over rice with some cornbread.  It doesn't get any more southern than this! :) 

Mountain Biking

I've been trying to go mountain biking as much as I can before the end of the summer.  My favorite trail (so far) is the Big Springs Hollow Trail.  

Big Springs Hollow...beautiful!

Ammon took this picture...we were up on a freaking steep hill!

I've done it twice in the past two weeks.  Both times were really fun, although this last time I went we did some extra stuff that made it a much harder slash longer bike ride.  I had my first real bike crash...it was sorta cool.  I feel a lot more legit now.

 

My bruised, scraped, dirty legs, ha

If you ever get the chance to go mountain biking TAKE IT!  It is so fun!  ...Like hiking, but more hardcore and exciting.  Its also a better workout...


 

Marriage and Babies

This summer, more than any other, has been the summer of love.  Not for me, unfortunately, but for everyone else.  Seriously, countless weddings and babies have filled my schedule (and emptied my wallet, ha).  It's been great to be able to be a part of so much excitement.


I mentioned earlier, how I caught the Utah valley domesticity epidemic and taught myself to crochet.  WELL...this new skill has been handy in aiding me with the love epidemic that has taken hold of so many friends and family.  I made some baby booties a few days ago for my Aunt Laurie who will soon be having a baby.  

I'm also working on a baby blanket for my other Aunt Julie.  Her baby is due in October.  It will take a while to finish that project, but I think it will be worth it.  So far it's adorable.

By the way, although I love my married friends, and I'm so excited for them, I really appreciate all of my single friends more than ever now.  Without them I would be sad and bored all the time.  So don't feel like you all need to go off and fall and love too quick.  Being single is fun too! 

Love, 

Liz :)

Domesticity

My roommate Julia is gone to California for the rest of the summer (for her wedding) and has completely moved out. My other roommate is getting ready to go on a mission for the church and is never here slash she is in the process of moving out. So, basically, I live alone now. And since I'm at the ripe old age of 21 (which often feels like being 41 in BYU years), I'm getting more in touch with my lonely old lady side.

Ha, ok, so i'm not really lonely or sitting at home with cats and yarn listening to Jane Austin books all day. But it is true that I have recently decided that I want to be crafty. I'm on a learning kick or something...I'm obsessed with learning new things and finding new hobbies. This summer I have picked up raquetball, bought a mountain bike, and now I'm learning to crochet and knit. I also want to make a terrarium, sew, and learn to do my family history. It's becoming clear to me that I've spent too much time in Utah county, ha.

I joke about it....but I really am serious about being interested in all of these things. So far it has been really fun to learn this stuff. The only problem is time. I'm a full time student and i work 20 hours a week. Plus church responsibilities and dating. Crocheting is fun....too fun. I'm most likely spending way to much time on it, ha.

Lately I've been wanting to be all crafty and domestic-like. So, I taught myself to crochet over the weekend. This was my first successful flower that i did. I think it is cute...although I didn't buy the color with flowers in mind, obviously. Now I'm making a baby blanket.

Provo Dating

Dating in Provo can be fun and exciting. Unfortunately, it can also be boring and monotonous. I want to compose a good list of date ideas to help anyone who, like me, has little to no creativity. Here is a list of ideas I've either done or have heard of close friends doing. And don't worry; I'm only listing successful date ideas.

• Laser tag at Laser Assault
• Biking on the Provo River Trail
• Mountain biking on trails in the canyon
• Hiking
• Price is Right walmart shopping
• A card game can be nice if you want a good opportunity to talk
• bocce ball at the park
• byu bowling (or fat cats)
• tour the BYU Museum of Art
• Ice blocking
• Attend a comedy show at Comedy Sportz
• play broomball at Seven Peaks
• Personality tests (online or at a book store)
• finger painting with pudding (use food die to make colors)
• make pizza from scratch
• plant something in flower pots

I've found these lists to be helpful also:

http://nathanzacharias.blogspot.com/2009/01/provobyu-date-ideas.html

Happiness: Pursue It

I'm starting this blog mainly as an outlet for my random thoughts. I also keep a journal, but i think this will be fun to create and could also be interesting to those I'm close to. Look forward to posts about the books I listen to at work as well as posts about current events, movies, my schoolwork, and other random thoughts I may feel the urge to write about.

As everyone knows, daisies are the friendliest flower. I learned that from Meg Ryan in You've Got Mail. There are so many life lessons to be learned in that movie. Mainly, New York is invigorating in the fall, cold in the winter, and romantic in the spring. Ok, so my love for that movie may have more to do with the clever writing, classic soundtrack, and feel good tone than it has to do with the life lessons. Nevertheless, I think that its a worthy model for my blog and as such I've named the blog for it. You'll notice the background picture is also influenced by it.

I want this blog to be uplifting and always positive. There are so many things that I enjoy and so many more things that i want to do and learn. This blog will mainly be commentary on those uplifting things that I learn, experience, and discover. I hope that it can be helpful in inspiring you, the reader, to live life to the fullest and actively pursue happiness. Let's not wait for our lives to wind up fulfilled and happy; let's take matters into our own hands and achieve happiness today! :)