From My Kitchen to Yours: Basic Easy Recipes

So, when I think about it, I am very, very grateful for good food. Especially soul food. Those things that you eat when nothing else will make you feel better. MMM-mmm, yummy! And then there is that food that saves you on busy, busy days, when you don't have time to do anything but breathe. I have noticed that quick, easy meals are "in" on Pinterest now, so I thought that I would share my favorite go to meal.

So, first of all, you need to go to the store. This is something most people do on a somewhat regular basis, so you can grab it while you are already there. Sometimes when I am having a particularly busy day, I will just stop on my way home from work, run in, go to the freezer aisle, grab it, and go. It's so easy when you live in a small town with relatively short lines at the grocery store. We have more open check out stands than Wal-Mart!

The best thing about this meal? You will only need to buy one item! It can come in assorted packages. Sometimes it comes in a box, and sometimes it's just shrink wrapped, like this. Sometimes, if you can get it on sell, it's just a couple of dollars! What a deal! This is my favorite brand, but many of you may prefer another. I like the thin crust and "personal pizza" feel to it. Also, I don't like to over-do it when it comes to what is on top. I'm a simple girl. But for you fancy folks, there is always the option of supreme or four meat.

So when you take it out of the package, it will look something like this. Probably a little more squished, or less, it just depends on how much handling it happens to go through, and also if it was on top, or bottom of the pile in the freezer.

Side note: Remember to remove the cardboard from the bottom. If not removed, it will cause the entire thing to taste like processed paper. Not so yummy.

Sometimes all of the pepperoni, or as my nieces call them "hot rugs", are all on one side of the pizza. Again, it just depends on handling, shipping, freezer placement. It's fairly simple to re-arrange them in a somewhat symmetrical pattern. This makes it so there is equal distribution of the protein on all slices (we can all kid ourselves that this is what makes this "healthy"). However, this does take extra time, so, if you are planning to hog the whole pizza to yourself, don't worry about it too much. You will just have a lot to handle in one bite. But if you are in a hurry, it shouldn't be that big of a problem, right?

Here's the skinny on this meal. It's not. So, I like to go all the way, and throw a little extra cheese on top, just to make sure my arteries are good and clogged. *Go big or go home, right?* Oddly enough, since I hadn't planned ahead, the only mozzarella cheese was in the freezer, so it went well on top of my frozen meal.

Side note: You don't have to add the extra cheese. This is totally up to your own preference.

It is now ready to go in the oven.

Usually you want to turn that baby up to a high heat, this particular brand of pizza recommends 400*. It's best to probably pre-heat, but I regularly, if at all, remember that it needs to be done. Besides, this is a quick meal, right? Who has time to wait for the oven to heat up? Not me! I usually throw it in around 200 degrees, and it always turns out fine!

This is my pizza, right before I will walk off and do other things while it cooks.

Just remember to set a timer.

Or, if you rather, the smell of burnt food reaching whatever room you are in at the time is a good reminder that you have something in the oven. This may or may not have happened a lot in the past. So I feel I am the most qualified to warn you. Burnt pizza tastes just a little bit worse. But it's still edible.

And this, my friends, is the finished product. The crust is just right at a gold brown color, and the cheese on top is just to the brink of being burned. Now all you need to do it cut that baby into slices and enjoy! Just be careful while you are eating it, that you can fully bite through the cheese, or else it will slide off, and the sauce on the bottom will burn your chin!

Every SINGLE Person

Yesterday felt like it was one of those days that the only thing people really noticed about me was my empty, left ring finger - and the lack of a flashing vacancy sign.

It's not that I don't want to get married, but I honestly believe that God has a plan for my life, and He has things I need to do first, before I have that opportunity. I am okay with that. I am happy with that. I can deal with that. Why can't they?

It's rare that a day goes by that someone doesn't comment on the lack of a significant other. As if I need to be felt sorry for because I must be lonely. I am lonely sometimes, honestly, but I don't feel sorry for myself, usually. I have a Heavenly Father that loves me. I can turn to Him when I feel lonely. I felt more lonely in middle school, when everyone else feels lonely. So, people, quit looking at me like I'm some poor, pathetic abandoned puppy. Quit seeing me as that old maid without a chance. And please, stop commenting on it. Really. It makes me never want to get married, just out of spite.

It is possible to still be happy when you are single. I know some girls that think that's where their worth comes from - having a husband, staying at home, and raising a family. I believe that it helps, but that's not how you are supposed to define yourself. I am a daughter of God. I have a strong faith in the Savior, Jesus Christ. I know why I am here. I am not perfect. Sometimes I still cry myself to sleep, because life is still hard. But, I don't want to be defined as that old maid that obviously can't be happy because some man doesn't love her enough to marry her. I am a person. I have a degree - two in fact. I am in graduate school. I am a teacher. I served an honorable mission, where I was able to witness amazing miracles - in others lives as well as my own. I am a relief society president that feels the pains and joys of every single girl under my watch care. I am a visiting teacher that will do everything it takes to find my girls and make sure they are loved, and that someone is thinking/praying for them. These are some other things about me. Define me as that. See these things about me. Please. Because, I may be comfortable with where I am at in life, but sometimes those comments still really sting. Maybe society  really hasn't come very far if all you see of me is that I don't have a man.

Much About Me

Because I have the best job in the entire world - no really, what other job provides snacks?- and a lot of free time, then I will probably be writing on this blog A LOT more often. I am going to attempt to put down some things about myself that not everyone knows. I did this on Facebook almost two years ago, but somethings have changed, so, here goes nothing everything.

1. I could make bread and lemon meringue pie by the time I was 12, but I didn't master the art of macaroni and cheese until my mission.
2. My favorite fruit is a necturen (sp?).
3. My middle fingers are both crooked. I try not to flip people off because I'm afraid that they will just laugh .
4. I am a perfectionist.
5. I love making lists. I am addicted to the feeling you get when you cross things off when they are done.

6. I love the smell of a swamp cooler when it first turns on.
7. When I am nervous or anxious, I bite my nails.
8. I hate being in a large crowd.
9. I always have to be doing something. It's hard for me to just sit and watch a movie. I have to be doing homework or something else, or I start getting bored.
10. I've reached that point in my life where I would be okay if I was single forever. Weird, I know.

11. Whenever I am sad, I love to watch Sleepless in Seattle, or a few episodes Grey's Anatomy, season one. I'm thinking that I just really like movies based in Seattle and I really need to go there one day.
12. Once, when I was at an impressionable age, a boy told me he liked my hair straight better than curly. I have hated having my hair curly ever since. Currently trying to get over that...
13. I don't really have a desire to travel the world. Sure, some places would be nice to visit, but I can just look them up on the internet and save a lot of money.
14. I hold my stress in my shoulders, and some days, like the last few weeks, they ache so bad I want to cry.
15. I love the Fourth of July. The cotton candy, the parade, the smell of fireworks, and the patriotic feeling.

16. It is really hard for me to let things sit. Once I know that something needs done, I have to do it right then, or it eats away at my soul. At least, that's what it feels like. I also really hate not having a plan.
17. I have really short, fat feet.
18. I have been to the principal's office twice. Once wasn't my fault. The injustice of it still rankles my hide.
19. Sometimes I like to  picture myself as this big, bad person, but really, I guess I'm a softy, and sometimes I even find it hard to swear. I feel too guilty.
20. When I was younger, I wanted to be an investigative reporter in New York City. I was adventurous once...

21. A lot of things scare me. Like, the dark, trying new/different things, water... When I came home from my mission, my motto was, "Do something everyday that scares you", but those things were things like: going to the store alone, or answering to my first name. I still try to live by that motto, but it's getting harder and harder.
22. I don't really like wearing jewelry. I will always have a CTR ring on, and once in awhile another ring and earrings, but for the most part, I don't like it that much.
23. I believe my grandpa is the best person in the entire world. He's my hero.
24. I really don't like spiders. I will scream like a girl, and then grunt, cause I won't admit that I screamed.
25. I love to read. I can read and read and read. Sometimes I stay up until 4 or 5 in the morning to finish books. My all time favorite? The Princess Bride.

Be Still and Know

The last few weeks have been rather stupid hard. In April/May when I was deciding what to do and where to go after spring semester, I felt strongly that I needed to come home for at least the summer. I still hadn't decided if I wanted to for sure go to graduate school or not yet, (although I had applied and payed way too much on an application fee for not being sure...). So I came home. I applied for full-time jobs, and I just trusted that this was where I was supposed to be. Then I actually got accepted into graduate school. How that happened, I don't know. I guess stranger things have happened, but whatever. So then I had to figure out if that was something that I really, really wanted. Sometimes I'm still wondering, even though I have started classes and things are on their way...  

So, anyway, a couple of weeks ago, I was up in Logan for my orientation for graduate school, and I had this feeling of uncertainty - again - about where I was, and what I was doing with my life. I was ready to pack up and move anywhere, mostly because the last four years have been spent packing and moving. I wasn't used to staying in one spot... But somehow I sucked it up and came home anyway. When I got home, the first Sunday back, the branch president asked to meet with me, and asked me to be the new Relief Society president in the YSA Branch. Which still has me in a complete tail spin. I guess I doubt myself way too much to feel that I am the right person for these girls, but, I accepted - only because while praying and fasting about it, I re-read my patriarchal blessing, and found an entire paragraph that talks about this part in my life. With this discovery, came the greatest outpouring of the spirit and of love that I have ever felt.  I have never felt more sure about where I am supposed to be. Which is shocking. Never in my life had I thought that I would be in this place, at this time. I never planned this. And although this would have been the last place on earth I would have ever wanted to be, I finally feel like I am on the right track, and that all the other things I have done in my life have lead up to this. I am confident in who I am. I recognize that I am not enough, but I know that it's okay.... It's more than okay. I have been amazed by God's plans before, but this has me baffled. How did he know? It seems like a silly question. God knows everything. In 1 Nephi 9:6, it reads: But the Lord knoweth all things from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works among the children of men; for behold, he hath all power unto the fulfilling of all his words. And thus it is. Amen. 

I am so glad that we have a loving Heavenly Father. He rocks. When I was set apart yesterday, I was able to feel a tiny bit of his love for me, and for those girls that have been placed in my care, and guess what, it's amazing. I am so scared excited for the opportunity that I will have to grow even more. Someone once told me that it's better to be mediocre in the church, because then no one ever asks you to do anything hard. It's not true. I have never felt more mediocre, in comparison, in my whole life, and here I am. I don't want to be mediocre. I want to be awesome. I want to fulfill whatever it is that God is asking me to do. I only pray that I will be able to be worthy of His help, because that's the only way it's going to get done.  I love this gospel, I love my Savior, and here we go...