Wakey, Wakey, Eggs & Bakey!

I cannot cook to save my life. I can make cereal, ice cream, sandwiches, mac and cheese, the easy stuff, etc. Well, I think the more appropriate way to explain my cooking skills, is that I don't know what flavors go well with each other, or what side dishes compliment the main dish. I am terrible at seasoning things as well (salt and pepper has always been good enough for me!). Luckily for me, I married a man who knows how to cook extremely well, and lucky for him that I do an exceptionally good job at clean up if I do say so myself. So together we make a great team! But if I'm on my own...... oh dear..... I would say that the number one problem that I have when cooking is that I am not patient, at all. I'm terrible... 

Now that I nanny for 21 month old twin girls, I have to be patient with everything, especially cooking because I don't want to get the girls sick because I didn't cook their meals completely. I was browsing on Pinterest the other day and came across a super easy recipe! I'm beginning to learn strategies to cooking and cleaning while having not just one but two toddlers running around. It's quite rough seeing as how I don't have kids of my own yet so I just jumped into having two toddlers that are coming up into the stages of "terrible two's". I needed to learn some recipes that were fast and easy since I am not the only person who gets impatient while meals are cooking.. 

Bacon Wrapped Egg Muffins

Ingredients:

• Eggs (4 for a six hole muffin tin)
• Bacon

Optional Ingredients:

• Salt 
• Pepper
• Cheese
• Avocado

Cook time: 30-35 minutes

Prep time: 5-7 minutes

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400degrees (F)
2. Place 1 strip of bacon along the inside edged of the muffin tin
   -I also put some bacon on the bottom of the tin, but its not necessary to do so
3. Crack 4 eggs into separate bowl and beat well
   -I added salt and pepper to taste
4. Pour egg mixture into muffin tins about until about 3/4 full

Additional Directions: 

1. Take a pinch of cheese and add on top of egg mixture
2. Once the BwE are out of the oven, you can add slices of avocado on top.
   
   *I made the mistake of using avocado oil to grease the muffin tins, completely forgetting that bacon creates its own grease when cooking. The oil didn't distract from the taste of the egg or the bacon so I guess it really doesn't matter, but I find that bacon grease doesn't make the food stick to the inside of the pan either
   
   ~  ~  ~

In case you haven't notices, I am not one to really measure.. I just 'eyeball' it. I learned that method from watching family members cook and watching Paula Dean on Food Network (not that she doesn't measure, but I have caught her a few times using the 'eyeball' method).

I love this recipe! Prep time is fast, clean up is easy, and you need a minimum of two ingredients! With toddlers running around, this is a mom-saver-recipe in my opinion! And it's super yummy :) I also like that I was able to prep, cook, and clean the dishes I used for this meal all before the twins woke up this morning. What more could a mom ask for?! Not only that, but the smell of these babies baking in the oven is delightful! I definitely woke up some super happy girls this morning ;) They love bacon! Actually, they love every ingredient I used. Eggs, bacon, cheese, salt, pepper, avocado, the whole nine yards! I'd say I earned some serious brownie points this morning ;) 

Sacred Homes, Sacred Temples- May 2009 G. C.

So many crazy things have been going on in our lives since we moved home.. It's been rather overwhelming seeing as how we thought we were supposed to be moving into our own apartment this weekend and instead, we're living with Jayson's parents. Don't get me wrong, I am so glad and thankful to be living here with them, because it has honestly been a blast to spend time with his parents and his brothers (well, now one brother because Cody just went up to Utah for school). But at the same time, its been giving me a chance to really sit down and think about decorating our future home....whenever we move.

I was browsing on LDS.org tonight at past conference talks, and I came across one from May 2009 by Elder Gary E. Stevenson:

Recently, in a stake conference, all present were invited by the visiting authority, Elder Glen Jenson, an Area Seventy, to take a virtual tour of their homes using their spiritual eyes. I would like to invite each of you to do this also. Wherever your home may be and whatever its configuration, the application of eternal gospel principles within its walls is universal. Let’s begin. Imagine that you are opening your front door and walking inside your home. What do you see, and how do you feel? Is it a place of love, peace, and refuge from the world, as is the temple? Is it clean and orderly? As you walk through the rooms of your home, do you see uplifting images which include appropriate pictures of the temple and the Savior? Is your bedroom or sleeping area a place for personal prayer? Is your gathering area or kitchen a place where food is prepared and enjoyed together, allowing uplifting conversation and family time? Are scriptures found in a room where the family can study, pray, and learn together? Can you find your personal gospel study space? Does the music you hear or the entertainment you see, online or otherwise, offend the Spirit? Is the conversation uplifting and without contention? That concludes our tour. Perhaps you, as I, found a few spots that need some “home improvement”—hopefully not an “extreme home makeover.”

The Lord truly does know what exactly you need and when you need it. Having all of these things that Elder Stevenson has mentioned has been so hard for me to have at my dad's house before I got married. It made it that much harder for me to feel the spirit because I was living in a home that wasn't worthy of having the spirit, so I had to try harder than I ever thought possible to bring that spirit into my own bedroom. I am so grateful now that I can turn my home into a house that is consistently worthy of the spirit. I know it is so important, especially for when Jayson and I have our own family <3

October 2012 General Conference

http://www.lds.org/?lang=eng
You can watch the broadcast live by clicking the above link 

It's almost here, it's almost here!

:D

I love General Conference!! It makes me so happy when LDS.org has links to the broadcast to share, because that means that IT'S ALMOST HERE!!!!!! 

I've come to realize that the only think I dislike about the fact that we moved back to California, is that now we live 8-10 hours away from the Conference center instead of 5 minutes away.. Last April we didn't have the chance to go because we had already requested time off work for a work conference in Las Vegas that was the week after General Conference, and neither of our managers would allow us the time off to to. Kind of a huge bummer, so we said we would go in October. Well, plans changed and we moved home, so now it's a little bit more difficult to get time off of work. I could easily get the time off work because I don't work on the weekends, but Jayson does... His parents are going up with his brother, Kyle, and they invited us to come along, but the big deciding factor will be what exactly happens with Jayson's work schedule. It's kind of a long story...

Anyway, If you have never watched General Conference, I highly suggest that you do! It is the most uplifting and spiritual weekend of the year (with the exception of Christmas of course..)! I know with out a doubt that the Prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and the other church leaders are inspired by our Lord and Savior to speak about things that we need to hear. I have a testimony of our Prophet, that he was called upon by the Lord so serve him as a witness of him. I have a testimony of this Gospel, that this is the true church here on earth. I know that I am a daughter of God, who loves me unconditionally and knows me personally. He knows my wants and desires that I have for myself, my husband, and our family. I know that Joseph Smith was a prophet and that he saw God the Father and His beloved Son in the Sacred grove.... I know that the Book of Mormon is in fact another testament of Christ and is so true. I'm grateful for the knowledge I have gained over these past four years and I know that I have been blessed by watching General Conference every year. I know that without doing so I would not have been able to receive those blessings that Heavenly Father had laid out for me.

Encourage others to watch with you <3

In time of need...

READ THE SCRIPTURES

and you'll read exactly what you need to hear

Alma 7: 15-16

15 Yea, I say unto you come and fear not, and lay aside every sin, which easily doth beset you, which doth bind you down to destruction, yea, come and go forth, and show unto your God that ye are willing to repent of your sins and enter into a covenant with him to keep his commandments, and witness it unto him this day by going into the waters of baptism.

16 And whosoever doeth this, and keepeth the commandments of God from thenceforth, the same will remember that I say unto him, yea, he will remember that I have said unto him, he shall have eternal life, according to the testimony of the Holy Spirit, which testifieth in me.

Truth is: I am CANNOT do everything by myself...

I've had a really rough weekend ever since Thursday night when I had my dream about the temple. It's made me go back and really evaluate my progression as a Latter-Day Saint over the past four years, and I can't say that I've progressed nearly as much as I should have. It saddens me... because I know that I am better than the example that I have been, and I know that I can do so much better. I have to start preparing for the future...

My biggest downfall in life is that I think I can handle every ounce of burden and pain on my own. I've been pretty good at it my whole life, since I've gone through a lot of rough situations that most people my age haven't had to go through and I'm proud to say that 90% of the time, I've come out of it far better than any statistic has thought possible. But there are a lot of things, where I've just brushed off and thought "I can handle it" and then when I realize that I can't, I can't change what I've done to ease the pains or change the circumstances.. This weekend has really made me realize just how much I need Heavenly Father and how much I need to allow theatonement and the love of my Savior in my life. I know that He loves me unconditionally....but it still makes things hard... What makes it harder is that He is the one person that I don't ever want to disappoint but I know I have, and I know that by not doing this one little thing that's been sitting on my shoulder for quite some time is only disappointing Him more and more as the days go by..

I hate hearing the words "I'm disappointed in you" from anyone. That's worse than someone telling me they're mad at me. I don't know what I'm more afraid of... someone that's related to me whose telling me they're disappointed in me, or feeling like the Lord is disappointed in me... I guess they're both pretty terrible to hear, but... GAH. At this point I'm just rambling... but I have so much emotion right now that I don't know how to explain it all in a way that makes sense....

My son, Peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment;
-D&C 121:7

Dreaming of the Temple again

I had another dream last night about the Temple that caused me to wake up crying with tears of joy. The last dream I had about the temple, was the night before my first missionary lesson. I had a dream that I was standing in this room that was in a basement of this giant white building. In the room, there was a pathway leading to what looked like a giant bath tub that was placed on top of what I thought were sculptures of cows. Across the way were benches that were facing toward this tub thing, and to the right on the wall, was a picture of Christ being pushed under water in a river. I also remember seeing myself standing in front of this building next to the doors wearing a white gown thing, and seeing Jayson walking up to me. At the time of that dream, I was so confused but felt at peace when I woke up and I just remember laying in bed that morning, staring at the picture of Christ that hung in my room and I felt as though he was smiling back at me.

Well last night, I had a similar dream. I had a dream that the day had finally come for me to take out my Endowments. My dream started in a room that looked like a Sunday school room, and there were so many people from Jayson's home ward, The Thousand Oaks 4th Ward, and my home ward, The Thousand Oaks 2nd Ward, a long with all of our friends who had recently gotten married. In the front of the room, two missionaries were giving talks about the importance of the temple and always being worthy to go through and do the work of the Lord and how important it is that families get sealed in the temple for time and all eternity. I remember being hugged by Jayson's side of the family and all of our friends before finding that I was dressed in that same white gown from my first dream, and walking into this giant room with a sparkling chandelierand a spiral stair case that led up to a balcony that over looked the rest of the room.

I cannot wait to go through the Temple. I just want to hear the date be set. I honestly cannot wait. I decided that I want to go through the Mount Timpanogos temple in Utah. Why? Well, the first time I ever went there, I just remember sitting on the grass with my friends and just having this overwhelming sense of peace and comfort and I just felt like that was the temple that I would take my endowments out at.

I'm so grateful for personal revelation. I am so grateful for my Father in Heaven and my savior, Jesus Christ. I am so grateful to know that He knows me and my needs and knows just how to lift me up in times when I need Him most. I really needed this dream last night, as I have been struggling with a lot of things this summer... My faith had been lacking every now and then, but this was that small reminder that He is here, He knows me and knows my desires and is trying so hard to help me get there.

Waiting for Mail..again!

Alright MG's, you all know what that's like!!

I've been checking the mail like a mad woman lately

It's been over a year since I waited for mail from my sweet hubby. Those days where I knew exactly what time the mail would come, trying to figure out what color envelope to look for, wondering if I was getting a letter or a package that day, or how many letters I would be getting. I think the one time that I can specifically remember about getting mail when I least expected it was when I got a letter sent to me at Desiree's house when I was on vacation in Utah while Jayson was on his mission! (Haha Dez if you're reading this, I still feel totally guilty that you were the one waiting for a letter, and I ended up getting two! )Yep, I kinda miss that stuff..... Call me crazy, but I can promise you that one day out of the blue, you'll remember those days and you'll be waiting for the mail to come, but instead all you'll get is nasty, yucky bills.... BOO!

Anyway, so over the past couple of weeks I have been stalking the mail. Well, not exactly stalking, since we currently live at my in-laws and they would think I'm nuts if they truly saw me stalking the mail like 'back in the old days.' But I've gotten a few packages over the past few weeks and I'm still getting just a bit excited over them. Ahhh, such a sweet feeling to remember again :) Jayson's grandmother sent me a cook book that she's made for all of her grandchildren and their spouse's as a wedding gift, and today I got a canvas that I ordered from The Beehive Organization.

Inspired from Disney's Tangled and this photo via pinterest

Ahhh, I love getting packages ^_^

Call me crazy...but I get so giddy seeing my name on a package!

Maybe it's because it now says Ashley Anderson

instead of Massey....

~ ~ ~

Speaking of packages and letters, does any one know of any missionaries (even your lovely, handsome boyfriends :p) who could use a letter of encouragement?? I miss writing to missionaries!!

Books to Read

...I want to read...?

I must be getting old...

I have recently discovered that the only stories that I can actually follow and understand, besides the Disney collections (not that there is anything wrong with that) is the Harry Potter series. Growing up, my comprehension skills sucked, and I have always struggled with learning and understanding things unless I had some sort of visual prop to help me. It started with the movie The Lorax. A few nights ago, Jayson and I went to Vince and Kelly's house for dinner and to watch The Lorax. I realized that I had never read that book as a kid and didn't know anything about the story. I ended up falling asleep after the introduction and woke up during the ending song and was a bit bummed that I still have no clue what it's about! Other than everyone in Thneedville (yes, Thneedville) has plastic trees and plants....

Anywhoozies, this made me realize that there are a few other series that I have seen the movies for, but never read their books. Now I know that most people prefer to books over the movies because movies tend to be a let down because they either change things in the story line, or don't put in 'the good parts. I, however, like to see the movie before I read the books. It's mostly because I'm a visual learner, and I need to have an image of the characters or setting in my mind for me to understand the books. Use your imagination- Well, the problem with my imagination is.... it doesn't keep thoughts and images consistently connected...

So as I said, there are a few series that I've decided that I'd like to read over the next few years. Now I'm hoping that it won't take me a full year to complete one series, since most of them are usually only three books, but I'm just gonna set a year deadline for each series anyway.

Harry Potter in 2012

"You've never read the series?!"

No, no I have not.

Honestly, I hated this series when The Sorcerer's Stone came out. I remember my elementary school librarian, Mrs. Lock, telling us that she just got this awesome book and thinks it would be a fantastic read for us all to try. You know that old saying, 'Don't judge a book by it's cover"? Well, I was in elementary school, and i always did that. And I remember looking at the cover and thinking 'well this looks dumb.' Then a little while later, I had a sleepover with a friend who lived down the street and when she asked me if I had seen the new Harry Potter movie, she told me that I HAD to see it.... I really wasn't excited about that idea, but I watched it anyway, and then I was hooked. Shortly after The Chamber of Secrets came out, I read that book at least five times and ended up doing my 5th grade book report on it. When The Prizoner of Azkaban came out, I had heard that it wasn't a very good book. Toward the end of the year I started reading The Goblet of Fire in class and my teacher had asked me why I had chosen to do my last book report on that book when she knew that I hadn't read PofA. When I told her that I had heard PofA wasn't very good, she did not give me permission to do my report on GofF unless I had read PofA first. At that point, I gave up on reading anymore and did my report on an entirely different book.

Over the years, my grandmother bought me books 1-4 in hopes that i would read them, but the movies hadn't come out for them yet so I didn't want to read them because it was too hard for me to follow. Now that the series is over, and there are no more Harry Potter movies in the making, *tear*, I've decided that I want to read all seven books before the end of the year.

Star Wars in 2013

I saw Episode 1 when I was younger, and really enjoyed it. I had never seen Episode 4, 5, or 6 up until four or five years ago. I didn't really enjoy the last three episodes (well, I guess technically they're the first three...),but I think that was because they were made in like.....the 80's? Ya, I have no clue when they were made...but I hate the graphics, and it bugs me to watch them. I'm weird, I know. But anyway, I really enjoyed the first three movies so I've wanted to read the series.

The Chronicles of Narnia in 2014

I remember my summer school teacher reading The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe to us every morning in my English class. Again I judged the book by its cover, but by the end of the story, I actually thought it was pretty good, and the movie turned out great! I never went back and saw Prince Caspian when it came out, or read the rest of the series, but after having recently rented Prince C., it's made me want to go back and read the series.

~ ~ ~

So far that is all that's on my upcoming reading list. I'm not really one to jump into a new series when it's popular.. and right now, there isn't a series that's booming or seeming to be too popular, besides 50 Shades of Grey, but that is not at all any type of book or series that I would even consider getting into... I do wonder though what will be the new series that every kid follows like our generation did for the Harry Potter series. Will there ever even be a book/movie series where people come to the midnight premieres dressed as the characters? Will there ever be another series where one of the not-so-popular-characters from the 2nd movie endes up making another appearance in the last movie and when his death comes, the entire theater sheds a tear? Will there ever be another series where the entire theater is shocked that 'Snape' was there all along; always?

YouTube Channel

I made a YouTube Channel.
http://www.youtube.com/user/aanderson805/feed?filter=2

But just FYI, all of my Video Logs where I answer questions will be

PRIVATE

which means that you have to have the link to access them...

Don't worry though!

The link will always be posted here on my blog :)

Any other videos I make will be public on my YTC.

MAKE YOUR SUGGESTIONS

ASK QUESTIONS

Shout 'em out loud!

Vlog#1 Q&A

Okay keep in mind that I suck at editing videos, and for some reason I had to cut out some stuff because the last version of this video that I tried to upload stopped randomly after a minute and a half... -_- I promise my vlogs will improve more over time.... haha