Insuring That We're Busy

One of the purposes of trying to blog every day - I know, I haven't blogged EVERY day, but much more frequently than in the past, you have to admit - is to insure that I DO something worthwhile every day.  The danger of being "empty nesters" and not having anyone depending on you even getting up in the morning, especially if you aren't very self motivated, is that you may spend your days watching 39 episodes of "How I Met Your Mother" instead of accomplishing something of worth.  So, inspired by pintrest, and much to Dave's chagrin, I have made some assignments.  This is Daves:

This has been a closet without a cause and we have tried to figure out how to put doors on it or something to in some way make it fit in the nice, fairly new family room.  Then along came this idea on pintrest.  PERFECT!

So some day soon we hope Dave's project above will look something like this.  We shall see : )

My project is the stairs.  They have never been finished and I have so many unfinished areas of my house that I just didn't care until now.  Today I have been drywalling and sanding with the intent that some day soon, my stairs will look like this.

  Without the wall board, with the stair rail on the other side and all that.  But similar.  These are long term projects, I understand that, even though I'm not patient with it : )  But just so my soul is able to survive the slowness that we are, I did do a project today that I could finish. 

Ruby slippers for our New Beginnings that will have a Wizard of Oz theme.  The Ruby Slippers are going to have a cellophane bag with Hershey kisses inside the shoe, because the idea is that Dorthy was given everything she needed to succeed in her quest to get to Oz - Ruby Slippers and a kiss.  And Young Women are given everything they need to succeed at Personal Progress - a Personal Progress book, leaders and parents.  Now, I just have to make another 25 or so.  Thank goodness for projects.  Projects will save the world - if just from bad T.V.

The Life of Pi

 I am going to have to admit I was wrong when I said I had read the best book of my 2012 reads.  NOW I have read the best book of my 2012 reads. . . .I think.  Life of Pi.  It is not at all what you would expect a book by this name to be about.  I expected it to cover the history of math, or at least be mostly about math students, or numbers, or something.  Not the delightful fantasy tale of a boy NAMED Pi from India - yes he's Indian, the Dot, not the Feather : )  - who becomes, over the course of his young teen aged years, a Christian, Muslim, and Hindu,  all at the same time, unbeknown to his parents OR any of the above religious leaders.  THEN, when his family leaves India by boat for a move to Canada, he ends up shipwrecked alone with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker as his only companion for seven months!  I know, it sounds cheesy, but as one reviewer put it, this book grabs your book loving mind like a trap and won't let go until the bitter end.  Just read it!

Here are some tidbits of wisdom I gathered from MY reading of this book - which, BTW Kyle and Brennan BOTH read years ago, told me I should read it, but I resisted because . . .well, I thought it was about math.

"It's important in life to conclude things properly.  Only then can you let go.  Otherwise you are left with words you should have said but never did, and your heart is heavy with remorse."

"The lower you are, the higher your mind will want to soar.  It was natural that, bereft and desperate as I was, in the throes of unremitting suffering, I should turn to God."

"I must say a word about fear.  It is life's only true opponent.  Only fear can defeat life.  It goes for your weakest spot. which it finds with unerring ease.  It begins in your mind always.  One moment you are feeling calm, self-possessed, happy.  Then fear, disguised in the garb of mild-mannered doubt, slips into your mind like a spy."

***** = five stars.  LOVE this book!
 

Pretty Mountains

 Every evening when I leave work the La Sal Mountains are lit up with the last of the sunlight.  It's like someone painted them with light.  And every evening I think, "I wish I had my camera so I could take a picture of that."  Today, I remembered my camera. 

The pretty La Sals, dusted with snow from the last storm that moved through, missed us completely, but dumped on the mountains.  Ahhh, the beautiful place I live : -)

My Big Dream . . .

Today I continued with my 52 weeks to clean closets goal.  I know - it's supposed to be 52 weeks to a more organized you, but hey, you have start somewhere, right?  And today it was the lockers in the kitchen. 

I cleaned them out, moved shelves around, put things where they made more sense - that kind of thing.

In the middle of the project Dave texted me and asked if I wanted to come out and help him dig holes.  I said, "No thank you, I am cleaning out lockers and I now have EMPTY SHELVES!!"

And his reply was:  "Your big dream . . .die with half your shelves empty".  Does that man know me or what?  Mine and Dave's philosophy on the storage of items is quite a bit different.  He is of the following mindset - "If your head was flat, would you store stuff on it?"  Dave's answer would be a resounding "YES!"  Not that it's a bad philosophy, just different from mine.

 

The great thing about cleaning out closets is the strange things you find in them that you either forgot, or never knew you had.  Like this - Red Wine Alternative?  Where did I get this?  How long have I had it?  And what am I supposed to do with it now that I know it's there?  Much of my life is a mystery - this just adds to it :)

Pork Chops For Dinner

There's not much going on here at the home base, but I AM cooking dinner.  And it's a new recipe - and it smells delicious!  So I thought I would share.  This is from the Everyday Slow Cooker and One Dish Recipe book from Taste of Home that Kimbrey gave me.  And with Taste of Home, you just can't miss :)  This is one of the "one dish" recipes and is called Pork Chop Supper.  It calls for 1 medium tart apple.  I used 1 large Gala apple.  Then it calls for 2 bone-in pork loin chops about 3/4 inches thick and 8 ounces each.  That was too complicated for me, so I just used 5 boneless pork chops.  That's all I know about them.  They're pork chops, and they don't have bones.  You also need 1/3 cups uncooked long grain rice - not instant rice!  I doubled the rice because I wanted left over's, so I used 2/3 cups uncooked long grain rice.

So, it says first to cut the apple in half widthwise, peel and chop half the apple; set aside and then cut the remaining half into three rings.  That's what you should do - unless you have one of these! Apple peeler,corer,choppers!  I just plunked the apple on the peeler, turned the handle and let it peel. 

core, and slice my apple.  Then I chopped up half and used the thin apples slices for the rest.  Next, you should salt and pepper your pork chops and then brown them in oil in a large skillet - like the one Kyle and Michelle gave me last year (LOVE it!)  for 3-4 minutes on each side, then transfer them to a 11 x 7 inch baking dish.  In the same skillet, cook and stir the rice and some chopped onion (I used 2 Tablespoons of dehydrated chopped onion because I was doubling the rice) until the rice is lightly brown.  Stir in 1 1/2 cups of water and 2 teaspoons chicken bouillon granules (I used 1 1/2 teaspoons of chicken base - hope it works ;])  And the chopped apple.  Bring it to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile in a small bowl combine 1 Tablespoon butter, 1 Tablespoon brown sugar and 1/8-1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon.  Place the apple slices on top of the pork chops and spoon the brown sugar, butter, cinnamon mixture over the apple slices.  Spoon the rice - when it is done - around the pork chops, cover and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until the meat juices run clear and the rice is tender.

This is how it looked going into the oven . . . 

 

 And this is how is looked all nicely done.

 Just throw a vegetable in the mix - I just microwaved some beets, because I LIKE beets - and you have dinner in less than an hour.  And it was sosososososo good!!!  Especially the rice!  This recipe is a keeper.  Try it!

Pork Chop Supper
(My version)
1 large Gala apple
5 boneless pork chops - whatever is cheap
1 teaspoon salt divided
1/4 teaspoon pepper
2-3 teaspoons canola oil
2/3cup uncooked long grain rice
3Tablespoons chopped onion
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 teaspoon chicken base
1 Tablespoon butter, melted
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1/8-1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

I ♥ Young Women

I've been in meetings all day long, which is what happens some Sundays when you work in . . . well, really anything in the church : )  It's a new year and we have New Beginnings and Girls Camp and Young Conference to plan, and in trying to think about and plan all those things, we were also trying to come up with something we could give the girls on their birthdays this year.  So I volunteered to "go home and think about it".  This is what I've come up with.  You've probably seen this idea: 

 Where you open a pull top can from the bottom, fill it with stuff and glue the bottom of the can back on.  CUTE!  But we didn't want to just fill the can with candy, so we needed some ideas of what to put in the can.  I have come up with this.  A pack of UNO cards with the following poem attached:

UNO (You Know - get it?)

UNO you are a daughter of God

UNO that He knows and loves you

UNO that this life is a test of your faith

But UNO that He'll help you get through

UNO at all times and all places and things

You will stand as a witness of God

UNO you will follow the footsteps of Christ

As you walk in the path that He trod.

UNO that the values that you have been taught

Will strengthen and help you prepare

To enter the Temple to make and receive

Sacred covenants and ordinances there.

UNO that you will endure to the end

UNO that you'll learn and you'll grow

UNO exaltation will be your reward

Yes, these are the things that UNO (You Know)

I'm pretty sure a pack of UNO cards will fit in a campbells chunky soup can - I hope!  But then we can fill the rest of the can with Hershey hugs and kisses.  What do you think.  Cute, or lame for Young Women.

Redemption, Indulgence and A Story

 First the story . . . As I was putting away my No Bake Cookie ingredients - for the last time EVER!  I walked into the family room and saw this picture

And I realized that there is probably no one in my family who knows why I love this picture so much - other than the obvious fact that it has two of my children in it.  This picture was taken at a time when we actually had too much work rather than not enough.  The new high school was being built and they were putting in new tennis courts. They needed the old ones torn down before the new ones could go in, and Dave didn't have time to do it - at least, he didn't on a normal work day.  So we decided this would be a good opportunity to teach our children the responsibility and benefits of work.  We gathered the family around, told them about the job, and explained that if WE did the work, if Dave didn't have to pay his employees to do it, we could keep more of the money from this job and use it for something we really wanted - like a vacation!  So everyone gave up their Saturday to take down the old tennis courts at the high school.  Rob Welch, who was the head maintenance guy for the school district, showed up with his wife, Lita to check out what we were doing, and when Lita saw Kimbrey running the backhoe, Jill with Kyle up in the bucket, and ME running the loader, she quickly went home and got her daughter, Danalee and brought her back to show her that "she could be ANYTHING she wanted to be.  Just look at these Cozzens women running this heavy equipment."  (She told me this later at the store :)  I had never thought about the implications of that day, but that is what the above picture has come to mean to me.  We really CAN do/be anything we want to in this life, we just have to want it bad enough.  Or have mean enough people around us to make us do them : )

 

And so I gave No Bake Cookies One. More.  Try.  And they worked!  The key, I've found, is to start timing from a rolling boil and cook them for 1 minute and 10 seconds.  It's a very scientific process.  And I DID IT!

So now I'm kicked back in all my glory in front of the fireplace drinking an Orange Fanta Frosty Float.  My indulgence for conquering the illusive No Bake Cookie.  Sweet redemption.

Turning Michael Jackson from "Bad" to "Good" - This Is What I'm Talkin' About

A Pintrest Bookmark

 These little corner bookmarks are so cute!!  And they were fun and easy to make.  The instructions also included a template for the monster corner bookmarks, and once I had those monsters down, the pretty corner bookmark, even though I had to make my own template, was simple. 

 

Above is a photo of the pintrest bookmarks . . .

 

And here are mine.  I think the look of the monster chomping a bite out of my page is so clever!  Fun for kids, even more fun for adults : )

Friday, January 13 - AKA Black Friday!

Today's picture is one I didn't even take, although I would have had I been there.  This is Ellen, Dave and Paul on/in/around the Capital Dome.  Which apparently is the rarest tour in Washington DC.  It's harder to get up to the top of the Capital Building than it is to go to the White House.  But these guys scored a tour because Ellen works there!  I asked Dave what there was to see from the dome of the Capital Building. 

He said, "this picture - and a great view of the city."  So I guess no one tours the dome of the capital building because there is nothing up there. 

Elsewhere in the state it was Friday the 13th.  Just ask Brennan - a near tragedy in his scholarship application process was averted, but his people batteries have been depleted and are going to need "at least a month to recharge" as he says.  And I'm here at home.....holding down the fort.

Finally, A Resolution

 Well, this was more time consuming than I thought, but ended up being symbolic of what I wanted my Resolution photo to say, so I guess it's O.K. that I spent most of my afternoon off today trying to compose and shoot these pictures.  And if Brennan doesn't mind that his money STILL hasn't made it to the bank yet, all is well.

 

My New Year's Resolution this year is to create the time to do more of the things I love.  So the clock represents time, the scriptures, the books, the pin cushion, and the camera are all self explanatory.  The statue of the two little children represents time with my children and grandchildren, and the flower that I craftily folded from a sheet of music represents ....well, music.  In the above photo everything is part of the whole composition.  That was one way I shot it. 

 

 In this photo, the clock, representing time, is in focus because creating time is the subject of my resolution.  I am creating the time to do all those things that are out of focus in the background.  That's another way I shot it.

And in this third photo, the clock is out of focus and the things I want to create more time to do are in focus.  Also, I shot this in another room, so it has a more plain background.  Initially I didn't like the plain background, so moved my whole composition to another room, but in processing my pictures, I kind of liked the plain background.  So . . here are three options.  Which do you like best?

Time To Face It

 I can't make No Bake Cookies.  I can't do it.  No Bake Cookies and Chili.  I've tried!  They either turn out so runny you have to eat them with a spoon, or dry and crumbly.  Just ask my kids if they ever remember me making them No Bake Cookies when they were younger.  It's not because I don't like them, because I do!  I just can't make them.  But tonight I needed a treat for Young Women's, and since it's a new year, and I was feeling a little bit bold, I thought I would try one more time. 

   "You can do it!"  I told myself.  It can't be that hard!  Apparently, it can.  I was very careful to follow every suggestion everyone has ever given me about No Bake Cookies.  I even used a candy thermometer.

 This is how they turned out.  So dry I couldn't even get them to stick together into a cookie shape!  And not one to let food of any kind go to waste, Dave is saving this mess to eat for cereal.

 

My next batch . . .yes, I tried another batch!  turned out better, but still way too dry.  I took them to YW anyway, but not many people dared try them.  I even tried to give them away to the scouts.  Me:  "Hey, you guys want some No Bake Cookies?  They're pretty dry."  Josh Jones:  "Wow, they really ARE dry!"  But he took one anyway, because he's nice.

This is the picture of the day, however.  I'm still struggling with getting pictures in focus indoors, but even blurry, don't you love the looks on these girls faces when they realize their pyramid was coming down?  I love them!

Temple Bound

It was one of those days when I rolled out of bed at 5:30, quickly put on my thermals, sweats, several jackets and shoes and left to go walking at 5:45, came home at 7:00, showered, dressed and headed to the seminary at 7:50, worked for an hour and then headed to Packards at 8:50, came home at 5:00, redressed and headed to the temple at 5:30, got home at 10:15 and went to bed.  But just before we ran out the door to the temple, I did have a minute to snap this picture.  Dave says, "One of those days?  Isn't every day like this?"  It's not.  But it seems like it some times.

Resolution

This is a project I am working on.  I heard about a  project called MCP Project 12 where you work on images related to a different theme each month. Skill level does not matter - what matters is that you challenge yourself and try new things with your camera.  January's theme is Resolution - which is a pretty open theme.  I've given it a lot of thought, and I think I have an idea.  If it comes together like I think, I'll post the picture when it's done.  For now . . .   

Just wanted to say, you Cozzens family women missed out on the best white elephant gift of Christmas this year!!  Kimbrey may have meant this to be decorative, but I use it, man!  Drew went back to school with three more pairs of socks than he would have without this cute missing socks board.  Just sayin' . . .

A Pintrest From the Young Women's Board

This is a pintrest from the past that was SO fun to do. I shared it on facebook, but not here.  Our them for Young Women in Excellence this year was I Am the Daughter of a King.  The girls wore prom dresses, walked a red carpet, and were treated just as royally as we could treat them.  They LOVED it!  We have a great group of Young Women right now, so spiritual, so strong, and such good singers!  So, we have them sing just as often as we can.  At YW in Excellence they sang a Jenny Phillips song called Live It - meaning don't just go to church on Sunday and say you're a member of the Church, but each and every day you should Live It.

So, I made these washer necklaces for them.  Here is the original from Pintrest.  This was done for a Girl's Camp thing, so I formalized mine a little bit by leaving the fabric tie off.

And here is mine.  As I said, our Young Women loved them and as they wear them and see them sitting on their dressers or in their jewelry boxes, I hope it will remind to live the gospel.  And, that they had a Young Women's leader who loved them and made them a cute necklace that she found on pintrest. 

Pintrest

Initially I pinned this Peanut Butter, Banana, Chocolate Chip bread because of the cute way it was wrapped. And then I woke up one morning and realized that my pile of red tape bananas had grown.  Considerably!  Dave says:  "I keep finding these!"  In a REALLY excited voice.  And so, I made the bread.

Above is the pintrest version . . .   

                                                  And here is mine.  And it's not bad.

Drew's girlfriend's brother, Maddox was over this weekend and I offered him some.  He started to decline, but I said, in a sing-songy voice not unlike Chase's when he is trying to get us to come to the pretend "motorcycle store".  Chase: "You can see a diRTY POTtY!!"  To Maddox I said:  "It's Peanut Butter, BanaNA, CHOCOLATE ChiP Bread!  And he took the bait.  Bit right in and proclaimed it good.  So there you have it.

Drew Leaves . .

And today Drew left to begin another semester at SUU : (. But first, this motorcycle had to be loaded.  It's Ryans.  They weren't sure it was going to fit, but in it went!

Here is the entire content of clothing Drew had to take back with him.  This includes a jacket he received for Christmas and two pair of pants I bought him when I realized two weeks after he got home that he had been wearing the same pants the whole time.  And THEY had holes in the knees.  It was all he brought with him because he just didn't need any more.  Drew has simple needs.

    I couldn't resist comparing Brennan's departure with Drew's.  Not that one is more right than the other, just different. Notice how Drew's stuff is all packed in neat little containers.  What a difference a boy makes :)                                                                                                         

Brennan Leaves

 This kid is headed off to college.  In his pajamas.  I give these boys pajamas every Christmas and Brennan lives in his like clothes for a few weeks, then they get lost in the great black hole that is Brennan's life and he's back to walking around in his skivvies.  I asked him, "Brennan, are you leaving in your pajamas?  He says, "Might as well drive in comfort!"  Me:  "What if you break down, or have to stop for gas, or get pulled over."  Bren:  "I've got plenty of clothes I can change in to real quick."  And he does.  

 This is what my house looked like yesterday.  Because this is how Brennan packs.  First, he brings every piece of clothing he owns home to be washed over Christmas break, rewashes everything the day before he leaves, and folds them all into little piles all over the Family Room Floor.

Then he carries them out one pile at a time until his car is full of piles of clothes and everything else he owns in the world.  No boxing things up for Brennan.  Why?  "Because then I have these empty boxes I have to deal with."  I can only imagine what he looks like carrying all that stuff into his apartment in Logan.  And just for the record, I did NOT teach him this.  It's some kind of organizational system that only smart guys who drive back to Logan in their pajamas understand.

Pintrest

So, I'm up late tonight helping Brennan apply for scholarships and I come across a blog where this girl takes things she has pinned on pintrest, does them, and then blogs about it.  I think, "Wow, that's cool.  I think that would be fun to do."  So here is my first I Learned This On Pintrest And Did It blog. 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        First, this is the picture of a photography pose I found and pinned on pintrest . . .                                                                          

                                                        And here is MY photo . . .

Pintrest's photo . . .

 

And mine.  

See, what this is supposed to do is to get you to actually DO the things and not just pin them.  We'll see how it works. .. ..