Dear Cousin A.M.M.E.H.

Well, today/morrow (Feb. 26th) is my BCF's bday (if you're wondering what that stands for... it's BEST COUSIN FOREVER!) yes. This is her:

A.M.M.E.H.

(i could tell you her whole name, but that's dangerous! -- and i'm respecting her dislike for her middle name)

she is my favorite. I just wanted to give a little shout out to her because i miss her so much (and it's her special day). Here are some things that I love about A.M. --

I love that we can talk for hours and still have so much more to say. I love that we would go to stake dances together and rock out. I love that we would go to efy and party like we were 16. I love that we would have sleepovers when we were little. I love that we always stood next to each other in the cousin lineup for pics. I love that we would go to harry potter midnight showings (AND dress up!).

I love that I got to go to Hawaii with her. I love that she would hang out on long weekends at grandpa's with me and make pink rice krispie treats to swoon ben with (he had no clue).

I love that she loves Greys/Bones/america's next top model so we can watch re-runs till forever. I also love that she loves visiting me. She even came all the way from sanDiego for my wedding. It was awesome to see/talk/visit with her and talk about new married life.

She is such a trooper while she's all alone-ish in S.D. She is such a great mother and wife and I love her for that too. I love that she lets me hold max for just 5 special minutes while everyone else is trying to steal him from me. I just love HER. she is great. and she has cute clothes that i'm jealous of sometimes. =] So...

Dear Cousin Ann Marie M.E.H. :) I hope your day is great and that max and larry make you feel happy on this your 24th birthday. (even if you are sick) I love you and can't wait till i see you next. Let's skype soon. ok? ok. love, natalie.

p.s. feel free to come out for graduation. it's during easter break (well, law school probably doesn't have that... but still) =] xoxox

we're FAMOUS!

so this is old news to my family, but I still think it's really cool. Over the christmas break, my mom got a package. Being the nosy daughter that i am, i opened it with my mom right away and it was these random bridal magazines.. well not random, it was the Sacramento Bride and Groom Magazine. before we got too confused thinking, "uhhh, don't these people know, the wedding was 4 months ago!" we read the note. It said something like this... "your kids are in these, more than once" so of course we started flipping through them page by page. We were so excited. I started in the front, mom started in the back... and BAM. There we were! on FOUR PAGES! let me tell you a few things about this magazine:

1. It's a SACRAMENTO magazine, not an LDS magazine (I'm wearing a modest dress, this is a big deal).

2. This magazine comes out TWICE a year (this makes it an even bigger deal).

3. hundreds of people submit photos for this and don't even make it in (we have FOUR pics=big deal).

well, all of this is a big deal to us at least... we feel cool and we wanted to share our excitement with everyone. You can view the magazine online by clicking HERE. We are on pages 86, 110, 151 & 173. one pic is of our candy bar that halie did for us which is fun, but the rest are 1/2 page pics of PEOPLE. aka ben and natalie (for 2 of them) and then one of my sibs. it's awesome. well, thanks for letting me share the joy of being cool for 10 seconds... now i'm caught up with one post... just a few more to go.. peace.

still deciding..

the pics look worse than what it looks like in real life... but i'm still in debate. =] it's definitely puffier than normal..

New Hair! well... same hair, new cut/style.

So apparently my 100th post was the one I just did on friday... so, happy 101-st post!

Oh Yeah! -- AND -- I got NEW hair! well, it's the SAME hair, different cut/style. :) Ronne cut my hair this weekend and it's a little shorter than I expected but it's pretty cute (when it's straight). I have yet to find out what it looks like curly. I will let you what what I decide after I wash my hair tonight and find out. :) I'll post a pic of it curly when I figure out if I like it or not.

This is just a face... it in no way indicates my feelings towards my hair... i just like this pic better than a smiling one... funny faces are better anyway. :)

oh yeah... ben got one too:

Also, here is my list of things I need to post about so I don't forget:

1. My wedding Pics being in a Magazine.

2. Being COMPLETELY out of Debt.

3. Food We Eat

4. Anything Else I haven't covered thus far.. :)

today in your area...

Well, ben and I had tons of tests this week and we both did really well!
I got a good grade on my finance test (as noted in a previous post) and then the next monday i got an 86% on my Marketing test! (this is great considering i didn't study hardly at all... then on tuesday I went to take my Theory test and dominated the essays, but the Multiple Choice could have gone better... I'll get my grade next week (hopefully).. THEN after all that, Ben comes home with a 96% on his math test and a 100% on his DGM test! say whaaatt??? That kid always has to show me up. Either way. I'm so excited that we are both doing so well in school this semester.. Married life is great, especially b/c you get to go to sleep at 10pm and study without worrying about the other person. I seriously think the hours that you sleep next to someone make-up for the time you don't get to spend with them during the day. :) life is good. Kanab this weekend. more to come soon. We're going to Beaver to see Dan play Basketball... he's no Jimmer, but it's fun to support the team. GO KANAB COWBOYS! beat the Beaver Beavers!? (nice name right)

I don't know why I'm so proud of this?

Well, Today I ate 3 real meals... (as requested by my mindful eating challenge)...
Ben made us breakfast (eggs & toast) -- the only reason we had time for this is because we both skipped out 8am classes and went to school late. =]
We both packed a lunch of leftover chicken tortilla soup with sourcream & tortilla chips/strips.
And then for dinner (although we didn't eat until 830pm-ish) we had a delicious meatloaf, broccoli, AND mashed potatoes... (I made garlic/ranch potatoes and they were delish!) It felt great to eat a good dinner WITH a Vegetable! :) i always seem to forget those... :/ It also felt great to not be starving all day... I also felt really good when i produced a good meal. not just a flavorful piece of chicken and no sides.. Ben prepared the meatloaf (b/c i don't like touching raw meat very much) but I got the potatoes/veggies ready and folded all the clean laundry while ben did the dishes. It was a very productive day.

For those of you who want a SUPER EASY and SUPER DELICOUS way to make garlic mashed potatoes, here it is (for 2 hungry people & some left-overs):
4 Large Sam's Club Size Potatoes (they're big)
Milk
Butter/Margarine
Garlic Salt
1/2 a Ranch Seasoning Packet
Here's how it goes:
First, peel and cut potatoes into small pieces. Like this:

(i love that a picture of potatoes is copyright protected)
Fill a large pot up with hot water and some salt (that speeds the boiling process)
Once boiling... Add the potatoes
Boil them until they are soft (15-ish minutes... depends on the potatoes/how small you cut them) keeping the lid on also helps the potatoes boil quickly...
Once potatoes are soft (can be poked with a fork with ease), drain water.
Then smash potatoes a little bit with a smashing device (we used a fork) until they are broken up enough to use a mixing device.
Add milk to desired consistency (we just poured what was left of the gallon we were almost done with--maybe enough for a bowl of cereal?) and added about 1/2 cube or a whole cube of butter... once those were in there, we got this baby out:

I would have never thought of this and would have been mixing with a fork the whole time but awesome husband ben recommended we use our beaters. so, you plug-er-in and mix the potatoes/milk/butter until they're mashed.... they'll still be a little lumpy, but i like them that way..
After they look like normal potatoes, add garlic salt to taste

Then once the garlic is delicious, you can stop there, or continue to the ranch. We used about 1/2 a packet we had left from some croc-pot ranch potatoes and it was the perfect amount. so just round up one of these bad boys:

(i'm sure you could use ranch dressing too and add less milk/butter) then sprinkle some in there (1/2 oz. is probably good for the amount we made) and blend that up some more and tah-dah! there you are... garlic/ranch mashed potatoes...
I don't know why i'm so proud of this... i just really enjoyed them... I must have been really hungry. :) more pics to come soon.
Adios.

all things in moderation.

So for wednesday we are asked... "Which foods do you periodically overeat because you have subconsciously restricted them in your mind?" Then i thought... ummm... none. I never over eat. hahaa NOT. I definitely over eat icecream when i have the chance.... I really don't restricted myself from eating anything in particular. I only restrict things when i don't feel like eating them. Like if i've had too much of something or I really don't feel like sweets at the moment I typically don't eat them. (unless it's ice cream of course)

Anyway... next question is: How would allowing yourself to eat these foods in moderation allow you to truly enjoy your food? .... well, moderating all of my food intake would probably really stress me out. so i probably will continue with my regular eating lifestyle... but i will share this... it makes me sick to my stomach when i hear/see people that are my size and smaller talk about having to much fat intake or too many calories.. it just bothers me (to the core) that they worry so much about that. I understand that some people NEED to count/monitor intake so they can lose weight and return to a healthy and not-dangerous weight/lifestyle. And I appreciate their efforts. But I believe that those who are already healthy should maintain their lifestyle but not be obsessive. ALL THINGS IN MODERATION. for me, that means eating less icecream at grandpa's on friday nights but for others that means actually eating a bowl of ice cream at their grandpa's on friday nights.... :) hope this doesn't offend anyone. I just get annoyed by some things... that's it for todays blog... i'll do the other one tomorrow sometime. adios for now.

it is the kind of beauty that doesn't wash off.

So, part of this week of mindful eating is to journal each day... I didn't have time on Tuesday b/c i had to do two tests in Four Hours! it was rough. But i was definitely thinking about it. So, I've decided that being in good health obviously helps 'house' the holy ghost... But he's a ghost. it doesn't matter how big or small your body is... there's always room for a ghost. :) So... that's when i came up with this thought process:
The holy ghost provides us light and knowledge as well as the ability to reason clearly (at least that's what i think)... And--As I have frequently learned--when you don't eat (or keep your body healthy), you don't have a clear mind and you can't concentrate...(especially in a night class), thus, by NOT maintaining a healthy body you prevent the holy ghost to help you learn and grow. I believe that when you have the holy ghost with you, you are the most beautiful you can be. I found this amazing talk that almost brought tears to my eyes..

“'deep beauty'—the kind of beauty that shines from the inside out. It is the kind of beauty that cannot be painted on, surgically created, or purchased. It is the kind of beauty that doesn’t wash off. It is spiritual attractiveness. Deep beauty springs from virtue. It is the beauty of being chaste and morally clean. It is the kind of beauty that you see in the eyes of virtuous women like your mother and grandmother. It is a beauty that is earned through faith, repentance, and honoring covenants.... Young women, look into the mirror of eternity. Remember who you are! See yourself as our Heavenly Father sees you. You are elect. There is no more beautiful sight than a young woman who glows with the light of the Spirit..."
--Elaine S. Dalton, "Remember Who You Are!", Ensign, May 2010

CLICK HERE to read the whole talk.

My favorite part is the bold part. I LOVE IT. it doesn't wash off... it cannot be painted on, surgically created or purchased. that is so great. it makes me feel better about not having time to put make-up on in the mornings... and it makes me happy that i have no desire to pay to change my appearance. but yeah. That's all for today (well, tuesday...) I am now going to write on Wednesdays topic... :)

"The Intuitive Eater"

So, my sister emailed me this morning and shared "A Week of Mindful Eating" from the Women's Services on BYU Campus and I thought, "oh! this will be great. I've been meaning to start eating healthier (like fruits and veggies and such)..."
then, as I began to read about Day 1, I felt that it is more directed towards women with eating problems aka problems with not eating... so, I thought I'd just disregard it, but then i hoped that the rest of the week may be directed towards me?? (at least one of the days maybe...) So, like my sister, I will be attempting to answer the journal questions throughout the week. But first, i'd like to share my quiz experience... Halie said that she doesn't necessarily agree with everything on here and I think I agree with her to disagree with the program. I took a survey that told me if my score was under 20pts I may have an unhealthy attitude/extreme eating behaviors when it comes to food/eating. After the first 8 questions I added up my score so far (there are 26 questions) and I was already at 20 points. Then, I continued to take the quiz and ended up with... well, more than someone should have... (70 to be exact). So, I can take this one of two ways... (1) Be happy that I am have a healthy attitude towards food and non-extreme eating behaviors... or (2) Worry that although I am not anorexic or bulimic I may have a problem with being the other extreme eating behavior (eating all the time/enjoying it). At this point, I've decided to go with route (1). -- At least until my metabolism catches up with me...
Also, although I fall under many of the categories listed in the results section, I found myself to be able to relate with the ideal: "The Intuitive Eater" Intuitive eaters march to their inner hunger signals and eat whatever they choose without experiencing guilt. They honor hunger, respect fullness, and enjoy the pleasure of eating. Yeah, that sounds about right... I don't fit the mold exactly, but only some people do... (that's where my 7-category overlap comes in.. "Note: You may identify with an array of elements from many categories--ideally, you will find yourself in the description of the mindful eater more often through A Week of Mindful Eating".)

Other options included (but are not limited to):
THE CAREFUL EATER
Appears to be the perfect eater, yet anguishes over each food morsel and its effect on the body. On the surface, this person seems health and fitness oriented, because he/she is vigilant about what is put into the body and is highly conscious of nutrition. (OPPOSITE of me)

THE CHAOTIC UNCONSCIOUS EATER
This person often lives an over-scheduled life--too busy, too many things to do. The chaotic eating style is haphazard--gulp ‘n go when the food is available. Chaotic eaters are often so busy putting out fires that they have difficulty identifying biological hunger until it’s fiercely ravenous.

THE PROFESSIONAL DIETER
This person is perpetually dieting, often trying the latest commercial diet or diet book. Professional dieters know a lot about proportions of foods, calories, and “dieting tricks”, yet they are always on another diet because the original never worked. (DEFINITELY NOT ME.)

Alright, on to my journaling:
What strengths did you discover in your eating attitudes? I discovered that I have a great attitude towards food the majority of the time. What specific habits do you have that you want to continue? I'd like to continue eating when appropriate and stopping when appropriate too. I should probably start exercising in addition to my "healthy eating attitude" so I don't go to the opposite extreme and become obese because my attitude is SOO Healthy. What habits do you have that you would like to change throughout A Week of Mindful Eating? Well, being that I already cook a lot (once a day) and today (for the first time in a while) have a lunch to eat, I'd like to continue to have a lunch to eat so that I can aid my hunger so I don't feel so food deprived and crabby at the end of the day...

I promise I'm not mocking this program, I just felt that I answered a lot of the questions in my schpeel above rather than in the Q&A format at the end... but for real.. who wouldn't be interested in doing this? It's so bright and happy! (see above poster)

Sorry there is not more pictures... next post for sure! (We went to the ice castles this weekend and it will be a precious post for sure! :)