Valentine's Should Be a Special Day!

To date I've never had a particularly "good" Valentine's Day. In fact, on Valentine's Day a few years ago a friend and I were held up at gunpoint. Suffice it to say, it wasn't a very pleasant experience. But Valentine's Day should be wonderful! It's a day of love! It should be one of the most beautiful days of the year! So, my Valentine's mission each year is to brighten others' Valentine's!
Today I made cinnamon rolls with red sprinkles. I tried to find heart shaped sprinkles but was unable to do so. I also made chocolate kiss cookies with a drizzled raspberry glaze. Both are heavenly! I'm SO looking forward to delivering them to their various recipients tomorrow! Some will be hand delivered and some will be doorbell-ditched. I can't wait!
Everyone should feel loved on Valentine's Day!

If by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or, being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or, being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise;

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with triumph and disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with wornout tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on";

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings - nor lose the common touch;
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you;
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run -
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man my son!

Ἄλινδα

For years I've yearned to go to Italy and Greece! Tonight I made a Tuscan dish and as I divulged in the garlicky taste I was reminded of my yearning. I want to experience the food and culture. And of course, I want to see the beautiful art! There is so much to do in both countries, I don't know where I would begin but I want to do it soon! While in Greece I would like to go to the town I share a name with. It's on the island of Leros. From the pictures I've seen online, it's absolutely gorgeous! (Above are some I found online.) I cannot wait to go!

Fortune Cookies

I don't know why but I've always had a love and fascination for fortune cookies! When I go to a Chinese restaurant I selectively choose which cookie fortune should be mine. Fortune cookies taste all right but the fortune is the best part! I used to tape all fortunes in my journal. They're just so much fun! The most recent fortune I received said, "Your road to glory will be rocky, but fulfilling."
Thanks to Groupon I recently became acquainted with fancyfortunecookies.com. I didn't do the Groupon because I don't have an event to order lots of fortune cookies for but I think it's an awesome idea. The above picture came from their website.

To Cook

During the past few days I have really been in a cooking/baking mood! I can't get enough! Friday I didn't work which was both good and bad (good because it gave me plenty of time to cook and bad because it means I don't get paid). After waking up, going to the gym, and getting ready for the day, I began to cook. First I made some incredibly delicious chocolate chip cookies. (I was having company over that evening and wanted to have a dessert.) Then I made honey whole wheat bread. I love the particular recipe I recently acquired and had a yearning to make bread! Then I began with the Indian cuisine I was serving that evening. I prepared the chicken so it could have adequate time to marinate, and then began the Indian bread (Naan). While the bread was doing its thing I prepared a cucumber raita. It turned out mighty fine, if I might say so myself! Indian evening was a huge success! My friends LOVED it! And I had forgotten how much I love chicken masala! It was to die for!
Saturday I wanted to use the rest of the heavy cream I had purchased to make the chicken masala so I decided to make mint truffle brownies with a chocolate ganache! They were also pretty tasty! One friend even went as far as to say that they were the best brownies she ever had! Wow! That's quite the compliment!
In the coming weeks I'm going to hone my cupcake decorating skills. I've always wanted to take a cake decorating class which to date hasn't occurred but I did recently purchase an incredible cupcake decorating book which has some absolutely incredible and creative ideas! I'm super excited to try them! It looks like my friends and neighbors will be the benefactors of many cupcakes!

Pure Love of Winter

Winter is such a beautiful time of year! I recognize that it makes transportation more challenging. And most people don't like freezing temperatures but it's gorgeous! Today a friend and I went on a four hour snow shoeing excursion. I'm a little worn out and sunburned but it was an incredible experience! I love the way sunlight glistens on snow! I love the way ice crystals form! Winter is such a beautiful and serene season! I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to enjoy it this season!

3 Grocery Stores Later. . .

I was incredibly excited to make Hot and Sour Chicken Cabbage Soup. I thoroughly enjoy most oriental foods. I particularly love recipes with a little pizazz. The ingredients in this recipe sounded like they'd do the trick, so I was stoked to say the least! I had most of the ingredients. I made a trip to the grocery store for lemon grass, cabbage, and bean sprouts. At grocery store number one, I found cabbage and bean sprouts. At store number two, no lemon grass. And store number three, no lemon grass! What?! I realize not everyone cooks with lemon grass but are you serious; three major grocery stores and no lemon grass?!?! In complete frustration of not being able to find lemon grass (and not being willing to hit up a fourth) I made the soup without lemon grass. And guess what?! It was divine!!! Yay for Hot and Sour Chicken Cabbage Soup!!! It was a success even without the lemon grass!

Food!

I LOVE to cook! Cooking is relaxing to me; it's soothing. Lately I have been in a soup and bread making mood, probably due to the cold weather. However, most soups don't look that great in picture form so I haven't included any pictures.
I've made a few stews and wide variety of asian soups. The next recipe on the agenda is Hot and Sour Chicken Cabbage Soup. I'm really excited for this new adventure! I choose recipes by the ingredients. Some of the ingredients in my next soup include: hot pepper flakes, vinegar, soy sauce, lemon grass, fish sauce, black pepper, garlic powder, bean sprouts, and onion. Doesn't that sound like an incredible combination?!
The pictures I included here are homemade rolls, Dal with Spiced Tomatoes and Potatoes, and Naan. Yummy! I really enjoy Indian food! In the near future I plan to host an Indian evening. I'm going to make Chicken Masala, Fresh Mint Chutney, and of course some Naan!

GJ

It's been two years since I've been to the town I grew up in. A little less than two years ago my parents moved. They didn't tell us that they were thinking about moving until they had purchased a home in another state. A few of us expressed a desire to make a last trip before my parents moved from our childhood home but it was strongly discouraged. Right now I really miss my hometown. It has its own quirks but I love it! It's beautiful!

To Create

"Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty." -Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf

I love to create! There is something so uplifting about creating. My main two forms of creation are food and clothing. I thoroughly enjoying creating both! Due to the holiday season I have been baking up a storm. I have also created a wide variety of soups and today I'm going to begin creating an incredible apron! I can't wait!

One-liners

I like quotes. I like one-liners, wherever they come from. I recently watched a movie which had many great one-liners. One of which was, "If you want to get to the castle, you have to swim the moat." Fantastic! Isn't that SO true! If you want something grand, you gotta work for it!

It's not what you have that matters, it's what you make of it

Last night I went to a work Christmas party. At the beginning of the evening we were each given a Christmas movie/tv trivia quiz. Not only had I not seen many of the shows we were questioned about but I also have a horrible memory and tend to not remember small details. So, I didn't do so hot on the quiz. For each question we answered correctly, we were given a bean. Later in the evening there was an auction in which we used the beans to bid. I probably had the least amount of beans. The auction began and the bids continued to increase significantly higher than my number of beans. I realized that those who had the most beans were the ones who were eager about biding. I decided that my best tactic considering the situation would be to wait until the amount of beans in the group had dwindled. I waited. We got to one item in which no one would bid. I bid one bean and the bid stopped there. I won with the least amount of beans!
In life it's so easy to become focused on material possessions. It's easy to become wrapped up in things that don't matter. What matters is that we make the most of what we have. It's amazing what Heavenly Father can help us accomplish with very little on our part!

Goals

When I was in high school, my scrawny brother decided that he no longer wanted to be picked on physically and emotionally for being small and chose to change his physique. He began to body build. One may ask "Why go to the opposite extreme?!" But it's what he wanted and he gave everything to attain his goal. During this period of his life he had pinned on his bedroom wall a quote attributed to Elder Richard G. Scott which read, "To reach a goal you have never attained, you must do things you have never before done." It's a beautiful concept! So often we desire to become better, to attain specific goals but would prefer that the success fall into our lap. Anything worth acquiring takes effort, lots of it!
For years I have wanted to lose weight. From time to time I put forth a little more effort and then I give up. Why?! I know that I won't attain my goal without valiant effort but it's so easy to give into complacency. Not any more! About two months ago I decided that my goal requires my complete effort. I have changed my tactic. I realized that any good goal is worthy of asking for heavenly assistance. So, I've done just that. For over two months I have fasted weekly for the heavenly assistance I need in reaching my goal. And I have made a stronger personal effort to do everything I know to live a healthier life. Not that it's been easy but it has been beautiful! I have seen the Lord's hand in my life. I have also recognized how the Adversary attempts to thwart my goals. And I have learned that through the Lord all things are possible. So, over half way to my goal I thank my Heavenly Father for His love, guidance, and direction!

The Holy Ghost

"There is a lesson in the Prophet Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision which virtually every Latter-day Saint has had occasion to experience, or one day soon will. It is the plain and very sobering truth that before great moments, certainly before great spiritual moments, there can come adversity, opposition, and darkness. Life has some of those moments for us, and occasionally they come just as we are approaching an important decision or a significant step in our lives. . . Beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted in it, it is right now."
“Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence” by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

How profound! I think it is all too easy to receive a thought or impression and later (even moments later) dismiss it. It is so important that we do whatever is necessary to act upon promptings and impressions from the Spirit. I have had a few very impressionable experiences with the Spirit throughout my life which have helped create a spirit of obedience. One that currently stands out in my memory happened while I was a missionary. My companion and I were preparing for the next day. We had prayed to know where we should be so that we might be where the Lord needed us, his servants. As we discussing the streets in our area, I had a distinct impression not to be in a certain area, at a certain time. The impression was quite strong but could have been easily dismissed as an unrealistic thought. I told my companion of the impression and that we couldn't not go to that area. The next evening we spoke with a friend who lived in the area I had felt impressed to not enter. At the exact time that the Spirit told me we shouldn't not be there, there was an attempted kidnapping at gunpoint of an adult woman. There was no doubt that the Lord had protected us and I knew that if I had dismissed the prompting as my own crazy thought that our lives would have been in jeopardy! I was so grateful that I had listened to the prompting from the Holy Ghost! I learned to seek the Lord's guidance more in my life and realized how easy it is to dismiss promptings of the Spirit! Heavenly Father knows what He is doing! He tries to guide us in all important decisions in our lives!

Just a Thought

I've been thinking a lot about choices. Adam and Eve provide a great example: they made no progress until they partook of the fruit of which they were disinclined to partake. They may have thought that they were happy, and may have been afraid of what they were getting themselves into, but they were stuck and could not progress. Until they partook, they could not move forward with their lives. They could not experience true joy and happiness without taking a leap of faith.
Here is also an awesome quote from Elder Marion G. Romney:
"While the Lord will magnify us in both subtle and dramatic ways, he can only guide our footsteps when we move our feet. Ultimately, our own actions determine our blessings - or lack of them."

Any Righteous Thing is Possible!

As I was preparing to teach Relief Society I was reminded of this quote:
You can change! You can be anything you want to be in righteousness. If there is one lament I cannot abide, it is the poor, pitiful, withered cry, “Well, that’s just the way I am.” If you want to talk about discouragement, that is one that discourages me. I’ve heard it from too many people who want to sin and call it psychology. And I use the word sin to cover a vast range of habits, some seemingly innocent enough, that nevertheless bring discouragement and doubt and despair. You can change anything you want to change, and you can do it very fast. Another satanic sucker punch is that it takes years and years and eons of eternity to repent. That’s just not true. It takes exactly as long to repent as it takes you to say. “I’ll change”—and mean it. Of course there will be problems to work out and restitutions to make. You may well spend—indeed, you had better spend—the rest of your life proving your repentance by its permanence. But change, growth, renewal, and repentance can come for you as instantaneously as they did for Alma and the sons of Mosiah. Even if you have serious amends to make, it is not likely that you would qualify for the term “the vilest of sinners,” which is the phrase Mormon used in describing these young men. Yet as Alma recounts his own experience, it appears to have been as instantaneous as it was stunning. (See Alma 36.) Do not misunderstand. Repentance is not easy or painless or convenient. It is a bitter cup from hell. But only Satan, who dwells there, would have you think that a necessary and required acknowledgment is more distasteful than permanent residence. Only he would say, “You can’t change. You won’t change. It’s too long and too hard to change. Give up. Give in. Don’t repent. You are just the way you are.” That is a lie born of desperation. Don’t fall for it. (Jeffrey R. Holland. However Long and Hard the Road [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985], 6-7.)
I love it! Through Jesus Christ we can accomplish anything! We can become exactly who we want to be and who the Lord knows we can become!

Miracles Happen, As Weird As They May Be

Not that long ago I wrote about unspoken prayers. . . A few weeks ago I backed up into an air conditioning unit and scratched my bumper. I was really upset because I feel like my car is still brand new and it was my first scratch. I told a few people that I hoped I would be rear-ended (just gently) so I could get a new bumper without paying for it. Tonight, as I was driving home from the temple, a lady plowed into me while I was stopped at a red light. I'm still a little in shock! My immediate thought was that Heavenly Father was giving me exactly what I wanted. While my bumper isn't that big of a deal, it means something to me. I care about my car. And as trivial as it may be, I feel like Heavenly Father was telling me that he cares about me. We never know how are prayers will be answered but they will be. Heavenly Father loves us and wants to bless us in anyway that He can.

Despised and Rejected

"He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not.
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted.
But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."
Isaiah 53:3-5
As I read these verses today I had a profound thought (actually I'm sure it wasn't mine). Jesus Christ, the Savior of all mankind, was not popular. He didn't minister in order to gain a following. His purpose and mission was fulfilled no matter who believed. So often we seek popularity through our actions. Why?! Jesus Christ, the best example we can follow, did not seek approval or change his mission in order to fit into a crowd. My mission is centered on Jesus Christ. I am his disciple.

Prayer

Recently I've had a few unspoken prayers answered. It's been incredible to recognize the Lord's hand in my life. I frequently pray to follow the Lord's will and I pray for righteous desires. Sometimes I become frustrated when the things I desire most aren't happening. I wonder why, why can't I have righteous desires? But then things which mean something to me, but I hadn't asked for, are granted quite miraculously to me. Heavenly Father knows us and loves us! He knows what is most important and will guide us to it! I've always enjoyed the words to Garth Brooks "Unanswered Prayers." Here is the chorus:
Sometimes I thank God for unanswered prayers
Remember when you're talkin' to the man upstairs
That just because he doesn't answer doesn't mean he don't care
Some of God's greatest gifts are unanswered prayers

Moses

I've been thinking a lot about Moses. He was a prophet of God. As prophet, he saw God face to face. What a remarkable spiritual experience! In addition to seeing God, he saw this world and all those who have or will inhabit it. After this amazing experience the Adversary came temping Moses. Initially Moses was able to withstand the temptations because he remembered the vision and the power of God. But after Satan continues to tempt him, "Moses began to fear exceedingly; and as he began to fear, he saw the bitterness of hell" (Moses 1:20). Only when Moses began to listen to the Adversary did he see the bitterness of hell.
Each of us experience miracles. Through these we are able to see the power of God in our own lives. We are strengthened and edified but just as Moses, the Adversary will try to tempt us. He wants us to fall and will do all in his power to make it happen. The Adversary doesn't want us to have eternal happiness. I like what Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said in his talk entitled "Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence." He said, "If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted it and lived for it, it is right now. Don't give up when the pressure mounts. Certainly don't give in to that being who is bent on the destruction of your happiness. Face your doubts. Master your fears. 'Cast not away therefore your confidence.' Stay the course and see the beauty of life unfold for you."