Blogging for the sake of Blogging....

Well, I feel like nothing too new and exciting is going on lately. Seriously, it's sad. But I feel like I should be a more consistent blogger, so I am going for at least twice a week, and maybe more later.
Right now we are trying to decide what to do about insurance once Jason's job is gone. So if anyone knows a whole lot about available insurances in Utah that are really cheap, let me know! (Emily- tell me what your M-i-L has again, I forgot..) So that is an exciting adventure.
I have also been working my way through the Anne of Green Gables series, yet again. I have to say that I dearly love Anne of Green Gables. Although, I have realized that I am not an "Anne." I am more of a Diana. Oh well. We can't all be incredibly interesting, right? Not that I'm not interesting. Just that I am not SO interesting as Anne.
In other news, I have decided to put a hold on the weight loss for a little while. I have been stressed out, and just feel like it's easier to handle weight loss when I am feeling less stressed. Because, let's face it, I go to food for comfort. So, yeah. I am still trying to be healthier, but if I want a bowl of ice cream or a soda- Dang it! I will have one! So, yeah. That's about all that's new in the land of Amanda.

Feeling Sheepish...

So, today at our Ward Choir practice, we were talking about getting a women's group together for our ward talent show. Everyone was so excited about it! And I told the choir director that I had a tond of good SSA or SSAA sheet music (Soprano, Soprano, Alto and Soprano, Soprano, Alto, Alto) from my days in choir. She was excited and we arranged to meet together tomorrow morning to pick something out. So, excited, I finally get home, and cannot wait to dig out my music. There were a few pieces in particular that I was excited about. But I am looking, and looking......and looking. And, uh-oh, I can't find it!! Well, okay, that is a half lie. I can find it, but it's all Christmas music!! Where are the cool madrigals I remember, or the cool jazz pieces? I figure this must be what happened: I was cleaning out my sheet music, and I was like "When am I ever going to need the sheet music for an a-cappella SSA madrigal? Ummm, never." And promptly got rid of it. So, tomorrow I get to call her up and say- "Hey, you know all that music I was talking about? Well, it turns out I don't have any. Hope that's not a problem!" This is what I get for volunteering too quickly for things. It's such a shame!

What a glorious day!

I had the most amazing experience this evening, and I just wanted to share it, as I am practically bursting with happiness. As most of you know, Logan (my brother) and I have been on the outs for years. I mean YEARS. We absolutely hated each other when we were both living at home. After I moved out, we barely tolerated each other. There was no more fighting, but we just ignored each other. No eye contact or anything. Then, as I mature a little bit, I began to direct basic questions at him or join into conversations that he was a part of. He would ignore me completely and act like I hadn't said anything. Then we got to the point that he would answer me, but not look at me while he did it. At that point I actually called him on his birthday even though I was terrified to do it. I felt on top of the world. Before tonight, we were on casual greeting terms. It was really difficult, because I wanted to have a relationship with him, but it's really hard to overcome all those years. Especially since he was was not interested.

But this evening, he sent me a text message. Out of the blue. It read:
Hey sister. I know we have had our issues, but I really miss you. I miss the whole family. I can't wait till the next time we have Thanksgiving.

Honestly, I cried. And as I am writing this, I am tearing up again. I of course responded, and we had a few passed texts. But honestly, I think this is the first time he has instigated a conversation since I was probably 8. Unless you count yelling and name-calling, which I don't. I know how hard it must have been for him to send me that text, and I am so glad he did! I just feel like life is all of a sudden brighter and more hopeful. Honestly, I don't think I knew how much it was hurting me until all of a sudden I feel like it's being resolved.
I just feel so full of love, and it makes me think that this must be how Heavenly Father and Christ feel when we are renewing our relationships with them. I know that I have not been very good at my own relationship with my Heavenly Father, but I am now going to try harder and harder.
There is nothing like the feeling of regaining a loved one, you guys. I have never felt anything so amazing in my life. So, even though I am sure Logan would be mortified if he ever read this, I just had to share and document such a powerful feeling. Don't give up hope. If you keep working at it, even though it seems hopeless, it will come around eventually.
I love you all so much, and I am so grateful for your part in my life. I am sure you don't realize what an impact you have on me, but thanks for being there for me anyway!

For all the Twilight fans...

Now, I am a total Twilight loser (for all of you who may have been dead the past few years...) and I love to watch internet spoofs. This one is the best one I have seen. Jason and I both were just cracking up the whole time, and he hasn't even seen the movie. I know, it's 12 minutes long, but it is really good.

Oh, the shame!

So it has been over a week since my last blog post. Oh- you say- did you just have a really boring week? Why, no! Actually it was a very full and busy week, so full in fact that I cannot remember what happened before Thursday, so let me start then...
Thursday was Heather's birthday!! (Happy Birthday, Heather!) I thought I would be all sneaky and pretend I didn't know her birthday was coming up and surprise her at home. Because OF COURSE she would be home when I dropped in unexpectedly, right? Like she might have other plans for her birthday! (scoffing) So, I drop by, and, lo and behold, no one is home. Uh-oh! So I called her Jason and asked if he happened to know where she was. I didn't have much hope because he was working, but I was proven wrong. (Yes, Jason, I said I was wrong!!) It turns out she was getting her hair cut! So, I got directions and headed off to the hairdressers. Now Heather had REALLY long hair, and she had 17.5 inches chopped off, and it's still just slightly longer than my hair. It is a super cute hair cut! Then we hung out for a while and when Jason (Heather's, not mine) got home from work we all (minus my Jason who was STILL at work) went to check out this new restaurant called Smoked Apple BBQ (or something REALLY close to that) and it was super delicious! They had a sweet cornbread that was like a coffeecake, with streusel and everything! It was a fun day!
Friday, Dan and Faith plus kids and Jason and I all had a barbecue at the lake. We were slightly delusional about the weather, but we had a good time anyway. We made shashlik (shah-shleek) which is a Russian type of pork shish-ka-bob. It is delicious, although to be fair, not as good as usual as I ruined it by not adding enough black pepper. It was still good, but not quite as tasty. It was super windy and we all lost a few plates. Then they came over for a bit and played a game. And you all know how I love to play games!
Saturday I made some tasty chocolate chip muffins, and today I made some tasty lemon blueberry muffins. Both from scratch- no mixes!! They are both very tasty. Seriously.

Exciting Food News!!

So, yesterday I finally stopped procrastinating. I have been wanting a panini press for a long time. I mean, a LONG time! Like longer than a year. But I never got around to getting one. I'm not sure why- I mean, they aren't THAT expensive (I paid $40 for mine) and they are super fun. So, yesterday I decided to just suck it up and buy one. (A big Thanks to Julie- for motivating me to get one as a means of helping others!) And, I have to admit- I am SOOOOO excited about it! It came with quite a few recipes, but I am mostly excited to start inventing things. All sandwiches are better as a panini. Plus, they are so easy to use! So, yeah. I know you are all jealous. Except for you guys who already have one. But still.
As a general update- everything here is going fine. Well, at least as fine as it ever is. I am excited to say that I have been awesome at keeping up with my dishes lately. Which is quite a feat if you are A) Amanda, B) without a dishwasher, and C) have been cooking elaborate meals. Okay- not too elaborate, but plenty of dirty pots and pans that need soaking. The diet thing- you ask- well, it's going ok. I seem to have lost a little steam, yet again, but it will pick up soon, I'm sure. Maybe after I finish off that german chocolate cake I made the other day... (see http://thesauteepan.blogspot.com)

It just keeps on getting better....

So, yesterday Jason had a mandatory meeting at work. I wasn't too worried, since they have those meetings every year to discuss per diem and mileage rates. But then Jason called me, and the whole company is basically going under. They are keeping a few people to try and stick around, but it's very unstable. Jason was told that they could keep him for one month at three-quarter pay minus the per diem and mileage rates, and that was it. Jason had kind of seen it coming, so he wasn't too surprised, but his job is the kind that fluctuates quite a bit in stability, so I thought it was just more of the same. I was pretty surprised. Especially since Jason has been working there the longest, so I would have thought that he would be one of the last to be let go. Not that I hold a grudge for those who are staying, nobody really has it great and I know that Steve (the boss) probably prayed about it and whatnot (the joys of working inUtah- everybody's LDS), but I was just surprised.
I am pretty concerned about insurance. I guess that is my big issue. We can go on unemployment, and Jason has been working somewhat on starting his own company. I know we won't be starving and homeless or anything, but it will be a big change. The insurance has me quite worried. I am not sure what direction to move in... It's very frustating, needless to say.
Plus, Jason has been working this job for three years, and we have become quite accustomed to spending half of the week apart. That's when I get all my chores done and errands run. If he is home all day, and I am home all day, I am not sure how that is going to work out. I will, of course, be grateful that we will get to spend more time together, but when will I get anything done? I guess we'll get a schedule going after a few slovenly weeks.
All in all, I know that Heavenly Father will take care of us. We have been living the gospel, and while I know that's not a guarantee of easy life, I know he will bless us with what we need. I am so grateful that I have the gospel as an anchor in my life. I don't know how anyone does life at all without it.

Yet another root canal....

Jason has decided to try to break the world record for number of root canals, or something. He has had a total of nine, count 'em, NINE. It's ridiculous. But, this morning, we went to get number nine done. I have only seen 3-4 of them. I'm not totally sure how many I have seen. At first, I thought it was kind of cool. (Watching, I mean, not spending the money on it.) It was interesting. But now, it's just kindof disturbing and boring. Really boring. Especially since if you are watching, you are facing away from the TV. And then you have all the dentist smells, and the blood all over the tools and whatnot. Just kindof creepy. Of course, that is coming from me, who has never even had a cavity. So maybe if you are used to dental work, it's not a big deal to see it.
This root canal went pretty well. First off, we got us some dental insurance- which, unfortunately, doesn't cover major dental work yet, but we still get the contracted amount so we only paid $375 for the root canal and the build-up. Which is a little more than half off. You just have to love those Utah dental prices! And then, he only had to get three vials of three different anesthetics. But, then there was the gagging brought on by the rubber dam. I thought about taking some photos, but figured the dentist might not appreciate it. Plus Jason may have gotten a little upset with me. So, no photos. Sorry.

A new yummy snack!!

So, I just found the most delicious new low-fat snack!! They are Dreyer's Snack Size Fruit and Cream bars (pictured on the right- it was the only photo I could find!) They are uber-delicious, and- get this- only 45 calories a bar!! Seriously- it's a delicious dessert that doesn't cost you anything. Okay, well, not much. Plus I paid only $3 for 24 bars. So, yeah, I'm pretty excited about it!

Dillon Eye vs Amanda Eye

So, you all know that I have this strange fascination with taking photos of my eyes. Well, I was doing some self-portraits of my most lovely (or close to it) feature while Dillon was here, and he wanted to join in. And we found out something very interesting- nay- HILARIOUS! Now, keep in mind, this was pretty late and we had all been suffering from sleep deprivation due to too much partying...
This is my normal eye. Okay, I know it's looking not-at-the-camera, but it is normal in every other sense of the word.
Dillon's first eye photo. I was like- Dillon! What the crap have you got your eye mostly shut for?
This is the second one. I am beginning to think maybe that's just how his eye IS...
This is his eye opened as wide as he can possibly get it. Wait a second- this still looks a little droopy to me. Let's see how I do...
(Okay- this is still just a slightly opened eye. I just raised my eyebrows a bit). How can we possibly be related?
This is Dillon pulling his eye all the way open. I am pretty sure my droopy eye is more open than this...
Dillon's eyelid inside out.
Dillon's eyelid inside out again....


And this is a video I took of him showing his normal eye and then him opening his eye up as wide as he can. So great! And weird... Everyone does know that I'm weird, right?