Observations

  

Today, Greg greeted me when I got home from work (which I thought was very nice of him).  One of his first questions was "Why do you have an umbrella?"  I told him that it was raining earlier. I guess he didn't look out the window much.  Later on, I saw that he was wearing actual pants and not pajama pants like he generally wears when he's home.  I asked him, "Why are you wearing pants?  Did you go somewhere?"  He answered that he hadn't gone anywhere.  This wearing pants business while at home has bothered me a bit because it's unlike Greg...and I feel under dressed since I'm in pajamas right now... C:

Oh sugar.

   Part of the reason I haven't said anything about how my low white, refined sugar diet did in February is because I'm kind of depressed it didn't go better.  This week, I kept forgetting to make my own bread on my days off, so I kind of busted that part of my goal by eating store bread.  Ugh.  Goals are hard to keep!

  The biggest thing I didn't do well at last month is that I exceeded my sugar allowance a few times, however; I am able to recognize my weak points now.  First of all, being apart of gatherings where sugary items are in view is incredibly difficult place for me to be.  For instance, at one of the gatherings I attended, I had the hardest time because I saw so many different kinds of sweets!  I ended up grabbing a small cookie even though I exceeded my sugar allowance by doing so.  I don't grab a sweet right away, but I end up grabbing something towards the end of an event after I've argued with myself for the longest time about whether I should have that sweet or not.  I have to remind myself of some advice I received from a nutritionist I saw last year about buffets or gatherings which is (1)scan, (2) plan, and (3) scram.  Scan the food available to see what you really want, then plan or think about what you are really hungry for, and then leave the area with the food.  I think the last part is the hardest for me!  

  I was very good about making my own breads as well as eat plenty of fruits last months.  I'm excited for spring to get here so I can enjoy lots of berries and such.

I think I'll just remove the allowance for sugary things.  I think I had it so that I could enjoy food still and get used to having sugar on rare occasions, but honestly having this allowance just sets me up for a really bad time these past couple of months.  I had this in place originally so that I could have an easier time really giving up sugar, but honestly, it was kind of an excuse.  I think I will try to see how far I can go without white, refined sugar, and reward myself with $.50 a week.  Hopefully, I can get quality chocolate chips (which are like $5 a bag) or cocoa butter (kind of pricey, too) to make chocolate chips at home... C:

Life Update

  February was a pretty busy month for me mostly because two of my co-workers got to go on vacation during the same time which meant more hours available for me.  But I still had some slightly interesting adventures.

Winter Woes:
  Yesterday I heard a prediction that we wouldn't see spring until mid-April.  I cried a little inside.  The snow banks are melting away slowly now which gives me hopes of spring.  I have pictures from the beginning of February when we had a huge snow storm and the snow was piled up really high.  I have never seen so much snow, and as I've talked (more like complained, sorry!) with some of my Canadian friends that have lived in this area their whole lives, they've told me this is the worst winter they've ever experienced.  We've had more snow and (surprisingly) rain since this huge snow storm, but nothing too bad.  I'm sure most of us are sick of snow now, but I'd like to share some snowy pictures.

Hey! Where's the sidewalk?

The snow on both sides of the sidewalk is piled so high!  

Neighbor's backyard.  I couldn't get a very good picture of mine because of all the snow in the way, but their yard looks like my yard.  (The yard has a bit of a slope, but snow is sloped in their yard so dramatically because of the wind.)

Front door!  I can barely see where the steps are when we have a huge snow storm!

Me!  Note the amount of frost stuck to my scarf in front due to my warm breath.  It gets that cold here.

  

I've been a little bit sad by the fact the world is so white still, so I bought a couple of plants--a hyacinth and miniature daffodil for a couple of dollars.  

So pretty!  I love that the are blooming now.  The hyacinth smells wonderful. 

My Christmas cactus is still blooming!  So cool.  

Books and Hobbies: 

   I've read six books this last month: House of Many Ways by Diana Wynne Jones, The Walk by Richard Paul Evans, The Hero and the Crown and The Blue Sword by Robin McKinley, Love Comes Softly by Janette Oke, and Little Women by Louisa May Alcott (technically, I've been reading Little Women since August, but I read like 200 pages this last month, so there).  I am crocheting a gray and blue afghan, and I am knitting a blue hat at the moment.  I am not very talented with knitting, so the hat project is taking me a while to get through because I keep making silly mistakes like knitting when I should be purling.  I thought I'd be done sooner, but alas, I think I'll probably finish it after winter is over.  

Cooking adventures:
  For Valentine's day, I really wanted to make enchiladas, but the problem is I can't buy a big stack of corn tortillas up here to make enchiladas with.  I know you can use flour tortillas, but I was in the mood for corn tortillas.  Fortunately, I was able to buy a bag of masa harina, so I could actually make these tortillas.  I just didn't realize how difficult these things are to make.

This dough was super crumbly, but it enjoyed sticking to everything else!

UGLY tortillas!

I don't have a press, so I tried a rolling pin with plastic wrap on it as well as plates, however; the rolling pin worked much better.

I, unfortunately, did not make enchiladas as I hoped to do, so I attempted to make tostadas.  That didn't really look awesome, but we still had a good dinner. We didn't do much for Valentine's day because I had to work, but I bought much needed pillows for our bed and Greg got Chrome cast for Valentine's day. 

 I did have more fun making fresh squeezed orange juice.  A friend of ours gave us a bunch of oranges, but I didn't feel like eating them.  I decided to make orange juice using my food processor attachment.  I never tasted a juice this good!

A cup of juice... seven oranges later.  I had a couple of swigs of it, but most of it went to Greg who had another cold.

Also, I wanted to show you the Canadian packaging for butter.  You can pay an extra couple of dollars to get the fancy portioned butter, but since butter is already like $3.50 ($2.99 if you price match!), I will cut up my butter.  America has spoiled me. 

  

One last topic for this post.  

My laundry/storage room now is completely furnished.  I bought a plastic shelves to store my tools, laundry detergent, and food storage.  I like these shelves because they can be disassembled and moved easily. 

Doesn't this room look lovely with the pink walls?  (Don't worry; the insulation is covered  with a plastic sheet.) 

Potlucks

  I have a love-hate relationship with potlucks.  I don't appreciate the bring-what-you-will affair because I like meals balanced.  I want to see a spread of main dishes, side dishes, and desserts.  I like to have an idea of what to expect from other people.  At the same time, I understand the desire to give people their freedom to bring what they choose.  (I get the whole agency thing--make your own choices, etc., but even Heavenly Father has rules lined out for us.)  Seriously can't a little bit of planning go into making the meal so that people won't all bring desserts?  Can't you say, "if you are attending, let me know what kind of dish you want to bring"?  Or "we're making burgers, bring a side dish"?

  I'm attending a potluck-type gathering, and I look forward to it because I like the people attending the gathering.  At the same time, I dread the next few days because I'm so indecisive about what to bring. The next several days will be me thinking about the food I'll bring.  I'll be really indecisive about what I'm going to make, and then decide on bringing a bag of chips (chips go with everything, right?) because I don't have the energy to put any more thought into making something for this potluck.

  Greg once had a potluck lunch at his work that I was also invited to.  I texted (nagged) this poor man to tell me what everyone else had brought so that I could bring something that would balance out the meal later that day.  I will do it again.  I will find out what everyone else wants to bring, but until then, I plan on bringing a dessert and main dish.

 I have a love-hate relationship with potlucks.

Five Years Ago

    I never expected to get married at nineteen.  I always knew that I wanted to get married, but my plan was whatever happens, happens.  My plan for marriage is unusual for me because I like to plan a lot of stuff out.  So, anyway, I wanted to share my story of official engagement with the internet world even though I have shared it with a number of acquaintances.  This story isn't as humorous as the story of my meeting Greg for the first time, but it is still funny. This story took place five years ago, so I thought I'd finally write this story up with all the details.

   A few of things you should know first before I dazzle you with my romantic husband's planning.  Greg and I first met in late October 2008, and by Christmas time of the same year we realize that we did want to get married (so much for the ideal long courtship and short engagement).  When we returned to Provo from our holidays, we went ring shopping together, but Greg did want to attempt to give me my ring in a beautiful fashion so I couldn't wear it right away.  Second, Greg told me that he was going to pretend to propose to me to throw me off when he really proposed to me.  I was told that our marriage would be built on "deceits and lies". For instance, while we were in the Costco parking lot, he got down on one knee and said, "Suzy, I need to tell you something...I have to tie my shoe."  Ha ha. And later, he also teased me that if I didn't cry when he proposed to me then he would spray me with mace.  Great!  The third item is Greg was supposed to call my parents, and ask them if it was okay for him to marry me, etc., etc.  I can't tell you how much I nagged for him to do it, and he had so much fun saying he'd get around to it.

    The night before he proposed, Greg told me that he had a reservation at 2 p.m., and that he was going to wear a suit.  So, I decided to ride my bike over to Shopko the next morning to pick up a pair of new black heels so that I could look divine at our reservation. Before Greg came over to pick me up, my roommate said to me, "I think he's going to propose to you."  I promptly replied, "But he said he was going to trick me into thinking he was going to propose to me, and then he wouldn't actually propose!"

   I texted Greg that I was ready to go, and Greg came over and picked me up a couple of hours early, and we drove straight over to the University Mall.  When I asked him what was going on, he said, "I don't know, but do you have somewhere to be?"  So, while we waited for our reservation, we walked around in the mall for what felt like eternity.  My new shoes were so uncomfortable!  I couldn't handle walking around in heels any longer.  Not only that, Greg was keeping more secrets; he stashed a black light in his coat pocket for "no reason".  About two o'clock, Greg and I headed over to P.F. Chang's for our reservation.  Our lunch was nice until Greg demanded his fortune cookie from the waiter.  "I want my fortune cookie--not this one!"  I told Greg to calm down and that we should go--after all it was just a fortune cookie.  But Greg insisted that we stayed for this fortune cookie.  So we waited another five minutes or so for a fortune cookie that said, "A diamond is in your near future."  When I asked Greg what this meant, he replied with "I don't know; I'm not the old Chinese guy who makes these fortunes."

  We left P.F. Chang's and head over to B.Y.U. campus.  I pestered Greg the whole way with questions to which he ignored or gave vague answers.  "Where are we going?"  "I don't know.  Do you have somewhere to be right now?"  "No, but I just want to know where we are going."  "You'll find out soon enough." We ended up at the Museum of Art; the place we went to for our first real date.  We rushed downstairs where I was ushered into a small room to admire bust of Abraham Lincoln while Greg prepared the proposal setting. At this point, I knew Greg was up to something, but I had no idea and my feet really, really hurt.  So when Greg told me that we could sit down on a bench in another room I was pleased.  While Greg and I were together at this bench, Greg's roommate was secretly taking pictures from another small room. I didn't notice him until later, however; I noticed this blanket tucked underneath, and I asked Greg what it was.  He knelt down first, and said, "Suzannah Michelle Packwood will you take this bouquet of flowers?" He pulled out a bouquet of flowers for me.  They were lovely and contained my favorite flowers: lilies.  I also noticed a book laying on the blanket as well, so he showed it to me.  He told me to read the last entry which was an account of a dream of his about how he knew I was literally the girl of his dreams.  I won't divulge this dream for Greg's sake, but it was a beautiful dream, and I did cry when I read his entry (no mace!), and I also had to use the black light he had carried in his pocket for a portion of the message which was written in invisible ink.  Afterwards, as he was still kneeling, he asked if I would marry him.  I said yes, of course.

Right after he proposed.  

Oh there's Greg's roommate secretly taking photos!

I'm so happy!!  Greg looks so shy. 

  Later that afternoon, after we called our families to tell them the news, Greg gave me a foot massage for making me walk around the mall "just because it seemed like a lot of fun."  He also informed me that he called my parents a couple weeks prior to his proposal.  When Greg was bouncing ideas around with his roommates about his proposal, he said he initially wanted to take me on a drive and propose in his car.  I'm kind of glad he proposed to me like this.  I definitely like his creativity.  I love this man.

So what kind of proposal did you get from your spouse?  Or if you aren't married, what kind of romantic or loving gestures did someone do for you that you appreciate[d]?

Sugar update: Jaunary

  This month I really focused on my eating habits because I'm now reporting to the internet.  I wanted to do my best at refraining from white refined sugar.  And I've gotta say this is difficult, and it takes a lot of preparation.

At the beginning of the month, I thought I was good.  Like all goals we attempt to make this goal was easy to keep for the first couple of weeks or two.  And then I kind of cheated a couple of times...  My excuse was this month was incredibly stressful for me.  Greg was sick again and I also had applied for a job, had an interview for that job, and then I waited and waited for them to call me back.  I just felt incredibly worried over this job, so I would talk with friends and family about it which would make me become really hopeful, and then I would become doubtful.  In short: I went through a cycle of emotions several times this last month.  Needless to say, I didn't get the job.

So each month, I will review my goals by telling you a couple of things I did well at and a couple of things I can improve on.

Things I did well at:

I consistently ate breads that I made from scratch.  I realize bread doesn't have a lot of sugar in it, but when the bread lists "water" as a part of their natural ingredients, I become a bit worried that they couldn't list anything else.  Also since carbohydrates are so addicting, I really wanted to make it from scratch (plus the cost of decent tasting bread is like $3 a loaf). I know baking bread is probably one of the easiest things to bake, but this still takes effort to do.  I'm proud of myself.

I have been eating more fruit lately to get my sweet tooth fix.  Yes, this is an area I want to be better at especially since I am picky about fruit.  To help myself out a bit, I like to cut up my fruit.  So when I want an orange for lunch, I'll cut it up into slices and enjoy it like that.  I have learned that I love pears now.  I don't know why I didn't buy them much before.  

Things I can improve on:

Being a bit more prepared or learning to just be patient even though I feel hungry.  I don't need to be gratified instantly with food the moment I start to feel hungry. Sometimes I think, "If I don't eat this crappy food right now, I'll have to wait another twenty minutes or something before I'll eat something and I might get really cranky!  Or I'll even get a hunger headache, and I don't want a hunger headache!"  This thought process happened to me when Greg and I attended a baptism a couple of weeks ago that was directly after church (Our church meets from 9:30-12:30).  The only food they had for refreshments after the baptism were a bunch of cookies, and I basically talked myself into eating these cookies even though I didn't need eat them, and thus I cheated by going over my only two sugary items a month rule.  I wasn't starving, but I was afraid I would be.

The one thing I noticed is while I cut out the refined sugar from my diet for the most part I also made what felt like a lot of sweets with substitutes sugars (coffee cake and cookies).  I think I should either find opportunities to share these sweets with others or half the recipes if I want to.  


Fortunately February is short!  Now that I have a record of how my body works, I can be better this next month.

What about you?  What are your resolutions and how are you doing at keeping them?

Lesson

    The first Sunday of this month, the Relief Society in my ward gathered all the women together to have a lesson on visiting teaching.  Initially, I was excited to hear what the lesson was about.  I wanted to hear what the presidency had prepared, but then I saw the questions on the chalk board, and I lost interest.  I actually really like visiting teaching, and I've had wonderful experiences visiting teaching, but I felt like this lesson was going to be another slap on the wrist, and I didn't want to stick around for it.  So, I folded my arms, sighed a lot, and pretty much showed off how bored I was.  At one point I "went to the bathroom" because I was falling asleep.  I told myself a couple of times that this behavior wasn't nice, and that I couldn't I even learn anything with my total rejection of the lesson.  I thought Greg was lucky because he got to stay in primary and have lots of fun with the kids... 

  When I returned home, I thought about my behavior and my actions.  I was most certainly acting like a baby.  I was pouting and rude towards the presidency.  I thought about those who taught the lesson.   Perhaps this wasn't the subject they care to teach/talk about with all the women in the ward, but they were most likely inspired to do so.  All of the members of the presidency took turns to present--they were unified in teaching the lesson for us.  I doubt the leaders in our church want to chastise/remind everyone to do their visiting teaching, but I am sure they recognized that there was a need for the women to hear this lesson.  

  I didn't want to hear this lesson because I was being prideful.  I actually rejected the message before receiving it.  I thought I was a decent visiting teacher who at least tried to contact her sisters and visited them more often than not.  I know I can improve in that regard. But I am more disappointed in the fact that I went to church, but refused to learn.  I mean, one the main purpose of my going to church is to learn of Christ with the aide of the Holy Spirit!  How can I be open to promptings if I'm not willing to listen to the lesson?  

  I'm sure we've all had these revelations before, but for me these thoughts were a slap in the face.  I hope if I am ever invited back to Relief Society for another lesson that I will listen and care, and that I will feel inspired because that's one of the reasons why I go to church.