Improving Aliese

For those who know me know that I am a pretty picky eater. Well, I'm not sure that I am anymore. I mean I still don't like grapefruit, but neither does my Dad and he is not considered a picky eater. There are other things I still don't like, but I am not going to bother to write them all down. Anyway, so, last night I had Young Men Young Women mutual together and it was really fun. The young men made dinner and dessert for the young women! So, in turn I had to try things I would not otherwise try. I tried guacamole and deviled eggs. I kinda liked the deviled eggs, but I really liked the guacamole. It was kinda spicy and I didn't really like that, but it was so creamy and yummy! It is amazing that I like it. Then today I tried some humus with some carrots and I liked that, to! I remember at Lizzie's for Kate's birthday we had sandwiches with mustard and apples and meat on it and a while ago I would have been totally grossed out by that! But it was really good! Mom says I am officially becoming a grown up.

I think I am getting better at 'housekeeping.' I do the dishes really well (that doesn't mean fast), most other chores including laundry and I am getting better at cooking. I went to those cooking classes and Mom and I decided that maybe once a week I get to make dinner. I did that a bit back. I made a pasta with a yummy red sauce, garlic bread and salad. For the sauce I basically just sauteed tomatoes, garlic, salt and pepper and some herb in a bit of oil then pureed it in the blender. It was so yummy! Mom said she could almost drink it. Believe it or not I got it out of a Strawberry Shortcake cook book that I have had for a long time. It is Strawberry Shortcake, but it has some really good recipes. Especially dessert. I love that cook book. I remember in the yellow house I would have 'restaurant' days when I would pick two meals to make for the family. I would invite my Grandma and Grandpa Leslie and serve them, too. I think I made several choices per meal like a real restaurant, took orders, made and served the food. Once I did it with my cousin Sayer and we made brownies. We were licking the little bits of dough left out of the bowl until the brownies came out of the oven! I think I put the food on styrafoam plates and then put them in the warmer. Now I know why the edges seemed to droop a bit more than they did when I put them in. Haha! It is funny that I would never do that now. I love to cook and serving does sound fun, but a bit of a hastle. Especially because I also had to clean up the mess afterward.

I love piano. I am getting much better at it, too. I don't argue with Mom during lessons (most of the time :) and I feel better about myself when I'm playing.

Well, I gotta go. Steve just went to Stater Bros., came back and realized we don't have milk so I am going to go get it. We can't have dinner without milk. Haha! :)

Not Much to Say

Well, not much to say, but I suppose I should probably say something.

Last evening I had New Beginnings. We did a Candyland skit where each character from the board game got a value that was taught to the kids going along the colorful path. We turned Lord Licorice into Lady Licorice and we had her tempt the kids like Satan tempts us. It went really well.

Today was a beautiful day, but we didn't really get to enjoy it because both Anna and Gracie are sick. Gracie has thrown up several times and Anna has a bad cold and headache. It is really sad. I hate being sick. It's awful. That is one of the things I am most looking forward to at the second coming. There won't be any sickness or disease. That sounds pretty good to me.

School has been good. I have made myself a rough schedule that helps me know when to do what. I try not to have time schedule so that I don't feel rushed, though. Piano is good. I have been doing better on my pieces and using the metronome. I have been using it a lot lately. I really like piano now that I have finished my flash cards and it is easier to read the music. Before I hated practicing because I had to practice flash cards, too, but now all I have to do is play. I like playing music better than just playing scales and stuff like that. I'm glad that it is easier for me so I like it better. Now I can actually like playing the piano since I'm going to have to do it whether I like it or not.

I hope that everyone is feeling better than we are. Haha! I love you!