Three Things

Three things: my musical life, my healthy treat life and a funny experience with Mom yesterday.

My musical life.  Anna and Gracie hate all of the songs that I play on the piano because I play them so much.  Of course, Anna is not one to talk.  She has this one song that she has played so many times.  I asked Mom the other day how long she has known it and she said, "I think a year."  So imagine how often she has to play it in order to keep it memorized for a year.  They also hate it when I sing.  I can get really carried away when I start singing.  I can't even sing when I do the dishes because I can't concentrate enough to get them done.  So, whenever I sit down at the piano or start singing both Anna and Gracie exclaim, "No!  Aliese, seriously, you've been singing all day!  I haven't even gotten on the piano.  Just stop!"  I never do, though. :)

My healthy treat life.  Mom, Lizzie, Danielle and a little bit of Amy are really into this healthy treat thing.  Mom and Lizzie will talk and exchange new recipes.  Mom does not make treats with sugar anymore.  She replaces it with coconut sugar, maple sugar, date sugar or honey.  She is always making new changes.  She also loves different grains.  She has been experimenting with spelt and she even made rice pancakes this morning (they had kind of a gooey texture).  And when a recipe is really great, like a brownie recipe with half spelt, half whole wheat and all coconut sugar, she has to change it again and add a bit of honey because it is cheaper than coconut sugar.  I have gotten into it, too, actually.  In fact, Mom had this idea to open a booth at a farmers' market where we would sell healthy treats.  We got really excited about it.  We talked about how we would have information about the grains and the replacements for sugar.  We really thought we would do it until we went to a farmers' market and talked to the people in charge about getting a booth.  You have to have a commercial kitchen and several different licenses.  Plus we would have to wait to get in.  They said it might take years.  So, oh well.

Okay, so now I've talked about how much Mom is into healthy treats, she was making some Texas sheet cake for a friend that she was going to go visit teach.  This friend is not into healthy treats so Mom made it not healthy for her.  So, she put in two whole cups of white sugar and two whole cups of white flour in.  It was so hilarious watching her measure it out.  It looked like she was cleaning up vomit or something, there was such an awful grimace on her face as she put the sugar and white flour in.  She just kept saying, "I feel like I'm poisoning them.  I'm supposed to be helping them."  It was really funny.

So there's the three things.  We have a busy week.  Lindsey is coming this week (Steve's daughter) and we will be going to the beach twice and Disneyland once so I'm sure there will be lots to post about!

Catching Up!

Oh my goodness!  It's been so long since I've posted and there's so much to post about!  I'm always thinking about things that I should post and then I sit down and I can't remember them!  So, I'll probably forget something important and not write about a lot of stuff.  But I'll do my best.

School's out!  For Anna and Gracie, anyway.  I have to do math and geography during the summer.  :(  But, I'll survive.  We went to Disneyland to celebrate yesterday, which was really fun.  We brought a friend from WISH and it got kind of crazy towards the end.  She really liked to fall asleep when we were walking (not really, but she wasn't paying attention) and she'd walk into things and people and we'd laugh even though I didn't think it was funny.  And when we were waiting for World of Color we met Jonathon, who you can read about in Mom's last post.  I wanted to buy a cheshire cat stuffed animal, but all of the stores got closed off early because of some special party that night.  But we're going next week with Lindsey, Steve's daughter, so I'll just buy it then.  

I want to crochet a Harry Potter scarf so bad!  I just need to buy the yarn.  I don't know why it is so hard for me to buy things and get things done.  I have been meaning to buy gold paint to paint some frames for my room ever since we moved here and for one reason or another I still haven't bought it.  So, I need to get on that and post a picture when I'm done!

My scripture study has been so much better lately.  This book I've been reading it amazing.  I actually enjoy scripture study.  Because sadly I didn't really enjoy it before.  For a while I just got this really depressed feeling when I thought about scripture study.  And now that I'm reading this book I've realized that it's because I didn't know how to do it.  I mean, there's no right or wrong and everyone does it differently.  But you need some guidance and advice, at least.  The book I'm reading has taught me so many things.  How to use the scriptures for missionary work, how to use the aids (like topical guide ect.), what to look for, about one-liners, about principles and so much more is ahead.  I'm not even half-way through it.  There are some amazing stories about scripture study, too.  It's just amazing how different my scripture study is.  I'm so much more comfortable with them and I really love my scriptures now.  I am so so so grateful for this book.  It has changed my life.  I don't know if it's just because this is the only book about scripture I've read and it's the first one to open the doors or if it really is a really good book.  But it's been really good for me and I love it.

Oh!  I am learning how to play Greyson Chance's Paparazzi on the piano!  Do you remember I posted about him a while ago?  I'm a big fan. :) It's so cool to play it, though.  I was just curious and looked up tutorial videos and found myself trying it out on the piano.  Watching a video is not the best way to learn something to play on the piano; it involves a lot of walking back and forth between the piano and the computer, but it might be better for pop songs.  Because when you use music you get caught up in the teds and jellies and pop just doesn't work very well with it.  But anyway, I'm loving it.  I think I'm going to try to learn how to play another one of his songs, Waiting Outside the Lines, when I'm done with Paparazzi.  Anna and Gracie hate Paparrazzi, now.  I think they liked it before, but now that I've played it so much they really don't like it.  :( Which is kind of sad.

But anyway, I had some pictures to put up, but I can't find my camera!  So, I guess I'll find later and put them up then.  I hope this post was satisfying!  It's kind of random and I'm sure I've forgotten something important, but I posted! :)

This Weekend

Grandma Arnold gave me and Mom tickets to Time Out for Women this weekend and it was amazing!  On Friday night Mom and I went to an evening session where we sat together and listened to the same speakers.  Laurel Christensen gave a talk on waiting.  She has written several books for Youth and is really awesome.  She talked about getting through the waiting when you are waiting for something in your life to happen.  The examples she used were like waiting to get married or get pregnant or something, but it could relate to anything.  She said there are four Waiting Principles.  The first is to feel your feet.  She said that once she decided to be a runner one day and she got some advice from a more experienced runner who said to feel your feet.  When you walk or run just focus on each step.  Feel each step.  Feel your feet.  So when you're waiting for something you need to just stay in the present.  Focus on one day at a time.  It reminded me of something Pres. Monson said at the YW broadcast last month.  He said, "A yard is hard, but and inch is a cinch."  The next principle is to trust God's math.  He is bound by law to to reward us if we do what He says.  So as long as we follow the commandments we will get what we need.  The next one is to live as if.  She talked about the story of Nephi and when he and his brothers were getting the brass plates.  Lehi and Sariah thought they were dead and Sariah was angry with Lehi.  And Lehi said that "he had obtained a land of promise." He was promised a land of promise and he knew he was going to get it.  He was not worried.  He acted as if the promise had already been fulfilled.  The last on is God waits, too.  He might just be waiting for us to be ready.  That was a really cool talk.

I can't talk about all of the talks in the detail or I'll be typing all day, but I'll name some pointers.  Brad Wilcox also talked that night.  He talked about all of the different names of Jesus and what they mean.  It was really cool to hear about it and talk about it in that detail.  One thing that he said that was really cool was when he was talking about improving.  He said he has a friend who thinks he doesn't need to change because God loves him just the way he is.  And Brad Wilcox said that he has two adorable little granddaughters and that he loves them just the way they are.  But that doesn't mean he doesn't want them to learn to walk. Or read or talk.  We've all heard about how He loves us the way we are, but we're always told to improve and that was just a really good example to show what it means.

The next day Mom and I went to separate rooms and listened to different people.  I went to Time Out for Girls and it was so awesome.  It was really catered to Youth.  There were several songs where we were encouraged to stand up and clap and during one of them girls even got up on stage and danced.  I was not one of those girls, but I did stand up and clap.  But anyway, we listened to Laurel Christensen and Brad Wilcox again.  And a woman named Carmen Rasmusen Herbert who was on American Idol 10 years ago.  But she was  just Carmen Rasmusen then and she got to the last 6.  She sang and talked.  She had a beautiful voice.  She has some songs on itunes that I'm going to check out.  She was on American Idol and after that she was totally out there.  She was walking red carpets and going on tours.  Then she got married and had kids and everything stopped.  Now she has two little boys.  It was cool to hear about  motherhood from someone who had lived both lives.  Out there and just as a mom and she said being a mom is so worth it.  I also heard from Sandra Turley, who was on Broadway and also has an album on itunes.  She sang most of the songs on it and I definitely want to buy it.  She also has a gorgeous voice.  Another singer I heard from was Hilary Weeks.  She talked about our thoughts.  Once she did an experiment where she had one of those clicker things that keeps track of the number of times you click and she kept track of all of her negative thoughts.  She had read in a book that we think an average of 300 negative thoughts a day and she wanted to see if it was true for her.  She did it for a week and at the end of the week she felt really depressed.  Just really depressed.  So, she decided to switch it around and keep track of her positive thoughts.  She found herself thinking positive thoughts just so she could click and one day she got over 1000 positive thoughts.  She had some clickers for sale and Mom and I each got one.  An author we heard from gave a cool talk.  His name is John Hilton III.  Can't forget 'the third'.  I bought one of his books.  It's on scripture study and so far it's amazing.  He's very entertaining and has some really good points.  At the end of each chapter he has two assignments to help you learn the topic of that chapter better.  So far it's not actual reading assignments, but different ways to study.  Like praying before and after and stuff like that.  It's called Please Pass the Scriptures From Reading to Feasting.  I would totally recommend it.

I'm pretty sure that's all of the people.  Overall it was just such an amazing experience.  So amazing that I somehow got myself up to talk about it in testimony meeting yesterday.  I actually did.  Even as I was walking up to the pulpit I was telling myself, "No, you're not going to do it.  You're not going to do it."  And when I sat back down I could not remember what I said.  But it really was amazing.  I felt the spirit all day.  It was so inspiring.  If I could go through that everyday I would be the most righteous person on earth.  Thank you so much, Grandma!

Well, yesterday was a million people's birthday.  Mom's, my step brother Nathan, one of the four YM in our ward named Toby (he turned exactly the same age as Nathan), a few people in Diane's family, a boy named Dwight who was our neighbor in Ammon (Anna remembered that) and someone else that I don't remember.  But I only texted Nathan and celebrated Mom's.  Anna and I made breakfast and dinner and bought her a silhouette of us from Disneyland.  She asked for it and knew we got it for her.  But even if we all knew that she knew we still pretended it was a secret.  I made a delicious (if I do say so myself) healthy, sugar free cake.  It was two layers of brownies in cake pans with chocolate mousse in the middle and ganache on top.  It was rich.  I honestly almost felt like I was eating the chocolate cheesecake.  And there was no sugar or white flour at all.  Amy, you should totally try it.  We can give you the recipe if you want.

I think that's it.  I'm reading a Little House book right now with Laura's journal entries and stuff.  I'm almost done.  When I'm done I'm going to read a book I bought at Disneyland called Fairest of All.  It's about the queen in Snow White.  Oh, I don't have time now, but I need to do a post about A Tree Grows in Brooklyn sometime.  Gotta go! :)