Pop!

I looked out the window and what did I see? Popcorn popping on the (apricot) tree!

Conquering the mountains!

Ryan and I have been mountain bike shopping for me for the past couple of weeks. Ryan is a Koenig, and as such, purchases NOTHING without first hunting down the best deals he can find. He found a pretty bike for me in Boulder that was a close-out sale, so he got it for 33% off. It's a great bike, and I was so excited when he brought it home!

To break in my new Piranha (that's the name of the model, and I think it's better than any pet name I could have given it), I took it mountain biking with Ryan, Ben (brother), and Brady (brother-in-law). We went to Coyote Ridge. The climb was pretty hard (I may have walked some/a lot of it), but I loved the challenge. The ride down was really fun!

At first I was really kind of afraid of the prospect of falling and biting the dust - literally - but eventually got a hang of it. Ryan is a great coach; he continuously encouraged me and helped me to believe that I could do it. He was even nice enough to hang back with me. I am so grateful that I married a gutsy, outdoorsy kind of guy. He is teaching me new fun hobbies and will not let me give up!

Here's to a summer full of conquering fears! :)

Twins separated by a couple decades

When I was 12ish, my mother showed me a picture of a young girl. She asked me who it was, and I said that it was me. False. It was my Aunt Sharon, my father's younger sister. This is a set of pictures that I found that made me kind of laugh, mainly because our expressions/head position are nearly identical. But even now, I still look a lot like she did at my age. Kind of bizarre!

Doesn't that only happen in movies?!

This morning was beautiful. It was snowing nice big chunky flakes. I made myself up for the day, and then headed to school.

I always park about 10 minutes away from school, so I have a short walk each morning. The snow was melting as fast as it was falling, and there was a huge puddle in the gutter at the crosswalk.

As I turned around from pushing the "let me get across the street" button, this happened to me:

And just so you know, this picture does not exaggerate at all the level of splashness that happened. But hopefully the people in the car did not look quite so thrilled about it.

I sadly turned around my nicely made-up self and came back home to redo it all. I know we are commanded to be humble, but...um... I think it is okay that I did not want to go to school looking like a drowned rat with make up running all over my face.

I caught ennui

I have been quite spoiled these last two weeks. Because, you see, during these last two weeks I was married to a man who did not work 1-hour away, but only 20 minutes. Ryan's training in Loveland was fantastic. He was home by 5:30 PM. He could leave at 8 AM and not stress about being late. *sigh* I envy all you women whose men work closer to home.

This week is an amazing week because it is the first entire week that I do not have any homework or tests.

Ryan working late + no homework/tests = BOREDOM

This is what boredom can lead to, specifically tonight:

I'm sure you're just on pins and needles about what I'll do next!

Healthy is as healthy does

We have been attempting to eat more healthfully around here. Summer is, after all, nearly upon us, and we must be fit to run outside and play!

A few years back my mom got me a recipe book called "Eating for Life". It is by a man who has developed a workout/diet system for people. The recipes are all high protein and good for you (I'm assuming; there aren't any nutrition facts listed in the book - but the entire thing is based on getting healthy and feeling great so it seems like a pretty safe bet). I have been cooking out of it regularly for the past couple of weeks. Last week we tried the Asian Beef Stir-Fry recipe.

Upon looking at the recipe, I feared that it might be somewhat bland, as it hardly has any spices in it. But it was great!

disclosure: not my book, I would never get a ring of dirtyness in it! ;)

The recipe says to use an ENTIRE head of napa cabbage. Do not be intimidated by the size of those things, use it all, because it wilts down and is the perfect amount. The 1/2 C of soy sauce was somewhat excessive. There was a small pool at the bottom of our serving bowl. The only modification I made was to throw in some sesame seeds. Other modifications could be: Asian rice noodles instead of spaghetti, add a little ginger, add broccoli, snow peas, and/or mushrooms. And one last thing: the servings were plenty large for 4 people!

Give it a try!

P.S. The recipe on the link has many typos. Not my fault. :)

I love to see the temple

This weekend has been unforgettable.

My institute teacher is President McClure, our stake president, and for the past couple of weeks he has always had something to say about temples and how badly he wants one here in town. But it seemed a request that could never be fulfilled. He also made sure that we (his students and every ward member) knew that listening to the opening remarks of President Monson (the Prophet) for General Conference was important, and that we should not miss it.

For those of you who are not LDS, every six months a televised conference is put on, with 5 different sessions, each lasting 2 hours. It is an opportunity for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to hear the Prophet, apostles, and other general authorities for our church speak about Christ and teach us important principles.

Saturday morning, Ryan and I turned on conference at 10 AM. As always, President Monson gave the opening remarks and was going to announce 3 new temples that will be built. First one he said: "Fort Collins, Colorado". What?!?! I squealed and squeezed Ryan's arm to death! Our eyes brimmed with tears as we felt the powerful Spirit and realized the blessings that will befall this community.

We, along with every other LDS member in this area, are incredibly grateful and thankful to our Heavenly Father for allowing a temple to be built here. I have been replaying those words in my mind over and over again.

The only bad part is that Ryan and I will likely be moving to Erie this summer. But we will still only be 45 minutes away, and we cannot WAIT for this temple to be built!