31 January - 7 February, 2010

"There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world."

Robert Louis Stevenson

#1 Ah. Thank-you SO much, Emily for doing all my morning carpools. It was so nice to sleep in a bit. Thank-you, thank-you, thank-you. Sleep makes me happy.

#2 I finished another project that I started about 8 years ago. (I only really worked on it on the days when I worked with Wendy C. as an election judge. Well, Wendy has moved to Lehi and I don't to the election thing anymore.) I sewed antique, old and interesting/new buttons into a heart. I decided that I would just sew 10 buttons a night until I was done. It turned out I only needed about 30, so I did it in 1 late night. Finished projects make me happy.

#3 I am adjusting to digital tv. (The only channels I have memorized are 2, 4, 5, 7, and 11.) Elana made me happy by fixing my tv so it only runs thru the channels I watch when I scroll thru channels. (There are too many stupid/naughty ones that I pass. It does not show anything unless you click, but I did not even like them there.) Thank-you, Elena.

#4 I am happy spring is almost here. I went thru the whole winter wearing capris and sandals. No pants. No shoes. (O.K. I did wear dress boots to church 1 (ONE) Sunday because of snow. I hate shoes, so yep, I'm happy.

#5 With winter leaving soon, there are a few things that make me happy (ier) during the winter.

#5A Fleece Sheets - Again and still. We love climbing into bed with these sheets. (O.K. So you can't see the sheets in the picture.) Thank-you Wendy C.

#5B Static Guard - I can not live in Utah without this. (Journal entry ) After Doug and I got married in California (where I was from) we moved to Utah (where he was from). We lived in his parents basement for the first 2 weeks until we could move into our apartment on December, 1st. One morning I was getting dressed (This was back in the days when we thought that you needed to get dressed up for your husband everyday :^) and everything was statiky (sp?). I started crying and asked Doug why he brought me to this place. My hair and clothes were statiky, I kept getting shocked when I touched things and I was sure his brothers (whose bedrooms were downstairs) could hear us. I wanted to go back to California.

Later that day my mother-in-law brought home a can of STATIC GUARD for me. She said I may not have noticed but Utah was dry. She said she had not heard me crying, but... I'll never know for sure. (I'm sure she won't remember now.) And she was right. Static Guard has really helped. And I am still in Utah. I use it on sheets, laundry, Sunday slips... I now have several cans throughout the house. I saved my very first can from mom (out of sentiment) until we re-did our storage room. Thank-you, mom. (end of journal entry)

#5C Hilary gave me a wonderful lotion last year. Oh, I love it. I love the texture, but the scent is so relaxing to me. It is quite expensive and I am running low, but I will replace it. "The Thymes Olive Leaf" lotion makes me so happy. Thank-you, Hilary.

#5D Vitamin D - Doug makes sure I take all the right stuff. This winter really has been easier. Thank-you, honey.

#6 Cooking should have made me happier. My crockpot recipe was not good. First of all, although Doug loves pineapple and grilled pineapple and pineapple upside down cake (and he even liked pineapples in an enchilada recipe I tried awhile ago), he does not liked cooked pineapple (?). Strike 1. The recipe said add 1 cup uncooked rice the last hour of cooking. After 2 hours it was still quite hard. Strike 2. In my game- out. I did make another fun recipe ...

#7 I loved having most of the family come over for dinner on Sunday. (Layne was with his dad and Charles wanted to actually watch the Super Bowl (in peace ).) We had Super Nachos/tacos. They were Super. I made a new recipe from OUR BEST BITES. (For their copy click on their sticker on my blog.) I served it with the super easy and so good peasant bread. (Recipe in past post.)

Jalapeno Popper Dip

Recipe from OUR BEST BITES

Mix all together

2 8 oz. softened cream cheese (I used light)

1 cup mayonnaise (I used light)

1 cup Parmesan cheese

1 4 oz. can green chilis

about 1/8-1/4 cup chopped green jalapeno peppers-drained (I used some that David canned last summer, and I added a little bit of the liquid for a bit more heat. Thank-you, David.)

Put in a greased pie pan sized dish. Bake at 350* for 20-25 mins. until bubbly and lightly browned. Serve with pita chips, Fritos or bread slices or chunks.

Since I was baking bread and Leslie and Christy were baking chocolate chip cookies, I cooked mine in this. (see pic) Are you surprised I still have it? It works great for hot dips.

They started the bread before I got the picture. umm Hot Bread. Every one that likes hot, liked this. (ME, Emily, David, Elana, Leslie & Christy) And it is cheaper than artichoke dip. (Except that Hilary likes that.)

#8 I am so happy I found 5 missing pictures. When I took them down to decorate for Christmas, I put them...somewhere. I looked a lot of somewheres for them. Then, as I was getting ready for bed the other night I wondered if I put them under my bed? (The only thing I keep under my bed is my shoe storage containers... and pictures that I don't want ruined apparently.) (I wish I could keep cases of food storage under there, but I really try to follow the "keep it at about 60* rule.) Yea! I found my pictures. I put them all where they go except my theme from last year. I took a picture of it and will take it apart. It was a good theme for 2009. It helped me to better choose the movies I would watch. There were some I walked out of, or turned off.

#9 I have decided that I want an apron. Thinking about wearing an apron is making me happy. Not sure what (kind), when, or (from) where, but it is "on the list".

#10 I am happy there are so many holidays coming up this week!

And now, for the winner of this blog give away. Some people did their 3 entries in 1 comment, so here is how I did it. I counted the comments. (23) I asked Christy to pick a #, then I went to "random.org" and put in #1-23. They both picked the SAME NUMBER! How random is that? And the winner is #12. RACHEL WASHBURN! We will find out what you want, Rachel, and get that to you soon. Thank-you to everyone that entered. (If you still want a hat, Lindsay sells them. Crocheted hat-$10.00, crocheted flower-$3.00.)

I will have a new give away soon. Here is a hint. It has something to do with scrap booking.

Keep leaving comments and letting me know what you have tried, and what you want.

Melissa, thank-you for sending me the pictures of your valentine pops. THEY ARE SO CUTE. Good job.