Everyday Food

I love Everyday Food. It's a fantastic little magazine that brings me more joy than you will ever know. I love taking an edition or two to bed with me at night, and perusing all of the delicious recipes that are to be had. There was just one problem. I didn't start subscribing until 2008. Everyday Food has been around since 2003. This meant that I was missing dozens upon dozens of editions, and that made me sad. So, when in doubt? Turn to Ebay. I was met with a wealth of options, and immediately started bidding. Well, now, a few weeks later, I am the proud owner of all but about 16 issues. I couldn't be more excited! Now, I must become even more diligent until I own all 62 (and counting) issues!

Go and Do: The Sweets Edition

If you know me, you know that good food brings me more joy than I can truly express. Something you might not know, is that I subscribe to about 4 billion food blogs. There are a ton of places that review little restaurants or bakeries in the area, and so often, I bookmark some of the truly spectacular places. A few weeks ago, I was reading my friend, Wendy's blog, and she blogged about a new little bakery in Provo, called "The Sweet Tooth Fairy". I was intrigued. I love me some cupcakes, and apparently, this place had some cupcakes that we to die for. I went, and I wasn't disappointed! While it killed my soul a little bit to pay $3 for a cupcake, they were beautiful and delicious. We tried Smores, Peanut Butter, Strawberry Shortcake, and Lemon. I wouldn't get the Smores or Peanut Butter flavors again, but I would definitely go back for the Lemon. It was very lemony, but very delicious. I also just love eating things that are so pretty!



However, I've found a new place that was built just for me. I've worked out 5 times in this past week SOLELY to support my never ending desire to enter the threshold of my new favorite place; Beyond Glaze. I am, to put it mildly, a doughnut whore. I will NOT say no to a doughnut. I don't know when it happened, all I know, is that I will eat myself sick on doughnuts, and not feel bad about it. I don't do this too often, because I'd prefer not to be obese, however, every now and again, I just can't stop. I read about Beyond Glaze a week ago, and immediately fell in love. The doughnuts. The FLAVORS! IT WAS BEAUTIFUL. I nearly cried at the thought of such a place so near to me. IF ONLY I could find the time to try it out.....

Then I looked at the address. 123 S. Do you people know where my school is? 123 S. I go to school across the street from my own personal heaven. I went on Tuesday after my Lifespan Midterm. I ordered a Caramel Apple doughnut, and took home Key Lime, Blueberry, Mango Raspberry, Chocolate Ganache, Pumpkin Chocolate and Smores to share with the Robisons later. As I took my first bite, I couldn't help but close my eyes. A slow smile spread across my face, and a moan of surprise and utter delight escaped my mouth. It was, without doubt, the most amazing doughnut I've ever tasted. At that moment, all my stress, exhaustion, worry left me, and all I could do was look at the owner and try not to kiss him on the mouth. "Thank you, kind sir, for capturing a little bit of heaven on a glazed doughnut".

Since Tuesday, I've been there 3 times. Each time, I bring new people. These people all agree that Beyond Glazed is Beyond Amazing. The owner knows me, and I might finish nursing school weighing 400 lbs now. But for a little bit of Mango Raspberry ectasy? Totally worth it.

Banana Splits

The night before Easter, we went and had Banana Splits at my parent's house. Aubrey and Brown Jason came, too, and fun was had by all. Hazen spent a large portion of the evening outside having me lift him up so he could make baskets. I learned that I either need to get taller, or increase my upper-body strength. Lifting a 32 lb baby above my head over and over again gets tiring! Grandma bought the whipped cream in a can, and got Hazen pumped up on sugar by spraying the stuff directly into his mouth! It was cute watching him enjoy his Ice Cream, though. Brown Jason had never assembled a Banana Split, and it had been AGES since I'd had one, so fun was had by all!

Easter!

Easter is a wonderful holiday for so many reasons. However, one of my very favorite things about Easter is outfitting my darling child in his Easter outfit. I will pay full price for clothes ONE TIME a year. This is it. Children's Place did not disappoint, and he was as darling as could be! Of course, being his Mama, I had to coordinate, so I found some perfect accessories that could tie us together!



Jason has just made the move to graveyards, so Jason came home from work, slept for a few hours, and then got up to come to church with us. It was the first time we'd been to church as a family in MONTHS, and it was so wonderful! Hazen was so thrilled to have his Daddy to terrorize during Sacrament Meeting. We sent Jason home after Sacrament, and Hazen and I stayed for the remainder of church. He's doing so well in nursery!

After church, I put the two boys to bed while I made Au Gratin potatoes and studied. When everyone was awake, it was time to go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for family dinner. I loved seeing all of the cute kids, and seeing those cute kids with their Grandparents. We truly are so blessed to live so close to family. Jason had to go to work, but Hazen and I stayed a little bit longer before going home. It's so interesting to think about where we were last Easter; and then thinking about where we will be in a year from now. Jason will be one month away from being done with nursing school; I'll be one month and one semester away from being done; Hazen will be 2 1/2. We've been very blessed, and are grateful for the blessings we continue to enjoy.

The Egg Hunt!

Hazen's lucky that he has a good aunt, because his Mama sure isn't with it this year! Heather called me and invited us to their neighborhood egg hunt. She even told me that we didn't need to worry about bringing our own eggs- they had it covered! We braved the blistery cold, and went to the egg hunt long enough for Hazen to get his requisite eggs and picture with the Easter Bunny. Hopefully next year it's not raining! Hazen had a great time seeing his cousins. Thanks again, Heather for picking up the slack of this Mama!

Dyeing Eggs

On Saturday, Hazen and I went to Grandma and Grandpa's house with the Danielson's to dye eggs! Last year, Hazen watched while I did it with Abbie, but this year, it was all about him! It was hilarious! I had to step back a little bit, and try not to be so over-bearing and worried about a mess, but he had such a great time! He would look at an egg, say, "Please", and then when I handed him the egg, he'd throw it into the bowl and go, "WOAAAHHHHH!". There may or may not have been some splashing involved in the egg dye......





It's fun to be able to take some time out of our busy schedule, and witness Hazen's "firsts". He's growing up into such a big boy, but for as long as I'm around, he'll still be my little baby! Hazen's hands looked moldy for the rest of the day, but the dirt and grime he acumulated were definitely worth it!

Time to Write

I've found that my blog goes from being a "Travelogue" to "Real-Life Journal" in spurts. For the majority of this year, I've told of our happenings, but not much of what goes on in my soul. Feel free to skip this. In fact, I'd prefer you did, as this is my journal, and why are you reading it, nosy?

I hate how so often when I journal things, it comes across as a giant bunch of complaining. I guess a large part of it is that it's more difficult to capture your innermost feelings in pictures, and when I'm feeling filled with joy, it's easy just to turn my camera to the source of happiness. I am richly blessed. I've been thinking so much lately about how people around me are in utter turmoil because of the current state of the economy. While I worry that I might just be completely naive, I feel that we've been pretty much unscathed by what's going on around us. I'm grateful that Jason has a good job with incredible benefits that allow me to breathe easy should something happen to any of us. I'm so grateful that we're both working so hard in school to obtain more training to better our lives.

At the same time, my eyes are on the brim of tears a lot recently. I feel overwhelmed, stretched, exhausted, and at the core of all that, today, I'm not so sure if I like the person I am. I'm not trying to be in the doldrums about things, but, as I know we all have, I've hurt someone in my life recently, and looking in the mirror to get passed that is hard. I'm not trying to be cryptic to encourage the asking of details; in fact, regardless of who you are, I won't tell them. This is an entry for myself- for my children to remember that, yeah, "Mom had some rough days, too". It's so overwhelming at times- this feeling of responsibility I have. I don't feel like I can ever REALLY measure up; and while, the majority of emotions I have as I go throughout my day are positive, there's this ever-present feeling of dread. I've either let someone down, hurt someone more than I can ever imagine, not done everything I can to be the best mother, friend, wife, self...the list goes on and on.

I am so lucky. I'm surrounded by people in my life who have endlessly put up with my crap for the past 24 years. I doubt that I'm as patient with those around me. Don't you hate it when doing the best you know how ends up screwing others in the process? I know that this is so disjointed, but I just needed to write. I lay awake at night, my body so weary of the day's activities, but my head races. I think of things I should have said to someone, things I SHOULDN'T have said, choices I've made or choices I just don't know how to make.

I'm happy. Don't think that I'm going to go jump off a building, but today, while I look smiley on the outside, my hurt hurts a little. I'm tired, and I'm hopeful that at the end of the day, those who I've encountered will be able to reflect upon my influence in their lives, and think fondly of me.