Cold Season: How to Warm Your Soul

Once upon a time I was a germ-a-phobe. You may think I'm kidding, but 3 months of mononucleosis, followed by 2 months of pneumonia, followed by 25 weeks of colds can do that to someone. In summation, that was my senior year of high school. I was extremely sick all the time, which called for drastic measures. I soon became a 'germ freak'. However, when I came to college, I had to quickly overcome this.

Yes, I think it's good to be clean and sanitize yourself (yes, I still make my husband wash his hands when he comes home for the day), but I often couldn't function because I was too preoccupied thinking about the germs associated with a particular activity. To make a point, I hyperventilated when my boyfriend (now husband) went to kiss me because I was afraid of the germs in his mouth! Needless to say, kissing quickly helped me overcome my fear of germs!

Any hows, everywhere on campus there seems to be a surplus of coughing, sneezing, and moaning. Several of my neighbors have been out of commission for weeks. Last night I was visiting one of my friends whose husband had first gotten sick, then their baby had gotten sick, and she was now sick. It sounded horrid and so stressful with finals approaching, so I decided to step in and make some "soul warmin' soup". Bring in the chicken noodle soup!

I have never been a huge fan of chicken noodle soup, until I homemade it. I am also anti sketchy meat pieces in canned soup, therefore, the dislike of canned chicken noodle soup. I first made this recipe during our first year of marriage when all we had in our cupboards was spaghetti noodles, better than bouillon, carrots, and a can of chicken. Thus, this recipe was born. Here's how I do it:

Anna's Chicken Noodle Soup

1 large can of chicken (I use the cans from Costco, just one)

3 spoonfuls of Better Than Bouillon **this may change your life (I also get this at Costco)

10-20 small carrots (or 2 large carrots)

3 handfuls (or 1 package) wheat spaghetti noodles

1 bay leaf

Salt & Pepper to taste

1/4 tsp. garlic

Instructions:

Fill a large pot 3/4 full with water (probably about 24 oz.). Once boiling, break the spaghetti noodles into thirds, and put into boiling water. Add the 3 large spoonfuls of Better Than Bouillon to the cooking noodles. Cut the carrots into 1/8" slices and add to the boiling water. Open the can of chicken (I always rinse the chicken off before I use it...preservatives freak me out) and dice the chunks of meat with a knife while it is still in the can. Then pour the meet in with the noodles and carrots. As it simmers and the noodles start to cook all the way, add the seasonings: 1 bay leaf, a dash of salt and pepper, and 1/4 tsp. of garlic. (*Be forewarned, I am obsessed with garlic. Paula Deen's must have ingredient is butter, mine is garlic) Allow the entire pot to simmer for 10-20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf before serving.

To make this faster, I frequently put everything in together so that I don't have to account for any simmering time. Often times, I also add dumplings...which are my favorite! Dumplings make the world a better place.

Let me know if you have any questions on the recipe, and I hope you all stay healthy this winter season! Don't forget your portable hand sanitizer.

P.S. Maybe I have a little bit of germ-a-phobe left in me...I asked my mom to get me this for Christmas. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my readers! I hope that you all enjoyed spending time with friends and family as well as eating delicious food!

Due to a lack of financial resources to travel as well as the need to stay and work on homework, this year Mr. Strange and I decided to stay in Provo by ourselves. This was an extremely hard decision to make, but it was worth it.

In our 2 1/2 years of marriage, Mr. Strange and I have never celebrated a large holiday like this one by ourselves. We both worked up until Wednesday, this made Thanksgiving day extra special because it was our 1st day off for the week. This was also the day that we did not allow ourselves to do or think about homework - that was the BEST part of the entire day.

Since it was just us, we didn't want to kill ourselves by making the 'perfect' spread. So we ended up making a turkey (Thanks Grandma L.!), Stove Top Stuffing (who doesn't just love this?), mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry, and store bought pumpkin pie with whipped cream. In my opinion, our dinner was perfect, especially because I shared it with my best friend and lover!

Originally when we decided to stay in Provo, we were going to invite others over. However, due to our stellar Christmas party that is coming up, I decided that I wanted a "hassle free" Thanksgiving. However, if we would have hosted a Thanksgiving dinner, I would have made these:

Oreo Turkeys

*courtesy of Our Best Bites

AND

Turkey Flower Place Cards

*courtesy of Our Best Bites

I just can't handle those, I think they are both so cute and SO do-able. They could even be a great family craft the day of! When I was a little girl, I would always make place cards for our family dinners (even though we always knew where everyone would sit) along with our extended family holiday dinners. I would have loved these crafts!

I think that I will have to make these next year!

Christmas Party Invitations

I know I've been slightly obsessed with invitations in general lately, however, today I'd like to focus on holiday invitations in particular.

Recently I purchased my invitations for my Christmas Party on etsy.com. You all know how much I love that site. My favorite part about invitations on etsy is that you can purchase a "printable" version, which means that you print the invitation yourself. This is such an easy option!

In my searching for the perfect holiday party invitation, I found the graphic designer, Sarah Evans, whose business name is "chachkedesigns" and was originally going to purchase this invitation:

As soon as I saw this, I knew that this was invitation that I wanted. However, one tragic day, I went to click on the purchase button and it didn't work. In search of a different invitation, I went straight away to Sarah's main product page. That was when I found the perfect invitation for what all that I wanted included in the invitation. (Note that after not being able to purchase my first-choice invitation, I emailed Sarah who responded quickly and was SO helpful...but by then I had already fallen in love with a new invite) The original invitation on etsy was blue, but Sarah easily changed the color scheme to red.

Here is the final invitation:

How can you not just LOVE that invitation. It makes me excited for my own party!

Some of my other favorite invitations are below.

*Courtesy of LunaPetuniaDesigns

*Courtesy of BeesKneesCreative

*Courtesy of BeesKneesCreative

Our Best Bites

Today's post will be entirely posted to one of my most favorite websites, Our Best Bites. I found this website when one of my sister's neighbors dropped this Pie-in-a-Jar on her doorstep. They have crafts and recipes. I love their variety of recipes, from entree's to house-warming food tokens to holiday goodies, these ladies are pros and have got you covered.

One of their recipes that I'd like to discuss today is their 'Apple Cider Floats'. I'm a sucker for GOOD apple cider. You know that thick stuff with lots of pulp? Yep, that's what I love. Anyways, this recipe calls for the following:

Apple Cider Floats

-apple cider

-vanilla bean ice cream

-nutmeg

-cinnamon

-ginger ale

-caramel

*Follow their step-by-step recipe here

Doesn't this look delicious? I think I could drink one of these in every season, it's all a matter of stocking up on the good apple cider while it's in season.

Halloween Traditions

While my husband and I have not been very festive this Halloween (we spent our Halloween night in the library studying), I have fond memories of Halloween as a child. My brother and I used to use pillowcases to go trick-or-treating. I think my mom instituted this practice after she realized that we were getting more candy than the little jack-o-lantern buckets hold. After trick-or-treating, my brother and I would come home and lay out all of the candy we had gotten and trade for "the good stuff". Ah, those were the good days.

Now that I no longer go trick-or-treating, I have found new ways to enjoy the holiday. Namely, decorating and baking. Originally this post was going to be dedicated to Halloween "finger foods", but YUCK! looking at the creepy creations people make just gives me the willies. Growing up, my mom was not into the creepiness of Halloween. We never had extreme decorations, nor were us kids ever allowed to dress up as anything terribly frightening. Therefore, my decor preferences for this holiday are geared toward more mild holiday celebrations. Below are some of the party decor ideas that I love.

*I like the "poison" bottle labels in this one, along with the wreath.

*Some people are so creative -- hull out and use a pumpkin as a cooler?

I think so.

*This just makes me salivate.

*I love the candle oranges idea here. You can purchase candy in bulk (as seen above) online.

I love how cute these ideas are without being creepy. Don't even start me on possible Halloween invitations, just head straight to etsy.com and search "halloween party invitations".

Baby Shower Invitations

Once again, I AM NOT pregnant, but I still enjoy looking at baby items as well as browsing baby shower themes. It's like I told my husband the other day, "Sweetie, I don't want a baby for a while, I just want to accessorize one now." With that in mind, I want to talk to you today about invitations.

Invitations set the mood for your event. This doesn't mean that you should spend thousands of dollars out of your budget in order to have an amazing invitation, but it does mean that you should put some thought into what you're sending to people. Think of it as marketing your event. The better you market your party/event, the more likely it is that a guest will attend.

Hand-made invitations are totally acceptable, just make sure that they look put together and clean...unless you're going for the ragged party look.

The following invitations are some that I found on etsy. I love how fun and put together these look.

*image courtesy of Pix Fix

*image courtesy of PineappleFarm

*image courtesy of CadencePaige

Now, try to tell me that you're not going to go to those parties just to see the decor and layout that the invitation hints about! What I love about these etsy products is that the designer will specialize the invitation to suit your needs and then for $10 - $20 they will give you the file and you can print off as many as you want!

In my searching, I found a paper graphics designer who I just fell in love with. Check out her stuff on etsy, she is called "andersruff".

Enjoy searching for the perfect invitation and remember, you don't have to pay thousands or even hundreds, just make sure that you put some effort into the 'marketing of your event'.

Better Than Disneyland, Sex, and Whatever Else Cake

Recently I was assigned to bring treats to a Business Writing class that I am taking at Brigham Young University. I was torn about what to make. You see, my husband and I hardly ever have sweets in our house, so when I have the chance to make something, I like to go 'all out'. At first I thought about making several different types of cake: pumpkin, banana, zucchini, and wheat; and bringing hot chocolate in a large thermos. However, after much deliberation, I finally settled on making a "Better than Whatever" cake (also known as a Better than Sex or Better than Disneyland Cake).

Luckily, the class loved it! I was just thrilled. Due to the response that I received, I have decided to share the recipe with you, along with my secret procedures.

Better Than Sex Cake

1 box of regular chocolate cake mix (and all that that entails: oil, water, eggs)

6 oz caramel

14 oz sweetened condensed milk

8 oz whipped cream

4 Skor bars, crushed

Bake the cake according to the instructions on the box. Once it is done cooking, let it cool for about 20 minutes. Then take a wooden spoon and punch holes all over the cake (a great way to de-stress!). Next you will pour the caramel and sweetened condensed milk all over the cake, spread it with a spatula. It will fill up the holes that you just punched.

Next comes my big secret! Let it sit. This is the true trick, the longer you let the cake chill in the refrigerator, the better it is. I generally like to let the cake chill for at least 8 hours (it's best overnight). This allows the cake to absorb the caramel and milk; which also allows the cake to keep its form better when you cut it.

As soon as you're ready to serve it, spread the entire tub of whipped cream over the top of the cake and top it with the crushed Skor bars. Cut, serve, and enjoy! Your guests will love it!

Halloween Doorbell Ditch

This weekend I had the interesting opportunity to purchase something for a complete stranger. A professor of mine had challenged me to purchase an item for a stranger and document that experience.

On Saturday night, my husband and I were driving around, contemplating where and who I would purchase my stranger's item. Our original plan was to go to a drive through and purchase milkshakes for the people in the car behind us. However, we couldn't decide on a fast food restaurant that we both wanted to go to.

In comes Kneaders. As we were driving past Kneaders Bakery on Bulldog Boulevard, I had the thought that we should purchase a delicious treat at the bakery and doorbell ditch it for someone. We stopped and got a loaf of their famous Chunky Cinnamon bread, along with two packets of Orange Hot Chocolate. The wonderful staff wrapped the three items together for us in a beautifully assembled package (see below).

In search of the victim of our good deeds, we took the bread loaf and drove to a nearby neighborhood where I quickly located the ideal house. Their lights were on so that they would see the bread on their doorstep and they were awake.

My husband proceeded to park the car (lights off with my door open) around the corner, while I creeped up to their front door.

I set the wrapped loaf on their doorstep, knocked, and ran! As I got back into the car, I couldn't help but squeal with delight; I hadn't done this in years.

I had forgotten how fun it was to doorbell ditch someone - I love leaving treasures for people to find.

Once in the car, my husband decided that we should drive past the house to make sure that they got it. While I was worried about blowing our cover, he assured me that they would not suspect a car with its lights on, going a regular speed, passing by. This was enough. As we approached the house, looking out of my peripheral vision so as not to draw attention, I peaked at the house.

The homeowner had turned on all the lights in and out of his house and was out in the lawn scanning the fence for the gracious perpetrator...me! We couldn't help but howl with laughter at the sight of him. We felt so sneaky and pleased to have given him and his family an unexpected Halloween goody!

After performing this service, we looked at each other and agreed that we needed to do this again. It was so fulfilling to give something to someone who wasn't expecting it.

I challenge you to try this. Maybe you don't do a doorbell ditch, but the next time you're at a restaurant, grocery store, etc. purchase something for someone who isn't expecting it. It may change both of your lives.

Cake Pops

Raise your hand if you like cake.

Raise your hand if you like lollipops.

If you raised your hand for both of these then I have the perfect thing for you, they are called CAKE POPS. They're sort of like cake lollipops, meaning that instead of a hard candy on the stick, there is cake dipped in chocolate.

I love these little treats because they are easy to make, delicious, and can be decorated in so many different ways. Below are some examples.

There are so many different variations! Bakerella has tons of different ideas if you need a muse. You can visit her website here. I could browse her website for hours, so beware! If you like anything crafty or foody, prepare to become obsessed with her fabulous ideas.

Here is a recipe for basic cake balls (Note* You can get much more creative with your flavors):

Ingredients

• 1 18 1/4 ounce box cake mix
• 13 x 9 x 2-inch cake pan
• Large mixing bowl
• 1 16 ounce container prepared frosting
• Large metal spoon
• Wax paper
• 2 baking sheets
• Plastic wrap
• Black edible-ink pen
• 
  

Directions

1. Bake cake as directed on the box, using a 13 x 9 x 2-inch cake pan. Let cool completely.

2. Once cake is cooled, get organized and set aside at least an hour to crumble, roll and dip 4 dozen cake balls.

3. Crumble cooled cake into a large mixing bowl: Cut a baked 13 x 9-inch cake into four equal sections. Removea section from the pan, break it in half and rub the two pieces together over a large bowl, making sure to crumbleany large pieces that fall off. You can also use a fork to break apart any larger pieces. Repeat with each section until entire cake is crumbled into a fine texture. (If large pieces are mixed in, the cake balls may turn outlumpy and bumpy.) You should not see any large pieces of cake.

4. Add 3/4 of the container of frosting. Mix it into the crumbled cake, using the back of a large metal spoon, until thoroughly combined. (You will not need the remaining frosting; if you use the entire container, the cake balls will be too moist.)

5. The mixture should be moist enough to roll into 11/2-inch balls and still hold a round shape. After rolling the cake balls by hand, place them on a wax papercovered baking sheet.

6. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for several hours in therefrigerator, or place in the freezer for about 15 minutes. You want the balls to be firm but not frozen.

7. If you're making a project that calls for uncoated cake balls, stop here and proceed to decorate the cake balls, following the project instructions.

Tip

• The cake balls will be easier to roll if you wash and dry your hands periodically during the rolling process. Dry your hands completely each time, and make sure you don't get water in the candy coating, as this can make it unusable.

Recipe from Family Circle.

Baby Shower Themes

I am extremely far away from being pregnant, but in order to prepare for when that time comes, I am already looking at baby shower themes. Not just to prepare but also because there are such cute ideas. Most of the ideas I love come from the Hostess with the Mostess. If you haven't explored that blog yet, you are in for a treat. I could devote and entire blog to the ideas that I now love, all thanks to that blog.

Some of my favorite theme ideas that I have found include:

1. "Welcome Charlotte" - I not only love this one because it's so cute, but also because I would love to name one of my future baby girls 'Charlotte'. Enjoy some sampling of the event spotlighted here.

Another cute idea that a lot of people are using is using a children's book as a "guest book sign in". What a conventional idea that isn't a burden to store.

For this event, the host had everyone sign "Charlotte's Web".

2. "Vintage Bloom" - I love the classy-soft look of this theme. The table settings are totally DIY-able. You can find the post here.

3. "Oh How Tweet" - Okay, how blasted cute is this idea? It kind of reminds me of the idea of "Feathering her Nest". I like how the decor in this spotlighted event is not so overwhelming. It is soft and welcoming. The bird and birdcage idea is so cute and easy. If you don't have any birdcages or birdhouses, you could get the pre-made ones at craft stores and paint them to match your theme. Below are some samples of the post found here.

A Memorable Take-Away

In the past, attendees of the Spouse Program have gotten a small take-away from the conference; one year it was a small bracelet another it may have been a candy bar, etc. However, this year, the attendees were fortunate enough to each get a copy of the book "Love Life and See Good Days" by Emily Freeman.

I went to Tai Pan Trading and bought some bright orange ribbon that matched with our color theme. I also purchased some textured scrapbooking paper. We cut the paper in thirds (12'x4' pieces) and wrapped it around the books, we then wrapped the orange ribbon around the books and tied a bow in front. It was so cute! Such a great gift idea for any book you're giving away.

The ladies loved the gift. I think that it made them feel like they were taking a little bit of the conference away with them, in a very physical way. Take-aways are great for that reason, not only does it create goodwill about your organization, but it makes paying for and traveling to a conference seem more worthwhile when you get something. If you are interested in this book, it can be found here.

Marketing the Spouse Program

One of the biggest changes that I made in this year's Academy of LDS Dentists Spouse Program was to create a postcard that portrayed the excitement and happiness that Rebecca M. and I had about the program. In previous years the only advertising done for the Spouses' was something like this:

As you can tell, the program was in desperate need of a major face-lift. After working several weeks with the stellar Visual Communications department of Continuing Education, we came up with this:

FRONT SIDE:

BACK SIDE:

It was a huge difference. I cannot believe the amazing feedback that Rebecca M. and I received about this postcard. We did two mailings. One in May, which consisted of about 6,000 postcards sent to our largest compiled dentist lists. The second mailing was sent at the beginning of July, and we only sent out about 800 to past spouse attendees and future prospects.

Working with this conference has taught me how important it is to market. Our registrations were up about 10 people total. However, we had more than 10 first time attendees there, which meant that the change in marketing this year made a difference.

The Academy of LDS Dentists

I bet that you didn't know that there is an Academy of LDS Dentists, I know what you may be thinking, but before you think any further let me tell you what they're about. The Academy was established by world renowned dentist surgeon, Gordon Christensen, for the purpose of providing humanitarian dental service to individuals in other countries. To read more about their organization visit their website.

Every year the dentists have a conference, hosted by BYU Conferences and Workshops. It's actually like four mini conferences all tucked into one organization. The different sections of the conference include: a dentist section, where they learn new techniques, etc.; a spouse section, similar to a mini Women's Conference; a youth section (ages 6 to 11); and a teen (ages 12 to 18) section. It is a huge weekend for our office, and requires 'all hands on deck.' This year I was lucky enough to have been able to plan the entire spouse section. I started planning for August 12-13, 2011 in November of 2010. I worked with the President of the spouse program, Rebecca M., to establish a theme, a color scheme, a stellar schedule, and a dynamic line-up of speakers. It was amazing to me how conscious conference planners must be to the little details.

Over the next several posts, I will be discussing different aspects of the conference.

Another Year

I can't believe that summer is over and the rigors of a new semester have already begun. This semester will be extremely overwhelming with all of the different group projects that I have along with upcoming conferences at work. While there won't be as many conferences going on as do in the summer at BYU Conferences and Workshops, I have been finding a lot of fun party or event ideas including the food, the decor, and the activities, all of which I would love to tell you about. Buckle your seat belts for all the fun ideas that may come your way!

To be honest, I love this upcoming season and all of the holidays it involves. I am already working on my Christmas gift list, are you? My husband and I just completed most of our traveling for the rest of the year, which means that we may be doing our own Thanksgiving. The idea of hosting our own Thanksgiving dinner just makes me excited...I will finally get to try out new recipes that have been on the shelf for years. But then again, we may be coerced into traveling for Thanksgiving. Either way, I think that I will put on my own 'feast' this year.