Look out here comes another year.

Well it is the end of a year. I think the end of a year is kind of a bit of sweet and sour. On one hand you think of all the great things that happened this year and then you have all the tiring, junky things that happened as well. I'm sure all of you have had plenty this year, maybe more junk than good. I like to look back and see the good stuff I have done. 

1. Started my blog

2. Started selling my hair clips

3. Ella turned 1 and she seems pretty happy with her imperfect mom.

4. I'm still in my house.

5. I've tried lots of different recipes this year.

6. Taught recipes to the women in my church and reaffirmed the idea that I would be a great tv cook. (because I'm basically crazy and slightly hilarious to watch when I cook)

7. I'm healthy, slightly overweight, but healthy.

8. I'm getting used to being at home without going crazy.

9. I figured out to bring ear plugs with me whenever we go on a trip, has definitely made me saner.

10. I have a wonderful family that includes a whole lot of people who I love and who love me and really that is all you need.

I suppose that is pretty good.  I haven't achieved very much financially or intellectually this year but I figure there are plenty of years for that.

I'm looking forward to next year. I see it as a clean slate that I can work with. I know I should wait till Jan. 1st to make my list but I'm anxious to get going. So here are a couple things I want to do in the coming year. 

1. Keep my house cleaner and more organized. I have a small space and I need to work with that more.

2. Look into selling hairclips and accessories at Ren fairs this year, I think that is an untapped market.

3. Work on sewing more.

4. Work on my spirituality and devote more of my time to ingesting spiritually uplifting stuff.

5. Love my husband more. I think I take him for granted too much and alot of the time I get annoyed and just want to nag him about stuff when there  is plenty of stuff wrong with me. 

6. Do more artwork. 

7. Drink more water.

8. Dejunk my life, so focus on stuff I really want to do and get rid of all the side stuff that I never really get around to but I waste energy thinking about it.

9. Stop worrying so much about money and find something that I love to work on.

10. Spend more time playing with my daughter.

I think 10 is a good number. And I tried not to pick ones that I won't really do. I taught a lesson in YWs where we talked about goals. It said you shouldn't spread yourself too thin on goals, instead devote your energy to 1 or 2 for a couple weeks. That way you will actually accomplish something. 

Have fun thinking about the new year and then spending a month getting used to writing 2011 instead of 2010. :) Love ya

Mmmm Lima bean and ham soup.

Isn't it funny how your tastes change over the years? Every year my mom would make lima bean and ham soup around christmas time and I hated it. Slowly as I got older I grew to like it and then last year after I made my first ham at home I made my own soup and Holy Cow it was amazing!
Now you may say, why do you think it was amazing. It just was. :) That and my Dad never really likes this soup but I invited them over and he ate two servings of it because he liked it so much. So here is how I make it.

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. dry lima beans
1/2 onion chopped
2 stalks celery chopped
1 ham bone
extra ham chopped up (about 2 cups, I like alot of ham)
1 Tbs. butter
Spices:(very important) garlic powder, parsley, basil, sage, and marjoram. (I use all dried in a bottle spices)

1. You can soak your beans overnight or you can do the quick gook method which is usually listed on the package of your beans. Rinse the beans and check them then put in a large pot with about 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil and boil for about 5 minutes. Cover, turn off and let sit for an hour.
2. Drain your beans and add back in 4 cups of water. Add your ham bone and cover but leave it open a crack to let the steam escape, simmer for about 3 hours.
3. In a separate pan add butter to melt then add chopped onion and celery. Stir until onion is translucent.
4. Remove ham bone and add ham from bone and extra ham. Add cooked onion and celery.
5. Cook for about 10 minutes then season. I don't do regular measurements of my seasoning I just have this sixth sense to it sooooo. I did a layer of garlic powder that lightly covered the entire surface of the soup, same with parsley and basil. Then I did about half the pot with sage and marjoram. Stir it and taste it then add what you think needs more. Usually it is parsley or garlic.
6. Let it cook for about another 10 minutes then serve.

*note: You could make this in your crockpot by soaking the beans overnight then draining them in the morning, add the water and the ham, let it cook all day on low and do the final steps about an hour before you serve it.

Bethlehem and it glows!

So last week was our Relief Society Christmas program and one of the ladies asked me to make a scene of the manger as a table display for her room. I immediately had an idea for making it stand up and have windows with lights coming through. So here is the finished piece.

I made it out of black foam board. I cut the top edges so they are curved and attached those to the back bottom to make it stand up. I used an xacto blade to cut out all the openings then I glued yellow tissue paper to the back. I added some curtains in some of the windows. Then I used pearl paint for the star light and pearl paint mixed with silver for all the buildings and the ground. I used gold for the glow on the windows and doors. To light it I cut cereal boxes so I had two columns that stand up. I lined them with aluminum foil to reflect the light and I stuck a little shelf in so I had two levels of lights. Then I bought those flameless candles and voila! We have a glowing centerpiece. It came out awesome so now I have it displayed in my home.

Great Christmas Gift ideas

Isn't he so cute! He is on the list.

Alright, so it has been a while since I blogged and suddenly we are like 2 weeks away from Christmas!! So  I wanted to do some christmas crafts but I have been super busy traveling and shopping and all that other great holiday stuff. Anyway, one of my fav blogs is doing a giveaway if you post a christmas craft on her site and now she has over 100 Christmas crafts so I thought I should just link her blog for the crafts because there is an amazing assortment.

Christmas Gift ideas