I said I wouldn't, but then I did.

Well, today I tried out a new recipe. It was SO GOOD. So good in fact, that I had to blog about it. I said to my friends that I wouldn't as I took the picture....but, I couldn't resist. So, here it is.

MINI BLUEBERRY TURNOVERS
(I used blackberries too, I just cut them into halves)

INGREDIENTS
4 oz. cream cheese-softened (half a brick)
1 egg
1/4 C White sugar
1 sheet puff pastry (I used a roll of Pillsbury croissant roll outs)
1/2 pint of blueberries (4-8 berries per roll)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400F and coat baking sheet lightly with cooking spray.
2. Place cream cheese in a bowl and stir until completely smooth. Separate the egg white and yolk, putting the yolk in the bowl with the cream cheese, and setting the white aside. Add sugar to bowl and stir until completely combined.
3. Lay the puff pastry sheet out and cut into squares. Now, I made 8 squares and ignored the pre-scored lines by pinching them together.
4. Spoon a tablespoon into the middle of each square and put some blueberries into the middle. Fold the two opposite corners together, one on top of the other and using a finger of water to help them stick.
4. Place turnovers on the baking sheet, brush egg whites over them and sprinkle with white sugar.
5. Bake for 15 minutes-ish, or until they look done. Mine only took about 10 because my oven is HOT. You can also wrap them and refrigerate for up to 4 hours prior to cooking.
6. Serve warm, and try your darnest not have two. I dare you.

So there I was.....

A beautiful Saturday afternoon...and what do I do? Go to the ward activity at Egin Lake. Turns out that the weather is perfect (warm sun with just a slight breeze) and the water is a perfect temperature.

So, all us gals and our FHE brothers piled into Travis' truck and made the 20 minute drive out of town to the 'lake'. It's basically a glorified pond because it never gets deeper than your knees (or mid thigh for you shortys).

Here is us in the truck.



There's Scott, sitting on the inter-tube in the back... we hit a few bumps on the way out... so he got a bit of a ride.

Myself and Jahnin... ready to get our bronze on...Then there is Rex, always ready for his glamour shot...
Then Jahnin and Kayla. Jahnin looking especially Mexican and Kayla looking especially white.
Then, we were at the beach.

Kayla and I...

Kevin got reallllly dirty.
So we took some glamour shots. He was walking away from me, and I yelled after him to turn back but I forgot his name so I called out "Dirty boy, turn around". I guess it sounded a little wicked because I got a few awkward looks from the people around me.

He looked great though. Look at that form.

So, it was a great day at the beach. We splashed, played in the sand, ate some 'burgs and sipped lemonade.


Perfect.


Until I fell asleep for 3 hours....


and woke up like this.



Thanks summer... sometimes you sure know how to cramp my style.

So...

Remember that one time when I was so happy that I realized I had literally been smiling for 3 hours straight? Yeah, I do. I remember. :)

The Mustache Express

Hey. So... we all know it was Cinco de Mayo last week as well as Mother's Day! So, what do you do when your mom's aren't around? You throw a party. Yes, a party. Here are the pictures of the night.....the night we like to call, The Mustache Express. Enjoy.



So, Jahnin, my 1/4 Mexican roommate cooked us an authentic meal from scratch.

This, is my FHE family. Minus Travis... he was in Utah.









Kevin is really good at card magic...this was us all supppper amazed.

My FHE brother Rex is apparently flexible, the next few pictures clearly prove this.

Hop on the Mustache Express....


FHE Brother, Rex ^
Best friend, Kayla ^
FHE Brother, Scott ^

FHE Brother, Kevin ^
Missing: FHE Brother, Travis.


FHE Sister, Lauren^


FHE Sister, Kelsey ^


FHE Sister, Heidi ^
Missing: FHE Sister, Jaya.

Roommate, Jahnin ^

Roommate, Kristin ^

There is something about an Eagan in a mustache... it's just a good thing.

24 hours of greatness.

3-5pm: Last night, I went to my wards 'Break the Fast'. It was delicious. Lasagna, salad and buns. After I was done eating, I was swept up by my new friend Ben in a country waltz. He has been wanting me to come on Wednesday nights, and I think the dip at the end of the dance sealed the deal. 8pm, country dancing... I'm there. I also made some friends with some boys who just so happened to know a good friend of mine from back home (in Regina). They served their missions together. Very cool... it also didn't hurt that they were all quite good looking.

9pm: Stadium Singing! This is a very cool tradition, and if you don't know what it is, keep reading. Basically, every Sunday night people meet underneath the stadium seating at the outdoor field. We sing hymns and the sound is amazing. The echo under the metal seating is great. Everyone is smooshed together singing hymns and it is a very cool experience. We met up with our FHE brothers there too.

10pm: Our FHE brothers brought us a DVD player because, as all boys, they all have their own player... and when there is only 1 TV in the apartments, you have excess. They were kind enough to set it up for us and the stay to show us magic trick after magic trick. It was so fun. Our minds were blown.

11:30pm-9:45am: I had a wicked sleep. My bed was comfortable, and I didn't get woken up by my roommates and the loud cupboards slamming in the kitchen and bathroom. Amazing!

11:00am: I was sitting in the Taylor building waiting for my class to begin and I decided that instead of listening to music I would just sit.... well.... I started to look at people's shoes and realized that people on campus have some cool kicks. So I started to write down all the cool shoes I saw...Here's my list:
-Brown Crocs (officially called "Yukon" on the Croc website)
-Red paisley patterned slip on Vans... and they were on a boy.
-Brown shoes with embroidery on them.
-Plaid shoes (I'm a fan)
-Boots with zippers up the back (I think they look rather odd)

11:10am: Oh, no. This is as far as I got because then a guy came up to me... a very large, large guy. Large like, his width and depth and height were pretty close to equal. He asked me what I was doing, and I said waiting for a class. He says, "no, you were doing something...." So I told him that I was looking at people shoes and writing down the coolest ones for a blog post. Well..... he pulled up his jean pant leg and lo and behold, leather shape-ups. Yes... you heard correctly. He was sporting an oxford leather loafer style shoe with a big thick roundned sole on it. Yeah, also... his name was Andrew "like the apostle" he says. I don't know about you, but that is the least easy way to remember the name of a random guy....by naming another random guy that just so happened to be the brother of Peter and almost never mentioned in the New Testament. Sweet buddy, thanks for the tip.

11:30am: Class starts, and all is right in the world.

12:30pm: Get out of class and start my trek to Broulims to pick up some groceries.

1:30pm: One backpack and one reusable shopping bag full of groceries later, I begin my hike back up the hill to my house.

3:15pm: In my Comm 150 class and we start talking about confidence and charity. A few of the girls in class pipe up with personal experiences and start to cry, pull out the relief society hand-fan and subsequently put off every guy in the class. We are in a communication class, and crying is not an effective way of communicating.

4:15pm: I get out of class. See a cute boy texting and riding a bike simultaneously.
I see a number of couples holding hands. You know spring has sprung when love is in the air. I see a girl wearing Easter-egg-pink denim pants. You go girl! I walk by the outdoor track and see shoeless toddlers playing in the long jump pit of sand.

5pm: Posting a blog and drinking chocolate milk.

What a funny day.

Loser like ME!

Alright. It's been a few days since my last post... so I've been feeling a little guilty. I mean, it's not like I haven't tried to blog... it's just that every time I push "new post" I get hesitant about what to write, so I just don't. I don't think I have a whole lot to say today, but we'll just see what happens... sometimes I just start typing and then the momentum just keeps pushing me along.

The last few days I have been feeling like a big loser. I am not sure that I can necessarily pinpoint specific instances that caused me to react and suck back into my shell, but it happened a few times. I am a confident person now, though I haven't always been. I used to longingly watch the girls in my classes (since fouth grade or so) wishing that I could have just a little spark of what they had, hoping it would ignite the person that I've always wanted to be and rocket me to popularity. Well, over the last year I have felt the push behind me and my engine roaring. But on Friday, I was put down by someone that very recently come into my life. I felt judged, hurt, misunderstood, wronged and ashamed. Usually, I am a pretty relaxed person when it comes to people's opinion on me, but this just struck a cord. That night, the person who had done this told me that she had gone to the temple and been prompted to put my name on the prayer roll. I thought "As if she did! What a hypocrite!" Yeah. The nerve. I felt like a complete loser.

Later today, after it had happened for a second time, I went into my room. I watched some talks from the most recent General Conference and the spirit witnessed to me that importance of charity and love for our neighbours. My mind switched gears. I realized that as I was feeling judged, I was reciprocating the same judgment.

I have realized that I have strengths and weaknesses. I have quirks and idiosyncrasies. I often label myself as a loser, but I am just unique. I am like nobody else, but that certainly does not make me any less of a person than the next.

Here is a little cheer-me-up.

Click here.