*Monday Memos* 8-24-2020

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear monday, today I got out and ran at the high school. I did bleachers today and it was a beast. They had a game this weekend and so everything was taped off with tons of signs reminding peeps to wear masks. Sign of the times....   I headed into O town to do some shopping. I hit the Halloween store to get some witch stuff like Haylie's mom had. I was the only person in the store. Then I hit a bunch of other stores trying to find bday gift for Dave's dad and stuff for the shower. I hit Ross, TJMaxx, Target, At Home, Sams, and Smith and Edwards on my way back. I shopped til I dropped!  It was a very hot day!  102 degrees I think! Crazy!

dear tuesday, today I got in 4 miles. It was super hot. The high is supposed to get to 102 today. I got early enough that I was okay. I made the invite for Sarah's shower that Julie is giving for her. It turned out super cute if I do say so myself. 

My harp lesson was cancelled because "it was the last week of summer".  Hmm...  Not sure how that works when I have already paid for the lesson. Dave's dad stopped by for a little visit. We fed him a BLT and then I ran another little gift over to Brinlee because today was her actual birthday.  I went and picked up Sarah and Carson and we went to Hyde Park to the venue the wedding is going to be at to confirm everything. She asked me to go with her. 

It was so pretty. We got it all squared away and hopefully she will have time to get everything set up in time because she has a ton of stuff she is bringing and adding to it. She is very creative and has made everything so nice.  We then went to their sister store and Carson tried on a bunch of costumes they rent. It was so funny. 

We then went to the nursery right by there and I got my purple Rose of Sharon tree. 

It is really pretty but too big to fit and so we figured Sky could pick it up when he is in Logan on one of his appointments. We then went to Kneaders to try out their raspberry cream pie. It was okay but their lemon meringue was to die for. We spilt one of each. Sky said he wasn't going up there this week and so we went back to get the tree and hopefully squish it in my car. It actually worked!  Carson didn't have a ton of room but he managed. We then hit Hobby Lobby and we were there for over an hour. It was fun. Carson had his own money and kept finding panda things and getting SO excited!  It was so cute. 

Sarah got some fun stuff for the wedding too. We then went to Seagull Book to get Carson some cards I promised him. He is so adorable. We didn't get home until after 8 and we left at 2:15.

dear wednesday, today I hit the road and got in three miles. It wasn't as hot as it has been (well temp wise yes) because the wind was blowing quite hard. It felt so good. I ran past the Big J flour mill and the door was open and I could see inside at all the bags of flour. Kind of fun to see. I have used many of those bags up over the years!

I came home and McKay was hitting the books hard as usual. He is doing so well on all his pre testing. He takes the MCAT on the 29th of this month. It's getting close. He is so amazingly disciplined. I didn't sleep worth beans last night (my mind was racing about so much...wedding, my boys, and a million other things) and my wagon was draggin' by this afternoon. I actually tried to take a nap but I couldn't fall asleep so I ended up just resting and watching the end of Terms of Endearment and cried like a baby. It's a tear jerker!  I got us a pizza from Papa Murphy's per McKay's request and did the From Here to Eternity fairy tale for Sarah's shower. 

Sarah got some previews of her  First Look photos.  So amazing!!!  A fairytale for sure!

The invite that goes out to non family and close friends. Pretty amazing. 

Little C Man sleeping with a face mask over his eyes. He always has a face cover over his eyes. It's so funny!

With his new glasses!  What a cutie!

dear thursday, today I got in 4 miles again. I saw some amazing sights. Check out the power poles from the huge wind storm. But the flowers I saw today were so gorgeous!

My goal was to practice the harp today but it never happened because it got so busy. Carson came over for me to watch at 10 a.m. while Sarah had a dentist appointment and then Sky and her picked him up but they stayed for a long time working on wedding stuff and the Cricut. I played playdough with Carson and made cookies and put together dinner for Dave's parents. 

My bread got a little carried away!  It is a Rustic bread and it's so easy to make but tastes SO yummy!  Everyone loved it!  The recipe is at the bottom of this post! 

I made some cute little chicken salad sandwiches from some mix I bought at Sam's and it is SO tasty!

We took in dinner to Dave's parents tonight as per norm.

 I had McKay deliver the dinner because Sarah and Carson came back because Sarah and I were going to Tremonton to a Time Out for Women thing Cindy Parry invited us to that is at her church outside. McKay watched Carson. McKay did amazing on his pre MCAT test again. He is going to do well I think!  We chatted with Cindy and took some pix and then got some treats and Cindy spoke first and was the best of all. There were four others as well, but we had to sneak out during the last one because Sarah was getting eaten alive by mosquitoes and it was almost 9 pm and dark!  It was fun to go. I learned some things and got a new podcast to listen to that one of the speakers does. It's called MORE by Debbie Lee. It is pretty good. 

dear friday, today I got in a four mile walk.  Check out the amazing sunrise!  It is because of all the wild fires going on everywhere.

I then had to rush to Kent's to pick up the colored bread for the shower. I then got ready and headed to O town and then to Taggart's up Weber Canyon. I saw this on the way:

Only two people car pooled. I think everyone is still nervous due to Corona. I guess being inside an enclosed car isn't a good idea. I ended up driving separate as well.  We had THIRTEEN show up!  Carla even!  She was with Roger and didn't sit with us but came over and chatted for a bit. We had to sit in two separate tables because they could only sit six or something at a table. So, we didn't really get to talk to the other table.  

With my Bosom Buddies. Us three have all battled breast cancer. Diana (left) is still going through reconstruction surgery.
Mask on...

Mask off...

Kathy came late and joined ours so we had seven. Our waitress was not very nice and her and Bonzo got into it a bit. LOL  I had the turkey sandwich with their homemade pita bread. So good!  We took some pix and chatted just standing up and tried to catch up with each other.  It wasn't a super long lunch because everyone had to hit the road. When we have fewer people they last longer. The more people the shorter they always are. I chatted with Bonzo for a bit. I headed to O town and ran some errands. It was so hot!!  I had to put up my window shield when I was out of the car. I loved this sign I saw in a store today. I need to remember that as a good excuse to get out of something. LOL

I rushed home in time so we could take Dave's dad out to dinner for his bday. We picked them up and then had to wait inside the lobby at Maddox for a while. Everyone was required to wear masks in the lobby but not at the tables. We had a good meal. I ordered mine for McKay because I was still full from lunch. I did eat the salad and a roll though. 

We took them home and gave him two TV trays for his bday because his is really rickety. They liked them. We saw Sky coming up the street with the lawn mower.

We came home and I had the worst headache was so tired so I hit the hay instead of getting everything done for the  shower tomorrow. I will just get up early. 

dear saturday, today was one busy crazy day!  My alarm went off at 6 a.m. so I could get all the stuff done for the shower since I didn't have time yesterday. I made the pasta salad (Dave helped me cut some of the veggies) and then cut out all the glass slipper and crown shapes in the bread. Dave helped me do that too and it's a good thing or I wouldn't have been done in time. That took a while but it will be worth it, I hope. They are super cute. 

I wrapped the gifts (Dave helped me again!) and showered and got ready and headed in. I stopped and picked up my mom and headed to Karen's.  Chantel met us there with her cute little baby Calven James. He is adorable and so happy.  My mom helped me fill the sandwiches with chicken salad and the were pretty cute. Everyone arrived. It ended up only being Dave's family and my mom and Chantel. I am glad I didn't throw a separate shower for my side of the family because none of them came. We are not sure if it is because of Corona or the location being so far.  But we all had fun that came. They made it really special and cute!  Aubrey is amazing!  It was like going to a reception it was so cute!  The food was amazing and even though Linda wanted to have us serve it, we ended up just having everyone use hand sanitizer before grabbing their food. 

This is my cute mom and my niece Chantel with her new baby Calven her great grandson. So stinkin' cute! 

It was so HOT!  Around 100!  We did the From Here to Eternity game I made and some advice. Dave's mom got upset because she didn't understand and thought I put Skyler's last name as Phillip because it was one of the multiple choice answers. Even though it was separated with a slash she thought it said Skyler David Phillip. She went inside and passed on playing.  Eventually Sara was able to get her out. Julie and Sara flew in last night from Vegas just to come to the shower and Dad's party tonight. Sara leaves for her mission on Monday!  Crazy!  

Sarah opened her gifts and then everyone just hung out and helped clean up. 

It was a lot of fun. I love having get togethers with these guys. My mom wanted to talk to Barry for some reason. She said she wanted to see him and she hadn't seen him for so long. He came out and she gave him a huge hug and told him his yard was beautiful and on and on. It was interesting. LOL  

I took her home and stayed and visited with my dad for a bit. I had to stop at Kent's for ingredients for the cake for the party tonight. I came home and made that and since my beater is broken the cake was pretty flat. Ugh and my whip cream went runny after I added the powdered sugar and so I had to start again. WHAT IS HAPPENING with my baking lately?  I am blaming it on the equipment but I am starting to wonder! 2020 maybe???  We headed to John Adams park for the party. Every single sibling made it!  That was cool!  It has been too long thanks to Covid.  We had the cakes and Linda brought peach pie. It was yummy.  Mickey told me how pretty she thought I was. How sweet is that?  I have so much fun with her and Aubs and Scare.  We got some pix and it was so fun to see everyone. 

The Covid way to blow out candles!

Father and oldest son

Dave and his bros...

With all the siblings.

The whole gang. Well, missing quite a few, but those present.

dear sunday, today I got ready early and it's good because Julie (neighbor) stopped by to drop off the invites I made for Sarah's shower. They were a bit blurry, dang!  But so cute! My leg was feeling weird today, like it did when I had all those blood clots.  Maybe it's a muscle pull or something?  

I made breadsticks again. Carson made his own little loaf. So cute!  

We made slim and it was a little messy!

EASY RUSTIC CRUSTY BREAD

YIELD: 1-2 LOAVES OF BREAD

  INGREDIENTS

·          1 1/2 cups warm water (about 100 degrees)

·          2 teaspoons instant yeast (generous)

·          1/2 tablespoon salt (I use coarse, kosher salt)

·          3 1/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting dough

INSTRUCTIONS

1.       In a large bowl mix yeast and salt into 1 1/2 cups warm water. Stir in flour, mixing until there are no dry patches. Dough will be quite loose. Cover lightly with a kitchen towel but don't seal the bowl airtight. Let the dough rise at room temperature 2 hours (or up to 5 hours).

2.       When ready to bake, divide the dough in half and form two loaves. Turn the dough in your hands to lightly stretch the surface, creating a rounded top and a lumpy bottom. Put the dough on a piece of parchment paper set on a pizza pan or a rimmed baking sheet turned upside down. (*If not baking at this point refrigerate, covered in an airtight container, for as long as two weeks).

3.       Dust the top of the dough lightly with flour and slash before rising. Slash the top with kitchen shears or a sharp knife 3-4 times.

4.       Let the dough rest for 40 minutes for room temperature dough; if you have used the dough out of the refrigerator, let it rest for 1 1/2 hours.

5.       Place a baking stone on the middle rack and preheat oven to 450 degrees. Heat the stone at that temperature for 20 minutes before baking.

6.       After the dough has rested, slide the dough (with the parchment paper) onto the baking stone. Pour one cup of hot water into a broiler pan and place on bottom of oven. This will create steam to give it the nice crusty crust.  Shut the oven quickly but gently to trap the steam. Bake the bread until well browned, about 24-28 minutes. Cool completely.

NOTES

Baking: if you don't have a baking stone, try turning a rimmed baking sheet upside down and heating it in the 450 degree oven for 10 minutes prior to baking. When ready to bake, slide the parchment.

paper with the dough on it directly onto the overturned baking sheet and bake according to the recipe. You can also stretch the rounded dough into an oval and place in a greased loaf pan. Let it rise for 40 minutes if fresh (add an extra hour if the dough has been refrigerated). Bake in the loaf pan in the 450 degree oven, watching the time carefully - check after 20-22 minutes. If you don't have a broiler pan - no worries! Tossing 5-6 ice cubes in the bottom of the oven when you put in the bread works really well, too.

BEST CHOCOLATE ZUCCHINI BROWNIES

BROWNIES

2/3 cup vegetable oil

1 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 egg yolks

2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups grated zucchini, excess moisture squeezed out

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

FROSTING

6 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

6 tablespoons semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 tablespoons milk

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups powdered sugar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x13 baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.

2. In a medium saucepan over medium low heat, combine oil, chocolate chips, and cocoa, whisking or stirring occasionally, until chips are melted and mixture is smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in the sugar. Then add the eggs and vanilla, and whisk until combined. Stir in the zucchini. Fold in the our, baking soda, and salt, until batter is well-combined, but don't over mix.

3. Spread batter into prepared pan and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with only a few moist crumbs.

4. While the brownies bake, melt together the butter, cocoa, chocolate chips, and milk in a small or medium saucepan on low heat. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and powdered sugar, until combined and smooth.

5. When the brownies come out of the oven, pour the frosting on and spread it evenly over the top. Cool for 5-10 minutes, then lift foil to remove brownies from pan, cut into pieces, and serve.

From a FB post (copied and pasted):

Just came across this beautiful song, and it's giving me peace in this terrible time of turmoil. I don't know about you, but I find myself worried and scared so often lately. SO many things are being shouted from so many different directions... Pandemic, masks, politics, child sex trafficking, riots, legalized abortion, Trump, Biden, "believe like me or you're misled", social distancing, friends/family/strangers opinions, hate, tearing the constitution to pieces, freedoms gone, racist, vote for this person or you are a terrible person (or just not praying for guidance enough), signs of the times.

It's just too much. Too many people telling me not to open my mouth - I'm too divisive, too wrong. It's just crazy. I'm the same person I've always been... but so many don't see it that way. How sad this must make God. He gave us this beautiful country and promised that we would keep it free until we stopped believing... The only way I can process everything that is happening in this country I love SO much, is to try to become closer to my Savior. I've been told I was blessed with the gift of discernment, and I need to try to use that as the voices around me rage. I LOVE the words to this song... I hope it gives you some peace like it has for me...

"I keep fighting voices in my mind that say I'm not enough
Every single lie that tells me I will never measure up
Am I more than just the sum of every high and every low?
Remind me once again just who I am, because I need to know...

You say I am loved when I can't feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And You say I am held when I am falling short
And when I don't belong, oh, You say I am Yours
And I believe, oh, I believe
What You say of me
I believe

The only thing that matters now is everything You think of me
In You I find my worth, in You I find my identity,
You say I am loved when I can't feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
And You say I am held when I am falling short
When I don't belong, oh, You say I am Yours
And I believe, oh, I believe
What You say of me
Oh, I believe

Taking all I have and now I'm layin' it at Your feet
You'll have every failure God, You'll have every victory,
You say I am loved when I can't feel a thing
You say I am strong when I think I am weak
You say I am held when I am falling short
When I don't belong, oh, You say I am Yours
And I believe, oh, I believe
What You say of me
I believe

Jodi VanDenakker Wilding

 shared a memory.

tAutSugufpsitoe ns1oercu8eaed

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Shared with Your friends

This popped up on my memories today and as I read it I must say the memories of those long runs and how difficult they sometimes were made me glad I wasn't in the middle of training for a full marathon right now in this heat.

But...when I read how I wrote the reason I really LOVE to run is because I CAN, and right now I CAN'T (how I used to), it made me even more grateful for all the years I COULD!

Running is a brutal sport at times, but it is also the most exhilarating, freeing, and therapeutic physical activity I know. Because of running I've had dreams come to fruition, met amazing new people, developed life long friendships, and learned so many life lessons.

If it had not been for my running, every one of my doctors told me my cancer journey and my recovery from my accident would have been much more difficult and challenging.

Running has been a gift to me in so many ways.

If I could walk out my door and run a 20 miler right now, I wouldn't hesitate in the least. I am still VERY hopeful that will still happen one day! Until then, I will be patient and keep on running my short distances! Even those bring great joy to me!

And if you are a runner, never take it for granted! And if you're not a runner, what are you waiting for????

Jodi VanDenakker Wilding

 is with 

Robin Peterson Singleton

 and 

Sherrie Andersen Wayment

.

AugtSrpuSsotimn 18iudesoureaedm,do h201s7c  · 

Shared with Your friends, Sherrie Andersen's friends and Robin's friends

First 20 in the books for this round! Yay! Only two more to go! Today's long run was a challenge. The difference a week can make. Last week I felt strong until the end of our 19 miler. Not so today. Not sure if it was the heat, the uphill route, the fact that I dropped and cracked my phone (now it won't work), the timing, or what... but it was tough! I had great company and so it wasn't that! At mile 19 I wanted to quit and I wasn't sure if I was going to make it just that one more mile. Then right on Que a song on my playlist kept repeating "What are you doing it for?". ("What Hurts the Most?" would have been more appropriate) I had to stop (or wanted to stop) and ask myself that very question in that very moment when it was becoming increasingly hard and I didn't want to take even one more step. WHAT AM I doing it for? In that moment I wasn't sure. I had to really think about WHY I do this when it can be so brutal at times. I have a headband that says: I love to run, but sometimes I kinda hate it. Today I really hated it. After my Garmin read 20.10 miles, I felt such relief I was finally done! I then started to make a mental list of WHY I do this. A few of the things I listed were: *Physical Health *Stress Relief *Energy boost *Strength *Meditation *Being out in nature *Great running pals...and a few more. But, I realized the main reason I run is basically because I CAN. Pretty simple. There will be a day when I can no longer do this and I feel so very blessed and grateful I CAN run. I know so many who would love nothing more than to be able to run but cannot. It confirmed to me once again that I run for them. Running has been a gift to me and I will always be grateful for all the ways it has uplifted my life. Now I just need to write that on my hand so I will remember WHY for the next long training run! Here's to the next 20 miler (and hopefully next 20 years!) #icecreamaftermakesitworthitall #StGeorgeMarathontraining #somerunsarelikethat #runningfriendsarethebest

The official music video for Lauren Daigle's new single "You Say" from her album, Look Up Child, out now! Stream You Say here : https://LaurenDaigle.lnk.to/Y...