Light Refreshments Served

Uh.

I guess it’s not specifically prohibited.

Hello friends, it’s your friendly neighborhood activities committee co-chair here. I’ve been dying to tell you about our Christmas party, but I don’t have pictures to show you yet. My ward photographer had surgery–so I can’t really get on his case about it. Suffice it to say it was a winter wonderland with 2,000 lights. The greatest compliment I received all night was when someone exclaimed, “It’s like the ceiling at Hogwarts!”

We also had a small and low-key Game Night a few weeks ago with potluck treats. My potluck treat was an actual crock pot of LaYen’s Queso. We tweet about this queso, so if you haven’t signed up on Twitter yet–that’s what you’re missing. My co-committee chair and I don’t really like games, so we sub-consciously forgot to unlock the doors of the church. No one showed! We were about to go home. And then we heard the banging on the kitchen door. Whoopsie daisy! We let everyone in and it really did turn out fun. Games are sometimes more fun than you think they will be. And queso is always more better than you think it will be.

The next big event we are planning is the Gold and Green Ball in March. Have you heard of it? ASK YOUR MOM. Seriously, there is so much nostalgia and warmth surrounding people’s memories of the Gold and Green Ball it is unbelievable. I never went to one, but I remember hearing about them. When I told my mom we were going to do one she brought out newspaper clippings and offered up her punch bowl. Everyone I mention it to over the age of 50 becomes misty-eyed and tells me about the last Gold and Green Ball they went to and how it has lived large in their mind for the last 35 years. This was back in the church’s hey day of fun activities such as road shows and river runs, before service and pioneer treks came into vogue. This ball is going to be the bomb! And it has enough retro appeal to knock the 50s-inspired cocktail dresses off the young hipsters. I can’t wait.

So I’m working on the playlist, which is my favorite thing in the world to do. We have a DJ at the ready and will be purchasing more rolls of crepe paper than you can imagine. But I need your help. Do you remember the Gold and Green Ball? I need to know what songs are essential. Was there a “snowball” dance? What is a “snowball” dance? Were there any particularly tasty refreshments served (light, of course)? And, perhaps most importantly, what should I wear?

Congratulations La Yen–You just won a planner! E-mail me your address so Pam can send you the goods. And to everyone else, I’m sorry you didn’t win. I know it is disappointing. If you want to buy yourself a planner you can use the coupon code LRS1 for 15% off until February 10th.  Let me know how you like it–especially if it changes your life for the better, because I like to take credit for that kind of thing.

Yay La Yen. You are a winner!

I have good news. The Women’s Success Planner has agreed to do another Give Away for us this year. I found these planners last year and love them. They are just the right size for me and have just enough of the right kind of goal-planning. You’ll really like it. Check it out.

Pam, the creator, has offered to give a whole year’s worth of planners to one of our lucky readers–so leave a comment.

In the meantime, if you aren’t feeling lucky and can not wait to get your planner go ahead and use the coupon code LRS1 to get 15% off your entire order.  Shipping is always free in the USA. These planners were so popular among our LRS readers last year that Pam–who works out of her home–had to open up her shipping to people from Canada. Way to go, Nades! (That’s my term of endearment for Canadians.) They have to pay 6 dollars though, because Canada is far. I think it would be funny for all of our international readers to order these planners just to see how many countries we can make Pam figure out how to ship to. But my sense of humor is kind of sick.

Take a look at the pages of the planners to see if it’s a layout that will work for you. I love it.

We’ll announce the winner Thursday morning. And if you don’t win, feel free to use the coupon–it’s good until February 10th. But you will probably win. I’m serious. I have a good feeling about this.

Here is a taste of our Christmas break. I only have a few pictures because my camera froze and half of my pictures are stuck somewhere between my camera and my computer. Christmas was fun. And now it is over and I am glad to be back to normal. But not just “normal”–the possibility of a new, clean, thin, organized normal! I love January. It will be next December before I realize I didn’t became new, clean, thin or organized and by then I’ll be so excited about Christmas it won’t matter.

Ellen is cute. She is funny and quirky and nice and smart. She has the vocabulary of a 20 year old and she is only two. I didn’t send a Christmas letter, so there you have it.

Christmas Eve–the anticipation is a KILLER. They have no idea what will happen while they are asleep. That’s the point of the thing, not to know.

This was the first year Ellen was really into Christmas and Santa Claus. And Jack Skellington.

Here she is wearing some of her gifts.  We watch Nightmare Before Christmas every day. I actually like watching The Nightmare Before Christmas every day. The only problem is that my admiration for Danny Elfman might be slightly out of whack. I want to blog about him every day, but I stop myself because I know that not everyone watches The Nightmare Before Christmas every day.  You know he sings all of Jack’s parts. He’s also the clown with a tear-away face. I think “musical genius” is not an exaggeration.

There’s no foot inside but there’s candy. Or sometimes it’s filled with small toys. (Or an iPod.)

And here’s what Christian got from Santa:

He was so thrilled. But he didn’t clean the garage–which is what I was hoping would happen. At least he was excited but he doesn’t understand that special kind of feeling in Christmas land. Oh, well.

Obsessed like me and Ellen? Go here. Or here if you’re bored. Think it would be cool to combine Thriller with Nightmare Before Christmas? You’re right.

Hey friends, it’s New Year’s Eve.  Are you partying? We just did our predictions for each other where everyone in the family makes a prediction for everyone else. Example: “I predict Ellen will lose her pacifier this year.” That sort of thing. Then we write down our “goals.” Everyone has a goal about 1)What they want to make 2)Where they want to go 3) What they want to learn 4) What they want to change and 5)What they want to start doing. Example: Ben wants to “make a toilet” every year. Then it all deteriorates into screaming, jumping, pooping, and general mayhem and we all go our separate ways until midnight.

Here are some of my personal resolutions for 2010:

Blog more.

Reduce hangnails.

Have house smell like oranges.

Have body smell like sexiness.

Read more  books than Christian even though he has a Nook now and is supposedly really into reading.

Be gracious.

Never wear stained clothing.

Look cute in a photo.

Read scriptures daily. CHECK OUT THIS SITE IT IS AN AWESOME WAY TO READ SCRIPTURES: Readthescriptures.com

Stop eating when I am full or maybe just a little after.

Stop reading blogs that make me hate people.

Listen to my kids.

Look at my kids.

Train my dog.

Pay attention in Sunday School.

Act like a grown woman.

Not be mad in the morning.

Be generous.

Stop begrudging.

Start breeding dogs. Kidding!

Stop fantasizing about breeding dogs.

Stop fantasizing about witnessing a crime and start living life in the moment.

Stop getting migraines.

Start writing good blogs.

Good luck to you with all your resolutions but remember–Fall is the real New Year. So take it easy. And if you see me, don’t ask how I’m doing on my resolutions. It will only embarrass and demoralize me.

Note to self: Stop feeling embarrassed and demoralized. HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Whenever I’m at a loss for blogging words but want to feel included in the blogversation I feel totally justified in posting this picture.

I’m sorry. But it never gets old. What can I say? Rides are scary.

I’ve been meaning to make the famous Lion House rolls from my Lion House Bakery cookbook, but I keep getting waylaid by quick and tasty sweet treats. This chocolate chip cookie with coconut in it may be my neighborhood Christmas gift this year. Here’s what’s great about it: You know how sometimes you want cookies immediately so you forget/overlook softening the butter and then your cookies fry out and it’s a huge waste of time? This recipe simply has you cut in the butter. Genius. Brigham Young didn’t marry all those Lion House cooks for nothin. Kidding! Not really kidding.

Hu La La Surprise Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour

1 cup sugar

1 cup brown sugar

1 t baking powder

3/4 t baking soda

3/4 t salt

1 cup butter

2 cups coconut

2 cups rolled oats (healthy!)

3 eggs

1 t vanilla

2 cups milk chocolate chips (semi-sweet is also good)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in butter and mix until well blended. Ad coconut and oatmeal and mix briefly. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake 10-12 minutes. Makes 3 1/2 dozen cookies.

They will turn out. I promise. And they are basically just chocolate chip cookies but really chewy and incredibly healthy. Enjoy. Let’s all make them today and not do anything else. It’s snowing here. Can I get an amen?

Ah, me. I guess I just get nostalgic this time of year. Currently I am nostalgic for the early days of blogging. Remember how it was in the olden days? Back when no one knew how to upload photos onto their blogs. Back when no one in your ward or family read blogs so you could go nuts and tell all. Back when no one made any money from blogging so there was no one to hate and be jealous of. Yes–those were the days.

I remember when a certain “meme” (back when nobody knew what a “meme” was) went around called 100 Things. It was a list-blog where authors told you 100 things about themselves. I suppose it was posts such as 100 Things that made bloggers seem self-absorbed and boring. But you have to understand–back then no one read our blogs. So it didn’t matter what we did. Every post was like a private joke with ourselves. Unlike now, where every post includes before and after pictures.

I did a few installments of 100 Things on my own blog, but never imagined that I would come anywhere close to 100 actual things about myself. So here are some more. Dudes, I’m retro-blogging! (Oh my heck, I think that might be a really, really cool thing to be doing.)

I’ve never had a flocked Christmas tree–not as a child, and not as an adult. The way things are going–I may never have one.

I think Tang is good.

I turn red when someone calls on me to speak.

I have never felt “baby hungry.”

I don’t bother with salad.

I have wasted hundreds of dollars on Franklin Planners.

A good day at church for me is when no one talks t0 me. That’s why it doesn’t resonate with me when people say that the spirit told  them to say “hi” to someone who looked lonely.

The best day at church for me would be not having to carry anything.

I genuinely do not care about winning board games, card games, or video games. Maybe that’s why I’ve gotten no where in life.

I like my kids better than everyone else’s.

I hate to help clean up at other people’s houses.

I’m not sure I love anyone unconditionally.

I feel obligated to look at all the catalogs that come in the mail. I like it.

I never really did take up skiing.

Most conversations bore me.

That’s it! That’s 100 things, more or less.  I hope this retro-blogging thing really catches on.

It’s almost Thanksgiving and I’m going to just confess something here: I’ve never cooked a turkey. I probably won’t cook a turkey until my mom and my husband’s mom are both dead. Needless to say, I’m not looking forward to that day. But still.  I should probably start learning how to do stuff. Don’t you think? Learning to do stuff–It’s about time. So I got this:

It’s going to teach me how to be a woman. I am going to learn how to make rolls. It even comes with a DVD. I wish Fascinating Womanhood came with a DVD. Can you imagine!

The first recipe I tried was a for pumpkin muffins. You can try it too. Here’s the recipe:

1 spice cake mix

1 cup chocolate chips

1 small can of pumpkin

These turn out great. What I like best is knowing that the Lion House is encouraging me to take the easy way out by using a cake mix. There are plenty of recipes in the cookbook from scratch but isn’t this a nice way to start? I find it so soothing, as if Brigham Young himself condones my heavy reliance on fast food. I feel amazing! Go ahead and  bathe that baby with wipes instead of a full-on bath. Then pick up a rotisserie chicken at the store for “homemade” soup, Brigham Young wants you to.

And do try making muffins this way. It’s easy but it tastes hard. Bake at 350 for 16-18 minutes.

OK. This is the last I’m going to post about my ward Halloween party. Anyway–I’ve got the Christmas party to plan now!

I could do real magic with that if I wanted to, but I don’t want to.

Christian was a hot dog.

The bats!

The cornstalks!

The candy!

The tissue pom poms!

More tissue pom poms!

I think we’ve all felt the urge to “whack a deacon.”

Isn’t church fun? I love it.

And for your pleasure, here’s a little something that scared me:

It’s Darth Vader without his mask! AHhhhhhhh! Because, of course, you can’t wear masks at ward parties. Awesome.

Special thanks to the Ward Activities Committee Photographer, Fritz. Good job, Fritz!

And so, until next year, we bid Halloween farewell.