Self Pep Talk

I find myself wanting to post about food again...probably because my parents and I are in the middle of making an apple pie. One of my favorite things ever.

But instead I"m going to post about...motivation.
I found this lovely gem on Pinterest a few days ago. The "Quote" category on Pinterest is one of my favorite places.

Lately I've had a lot of thoughts like "I wish I was a runner, they have great legs," or "I wish I could paint," or "I wish I could cook," "I wish I wasn't so lazy." I wish, I wish, I wish.

And today I asked: "What's stopping me?"

The answer: "Me."

So there you have it. I have the power to do all these things I wish I "could" do, I have the power to become who I want to be. The only thing getting in my way is the fact that I sit around moping and wishing instead of getting up and doing.

I found this idea (also on...you guessed it...Pinterest) that I want to try because it makes sense. There's a theory that it takes 21 days to form a habit (a good habit, anyway. I'd say it takes a lot less time to form bad habits). So you make 21 little post-it note strips and you rip one off each time you...do whatever it is that you are trying to form a habit of doing.

I think I'll try it and see if it helps me form some of the good habits that I have been so badly needing to form.

There you have it.
Being motivated and productive always feels so lovely.

Food

So the past few days I've been trying to come up with something to write a blog post about. And every single idea I have had has involved food. I guess it's just been the kind of week where I've focused a lot on delicious food rather than focusing on the negative things. I could talk all about how stressful school is, how the drama and negativity at my place of employment makes me miserable, or about how I miss my friends who have left or are leaving on missions soon so much that it hurts (so proud of them though, and I can't wait to join them!)...but instead I think I'll talk about food. I took two pictures on my phone this week. Guess what I took pictures of?



You guessed right! Food!
One of the things I actually like about going to school in downtown Salt Lake (I don't like the school part) is all of my delicious lunch options. I've discovered a few tiny little authentic places that I just adore. The top picture is of my lunch from Ekamai , a teeny Thai curry place. Mussaman curry chicken and rice and their chicken puffs. I am obsessed with their chicken puffs! Just a tip...don't actually look at the chicken puff while you eat it. The filling is green and kind of gross looking because of the seasoning, but it tastes so good. The bottom picture is of a sandwich from Carlucci's, a tiny bakery and deli on the same street as Ekamai. A black forest ham sandwich on a baguette with brie cheese and honey mustard. Mmm. (:

Here were my other thoughts about food:

• I went through an entire box of Dulce de Leche (caramel) Cheerios in like 4 days all by myself. I love cheerios. Love them. They are my favorite late night snack.
• I made super delightful nachos with cilantro sauce and black beans for my lunch today. So good. And they only took like 2 minutes to make. Bonus.
• Toblerone. If you have never had a Toblerone Swiss chocolate bar, you haven't lived. Go now and buy one and eat it. Now. It helped me stay awake last night to do homework.
• Last but not least...the guy at Chick-Fil-A gave me a free sample of their new taco soup tonight. It was quite tasty. I just love Chick-Fil-A.

So there you have it! A blog post entirely about food written by a 110 pound girl who used to be asked "Are you anorexic?" Proof that I love food way too much to be anorexic. Plus why would you ask someone that? Seriously.
Anyway...food is lovely.

Rain

Sometimes you stand on your back deck in the rain...at midnight...for like 15 minutes...just turning your face upward and breathing. And you get soaking wet. And you're feet get cold. But it feels so good to just stand there. Just you and the darkness and the rain. And you realize that you're praying. Not really a prayer of words. More like a prayer of emotion. You're just saying: "Here's my heart. Here's what I'm feeling." You're saying: "I'm trying. I'm trying to be happy. But I need a little help. Please just help me to keep moving forward."
I remember Anne Shirley in Anne of Green Gables told Marilla that her idea of praying is going out into an open field all alone with her face turned towards heaven and just feeling a prayer. Love that.
Anyway. The lovely thing for this post is rain. Rain is lovely. And prayer. Prayer is lovely too.

Dear future husband/My friend Betty/Dusty corners of my soul

^ Obviously I couldn't decide what to title this. I'm a very indecisive person.
Anyway. Here is a little note for my future husband (whomever he may be):

Dear Future Husband,

Oh hi. So I just wanted to let you know that my friend Betty Crocker and I made some brownies tonight. And...they didn't turn out very well. Betty and I aren't friends anymore. Truth is...I'm not a good cook/baker/creator of anything delicious. I can't even make brownies from a MIX turn out good. That's how bad this situation is. My mom keeps telling me I need to learn how to cook...and I'm like "I know how to cook! All you have to do is read the recipe and follow the instructions. I can read." But then when I actually try to cook it goes like this:
"Mom what does this mean??"
"Mom how do I do THAT?"
"Ew...mom this looks lumpy and gross."
"Mom..." "Mom...." "Mom..."

So I guess what I'm saying is that you're going to have to be very patient with me when it comes to food preparation. And you might have to eat some things that don't taste so amazing and pretend that they're good to make me feel better. But I'll try my hardest to learn. The good news is...I'm pro at making pasta (it'd be really sad if I messed up boiling water and pouring in some noodles). And instant chocolate pudding. And toast. And peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. So you won't starve!

Much love,
Your Future Wife Lolly

PS: I just found this lovely quote and it made me think of you:

I hope you understand the dustiest corners of my mixed-up soul (love the word choice). And I hope that I understand yours. Although your soul may not be as dusty and mixed-up as mine can be. But I hope you love my mixed-up soul. And my lack of cooking skills. ;)

The end.

Oh and here is something else that's lovely:

Well...I don't know if lovely is the word I would use to describe these guys. But their music is lovely. And it's lovely that I got tickets to go to their concert in Orem in May. Yessssss! Mhm mhm mhm. I am ridiculously excited. Ridiculously. Just so you know.

A Toast for Tuesday

Tuesdays usually aren't particularly spectacular.
Until today.

My only class was cancelled...therefore, I did not have to get up at 7:00 am and drive all the way downtown to school. So naturally, I slept in until noon. Bliss.

Last week, a coworker randomly said "I'm taking your Tuesday shift." At first I was angry. Because...hello. You don't just steal people's shifts. Shifts=money. Money=need. But hey! Everyone can use a day off once in a while.

So here I was with the freedom to do whatever my heart desired. What did I choose to do?
Pretty much nothing.
I laid around the house eating blueberries and chocolate pudding, reading a book and catching up on some TV shows. I didn't even get dressed until just now. And I changed into a little boy flannel shirt and some yoga pants. Praise yoga pants! Maybe I should actually do some yoga. Maybe.

Sometimes when you spend every day doing lots of somethings, days when you just get to do nothing become an enormous blessing.
So here's to Tuesday, February 26th, 2013 for being a day in which I got to do nothing.

And now...I need to go fold laundry and get some homework done. Good things don't always last I guess.

But I did just get lovely letters from two of my favorite friends, and my mom just brought me some yogurt covered pretzels. So this day will still continue to be a blessing. Every day is a blessing!

Hello

Hello!

I never know how to actually start a blog...do I need an introduction? Or can I just hit the ground running...and rambling about random stuff? Rambling? Okay great. Because I have superb rambling skills.

Anyway. This blog is basically for me. But I guess you can read it too. I am the world's worst journal writer ever. And not so diligent of a blog poster either (I've tried). I have this fear deep down that my posterity will have no idea what kind of person I was. My philosophy is kind of "I'm too busy living my life to actually document any of it." Actually, my philosophy is "I'm super lazy."

So I'm starting a new blog. Again. Third time's a charm?

I'm just going to keep it simple. Post little things that I find lovely. Because lovely is one of my favorite adjectives.
So...yeah. :)