Fireside with Sister Beck

Last Sunday Sister Beck came to speak to the Relief Society Sisters in my Stake (stake = organized group of local church members).  It was wonderful to go and hear her speak (did you know that she speaks Spanish and Portuguese fluently?). Since it was Sister Beck I knew that I had to get their early if I wanted to be able to sit close enough to see her facial expressions. So me and these two gals went 2 hours early to save seats and have a picnic.

   
           
 
It was wonderful to be fed physically and spiritually. I always knew that sister beck has a deep love for women but having heard her speak at the fireside also made me realize that she is my friend.  

Here are a few things she mentioned that I especially like. (I am not putting them in quotes because it might not all be word for word)

- I believe that it is time for Latter-day saint women to pray for miracles and expect them
- This world is not the dream. This world is preparing us for the dream.
- You came here for a mortal experience and you're getting one.

Two other things that I especially liked.

She paralleled Moroni fortifying the Nephite Lands to us fortifying our lives and homes. She mentioned that every women's home is her fort and she should guard it like a lioness.

The part of her talk that I think was especially for me came at the end of her talk. It was five things to do when you wake up to show the lord that you are ready to face the day with faith.

1. Get up
2. Pray
3. Read Scriptures
4. Get Dressed
5. Make Your Bed

Along with a short list of to-dos, these five things are what I want to apply to my life.

Bargain Gals

Last Saturday rolled around with its garage sales so my friend Jenny and I rolled out of bed early (ignored the lack of makeup on our faces) and hit the streets to see what we could find. Among them is the hat I am wearing (you'll find out more about it later).
Here are some things we saw but didn't buy.....

 

 

and some things we saw and did buy.

 

2 for $5

$1 (2 by 3 feet)

I so wanted that chair. Their were actually 2 of them for $100 but I bet I could have talked them down to $70. Can you emagin them apholstered? I couldn't justify it though. My apartment is alredy full of furniture on the upholstery list. My Man would have shook his and we are so well off for newly weds that I just need to be grateful and use what I have.

I am excited for all the projects that we have in mind for the things Jenny and I bought (I forgot to take pictures of the things she bought). Of course I will share with you our projects. I did promise you some craft do it yourself things after all.

Food Friday: Chicken Enchilada Casserole

This recipe is easy, in-expensive and my man loves it. He loves it so much that I didn't get the chance to take a good picture. This is all I got.

Yah, not the most flattering picture, but I have learned that some of the best tasting things don't look fantastic.

Here is the easy-peazy-recipe. 

1-1 1/2 c. cooked cubed chicken
1 family sized can of cream of chicken soup
1 c. sour cream
1 can diced green chilies
grated cheddar cheese
about a dozen corn tortillas

Heat oven to 350 degrees
Mix chicken, sour cream, cream of chicken soup and diced green chilies together.
Spray 9x13 pan.
Put a thin layer of the mixture in pan. Cover with tortillas and then put another layer of the mixture over the tortillas. Alternate these layers until it is a centimeter below the top of the pan.
Sprinkle a good amount of grated cheese over the top.
Cook for 30 minuets in the oven.

Something extra:
I like to top mine off with spinach and tomatoes.


Happy cooking,
Miss Riss

Halloween Fun Packages

A week ago I sent off three Halloween Care packages. Just some little things to inspire some Halloween fun (and decorating).

Each one was a little different but here is what went in this one to my TX Parents and my Sister's family.

Halloween Oreos- For brother-in-law (he thinks they taste better than normal oreos)
Stamps- for my sister because she likes to make cards and doesn't eat sugar and my mom because she is uber crafty.
Play-dough- For the two year-old nephew because he will like it and hi mom will not be happy if I give him sugar.
Candy Corn -For my mom because she loves them
Pumpkin money- For my dad because he is the best pumpkin carver I know.
Sugar cookie mix and Halloween cookie-cutters because it is tradition to do knock-and-runs. It is such a tradition that my mom even sent me a Halloween Knock-and-Run kit. (we think alike)

Have a Happy Halloween Month.

Miss Riss

General Conference: Oct. 2011 Self Improvement

For those of you who don't know what General Conference is you can check it out here. I highly recomend it, even if you are not a member of the Church or Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, there are still great talks on christian values and self improvement.

After this last General Conference I have decided to examine one talk each month, find a goal that it inspires me to do and then do it. The goal for this month is using my time wisely. The goal came from Ian S. Arden's talk. In his talk he invited us to "identify the time-wasting distractions in our lives that may need to be figuratively ground into dust". So that's what I did and here is what I found.

Facebook
TV
Reading Blogs / Pinterest

Now to grind them to dust. I don't intend to eliminate them completely from my life but I do intend to grind them down to size. Here are their appropriate sizes in my life and therefor my goals

Facebook- 10 minuets a day
TV shows- 2 episodes a week
Reading Blogs / Pinterest- 1 hour a day

Here goes. I'm curious to know what what other people have set for goals. If they are inspired by a general conference talk or something else.

Marshmallow Man

Kids are great for sunshine on rainy days, especially if they like roasted marshmallows and hot chocolate. This little man does so that's what we did.

Yea for simple fun, sugar and kids.

P.S. I have more pictures at my photography site.

Ahha!

I had one of those moments the other day. The one where you realize what is off. I realized why I was having a hard time with this blog. Its that I was going about it the wrong way. You see, I am not an amazingly organized, driven individual who does amazing things (crafts, great deeds and exciting adventures) all the time. I am just a newly-wed (about a year) girl trying to be more disciplined, organized, caring, patient, faithful and most of all, HAPPY!
You see I have been prone to depression for a fair amount of my life. My life history is full of icky trials, most of which I had no part in creating. I have been fighting this fight to be happy for awhile. Sometimes it feels like I am winning and sometimes it feels like it's never going to end, that I will never be the woman, wife, someday mother or friend that I want to be.
That is why I want to write this blog. I am going to document and share the things that make me happy as well as the areas that I am improving on. Yes I plan to share some creative things and recipes with you. I will often be the silly, hyper and slightly crazy girl next door, but ultimately I am going to be me and let that be enough.

Here's to hoping and doing,

Miss Riss