My son Skyler has a lot of energy. He is taking 18 hours at BYU, plus he has several businesses he runs. His latest adventure is entering a contest for which he had to build a website. Here is what he has done, it brings most of his businesses together.
Utah Mosh Pics
Right now he needs to get as many links on other blogs as possible, to progress in the contest. So if anyone can post about it and put it on their blog, it will be a great help. Thanks!
Friday, April 1, 2011
Monday, March 14, 2011
Insights on Being an In-law
I love my children's spouses. I have often said that if I'd gone out to find more children to bring into our family, I would have choosen each of them. Here is a wonderful article by Daryl Hoole, on Meridian Magazine, that I want to remember:
Insights on Being an In-law
Insights on Being an In-law
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Love Great Customer Service!
I recently bought some Steve Madden boots. The first time I wore them the heel broke off. Normally I would have taken them back to the store for a refund or exchange, but I had bought the boots out of state, at a store we don’t have here.
I went on SteveMadden.com and contacted customer service. A very nice representative emailed back saying that unfortunately the boots I had bought were no longer in stock, but giving me a code for the amount I had spent and free shipping from their website.
They just made me a loyal customer with such great costumer service!

I went on SteveMadden.com and contacted customer service. A very nice representative emailed back saying that unfortunately the boots I had bought were no longer in stock, but giving me a code for the amount I had spent and free shipping from their website.
They just made me a loyal customer with such great costumer service!

Monday, December 20, 2010
Freezer Meals
I had a request on one of my YouTube videos for the recipe Jenny used on my TV show. Here it is, along with more info on Jenny and a link to her website.
Most people don't really hate cooking — they just hate the pressure and all the work of coming up with something for dinner every night of the week. Jenny Stanger's solution for the 5 p.m. 'What's for dinner?' panic is to spend spend two hours, every two weeks, preparing two recipes, with each recipe large enough to make three family-size dinners. You can build up a good supply of dinners in your freezer this way. She has a Web site,
Freezerdinner.com where you can get more recipes.
Jenny says: "On the nights you feel like cooking, you can. But when you don't feel like it, use those 'frozen assets' in the freezer. Along with more family time, freezer meals also help you save $200-$300 a month. Freezer meals save you time, money and sanity."
Recipe:
Parmesan Crusted Chicken and Broccoli
Yield: 2 (9x13) dinners 6-8 servings each
2 lbs cooked chicken, chopped
2 lbs broccoli steamed (frozen bags usually cost less)
5 C cooked rice
Sauce:
4 cans cream of chicken soup
16 oz sour cream
1 t onion powder (or 1/2 onion chopped)
Topping Per Pan:
2 packages crushed Ritz crackers
4 T butter
4 t garlic salt
4 t parsley
3/4 C grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
1. Steam broccoli in microwave for 6 minutes, cube chicken (if chicken is uncooked, place in microwave for 6 minutes.)
2. Mix sauce together in a large bowl. Add rice, steamed broccoli and cooked chicken.
3. Spread mixture in bottom of each 9 x 13 aluminum foil pans.
4. Mix together topping in a ziptop bag and poor over the top of both casseroles. Wrap casseroles in plastic wrap and label (350 degrees for 30 minutes, or 1 hour frozen and freeze.
To serve: Bake a frozen casserole at 350 degrees for 1 hour or defrost casserole 24 hours in the refrigerator. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and then cook for 30 minutes, or until warmed all the way through .
Most people don't really hate cooking — they just hate the pressure and all the work of coming up with something for dinner every night of the week. Jenny Stanger's solution for the 5 p.m. 'What's for dinner?' panic is to spend spend two hours, every two weeks, preparing two recipes, with each recipe large enough to make three family-size dinners. You can build up a good supply of dinners in your freezer this way. She has a Web site,
Freezerdinner.com where you can get more recipes.
Jenny says: "On the nights you feel like cooking, you can. But when you don't feel like it, use those 'frozen assets' in the freezer. Along with more family time, freezer meals also help you save $200-$300 a month. Freezer meals save you time, money and sanity."
Recipe:
Parmesan Crusted Chicken and Broccoli
Yield: 2 (9x13) dinners 6-8 servings each
2 lbs cooked chicken, chopped
2 lbs broccoli steamed (frozen bags usually cost less)
5 C cooked rice
Sauce:
4 cans cream of chicken soup
16 oz sour cream
1 t onion powder (or 1/2 onion chopped)
Topping Per Pan:
2 packages crushed Ritz crackers
4 T butter
4 t garlic salt
4 t parsley
3/4 C grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
1. Steam broccoli in microwave for 6 minutes, cube chicken (if chicken is uncooked, place in microwave for 6 minutes.)
2. Mix sauce together in a large bowl. Add rice, steamed broccoli and cooked chicken.
3. Spread mixture in bottom of each 9 x 13 aluminum foil pans.
4. Mix together topping in a ziptop bag and poor over the top of both casseroles. Wrap casseroles in plastic wrap and label (350 degrees for 30 minutes, or 1 hour frozen and freeze.
To serve: Bake a frozen casserole at 350 degrees for 1 hour or defrost casserole 24 hours in the refrigerator. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees and then cook for 30 minutes, or until warmed all the way through .
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Choosing Gratitude
My friend Whitney Johnson always makes me think with her Dare to Dream blog. In her latest post Bitter or Grateful , she writes of how difficult it is, sometimes, to be grateful. She says: "We need to ackowledge the loss...(experience it)... for a time. But then we choose".
The other day I was visiting with a friend who was feeling very down, acting upset, negative. He explained he'd had a lot of disappointments that week.
I wondered what it would feel like to focus on the disappointments in my life (there are disappointments in all our lives). As soon as I made the decision and changed my focus I was shocked by the way I felt. Life felt sad and dark and overwhelming. It was an immediate fall from Grace. I felt removed from Deity. I stayed in that desolate place until the next day, when I realized that if I could make the choice to focus on the disappointments, I could also make the opposite choice and focus on all the good in my life, once again. Like two hand rails on the stairs, I could choose which to hang on to.
This experience helped me see why God says we should give thanks in all things, it is for our sake. Feeling gratitude brings us to a place of grace, where the difficulties and disappointments still exist, but somehow things don't seem so overwhelming.
The other day I was visiting with a friend who was feeling very down, acting upset, negative. He explained he'd had a lot of disappointments that week.
I wondered what it would feel like to focus on the disappointments in my life (there are disappointments in all our lives). As soon as I made the decision and changed my focus I was shocked by the way I felt. Life felt sad and dark and overwhelming. It was an immediate fall from Grace. I felt removed from Deity. I stayed in that desolate place until the next day, when I realized that if I could make the choice to focus on the disappointments, I could also make the opposite choice and focus on all the good in my life, once again. Like two hand rails on the stairs, I could choose which to hang on to.
This experience helped me see why God says we should give thanks in all things, it is for our sake. Feeling gratitude brings us to a place of grace, where the difficulties and disappointments still exist, but somehow things don't seem so overwhelming.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
EXCUSE THIS HOUSE
I guess I need to develop my blogging muscles. I think of all kinds of interesting things when I'm driving around, but I don't get around to writing it down very often. I think it's a little scary, because when you write something it's more real. Hummmh.............
Several people have asked about the poem I read on the show last week. Here it is. It means a lot to me because it was given to me by a friend of one of my sons who felt the poem described our home. I liked that.
EXCUSE THIS HOUSE
Some houses try to hide the fact
That children shelter there—
Ours boasts of it quite openly,
The signs are everywhere—
For smears are on the windows,
Little smudges on the doors;
I should apologize, I guess,
For toys strewn on the floor.
But I sat down with the children
And we played and laughed and read;
And if the doorbell doesn’t shine,
Their eyes will shine instead.
For when at times I’m forced to choose
The one job or the other;
I want to be a housewife—
But first I’ll be a mother
Author Unknown
Several people have asked about the poem I read on the show last week. Here it is. It means a lot to me because it was given to me by a friend of one of my sons who felt the poem described our home. I liked that.
EXCUSE THIS HOUSE
Some houses try to hide the fact
That children shelter there—
Ours boasts of it quite openly,
The signs are everywhere—
For smears are on the windows,
Little smudges on the doors;
I should apologize, I guess,
For toys strewn on the floor.
But I sat down with the children
And we played and laughed and read;
And if the doorbell doesn’t shine,
Their eyes will shine instead.
For when at times I’m forced to choose
The one job or the other;
I want to be a housewife—
But first I’ll be a mother
Author Unknown
Saturday, August 16, 2008
The magic of gratitude
I signed up for a weekly "Message from the Universe" at tut.com. and here is one I received recently:
"If you can imagine it, you can have it, Mari. This is the name of the game. This is the lesson to learn. It couldn't be any easier. Reality is not what your eyes show your mind, but what your mind creates for your eyes to see. You are not limited by logic, the past, or the world around you... Magic, miracles, and luck are the consequences of understanding this, the inevitable result of dreaming and acting in spite of appearances".
The Universe
Interestingly, I had been thinking about how often I get what I want, though often not in the way I expect it. For example, I've been dreaming of the day we can afford a make up and hair person on the show. Well, we just had a lady volunteer to do my hair and make up in exchange for a line credit at the end of the show.
Sometimes I get what I want and don't realize it. This morning I was running in our beautiful neighborhood park across the street. I'm not much of a runner, but I've been doing a 12 minute interval training work out, and in typical multitasking mode, I use that time for affirmations and gratitude. I noticed how beautiful the park is, and was giving thanks for it. All of a sudden I realized it looked like pictures I had seen in the past in movies or magazines. So often I have said "I would like a huge beautiful yard like that, but I don't want to take care of it". Suddenly I realized I have had that "huge beautiful yard/park" for many years, and didn't appreciate it fully because I had not taken the time to give specific thanks. Wow.
It's like things do not fully come into being until we express gratitude for them.
"If you can imagine it, you can have it, Mari. This is the name of the game. This is the lesson to learn. It couldn't be any easier. Reality is not what your eyes show your mind, but what your mind creates for your eyes to see. You are not limited by logic, the past, or the world around you... Magic, miracles, and luck are the consequences of understanding this, the inevitable result of dreaming and acting in spite of appearances".
The Universe
Interestingly, I had been thinking about how often I get what I want, though often not in the way I expect it. For example, I've been dreaming of the day we can afford a make up and hair person on the show. Well, we just had a lady volunteer to do my hair and make up in exchange for a line credit at the end of the show.
Sometimes I get what I want and don't realize it. This morning I was running in our beautiful neighborhood park across the street. I'm not much of a runner, but I've been doing a 12 minute interval training work out, and in typical multitasking mode, I use that time for affirmations and gratitude. I noticed how beautiful the park is, and was giving thanks for it. All of a sudden I realized it looked like pictures I had seen in the past in movies or magazines. So often I have said "I would like a huge beautiful yard like that, but I don't want to take care of it". Suddenly I realized I have had that "huge beautiful yard/park" for many years, and didn't appreciate it fully because I had not taken the time to give specific thanks. Wow.
It's like things do not fully come into being until we express gratitude for them.
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