Giving Thanks

I have so much to be grateful for in my life! I had a great time going home to California for Thanksgiving and spending time with my family. Of course, it wasn't long enough! I ate so much yummy food and had time to relax! So in the spirit of thanksgiving, I want to count my blessings.

Just to name a few:

The Savior and the Atonement

My Testimony of the Gospel

Temples

My Family

Apartment

Job

Friends

Boots & Sweaters

Cooking & Creating

Laughing until it hurts!

Sick Day

I stayed home sick today, but I had few things to keep me company.

• My Bed - We have a sweet, sweet friendship especially when I go to bed at 8:30 pm and don't get up until 11:30 am. Quality time!
• Finances - After 4 months, it was time to finally get the monies in order. I probably shouldn't love working on my budget and figuring out where all my money goes, but I really do enjoy it!
• Mockingjay - I finally got to read some of my book without falling asleep because I just read betweeen naps!
• Talking on the Phone - I love catching up with family and friends!
• Rain - It was rainy and stormy all day, but I was warm and cozy inside listening to this amazing song over and over again!

Pie Redemption

Just when I thought you couldn't possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this... and totally redeem yourself!

 

 So after my disaster of pumpkin pie without sugar, I attempted another pie and got it so right. My pride just wouldn't let me have that on my record. I also used homemade whipping cream that was quite delightful and the butter crust was the best thing ever. Proud to be Cook!

Saturday is a Special Day

My fun continued on 11/12/11 when I got to start my Saturday morning off with babysitting. It has been years since I have babysat, but I still got it! It was so much fun, but so exhausting to be a kid. I loved every minute of playing princesses, getting my hair done, and coloring! The best part was when I started singing this funny song about a beaver, "Work like a beaver be an achiever" and the little girl joined in the singing. I was totally shocked that she knew the song. Then she told me that she had a book and CD of the songs. Seriously, I haven't heard those songs in more than 10 years and I had just looked them up Thursday night. So we put the CD on and I think I had more fun singing and dancing the songs than the girls, but it was just incredible because I could remember all the lyrics to all the songs!

 After babysitting, I went shopping because I have been on this fashion kick. It is so fun, but expensive! It is just part of embracing Portland is how I see it.

After it was time for some BYU Football! It wasn't the best game and the drama between Heaps and Riley is kind of difficult, but I love my Cougars. Part of me just misses Bronco talking about execution. We have been playing way too sloppy!

Then it was bowling time! Clearly, it has been awhile since my bowling class and I couldn't find the perfect ball, but my shoes were pretty amazing!

11/11/11

Can you really ever have too many ones and who doesn't like the number eleven?! Let's just say I have loved writing the date every day this month, but especially this past Friday! At work, I made an Outlook appointment for my coworkers to "Take Luck" at 11:11AM on 11/11/11. It was pretty epic except that right at that time my new coworker asked me a question and I almost had a heart attack when I saw the clock at 11:12 and realized I had missed the exact minute of the day!

Luckily, my other coworker had taken a picture of the blessed event so that made me a little bit happier!

Friday night, I then enjoyed an awesome dinner at

It is a German restaurant in Portland that provides a fun experience. Of course, I had to get the Wiener Schnitzel and Spätzle. Oh the memories of Europe!

Dishonor to the Cook Name

Oooh! All right, that's it! Dishonor! Dishonor on your whole family! Make a note of this: dishonor on you, dishonor on your cow, dis...

Today, I made pumpkin pie. It was a great idea, but when I brought it over to my friends' house as my contribution to our little potluck it went terribly wrong. I took the first bite and it was TERRIBLE! It tasted like salty nasty stuff. I forgot the SUGAR!!!! Epic fail, Ms. Cook. However, I will not be defeated. There is another pie in the oven right now with lots of sugar and more spices and I tried a different crust recipe. It is going to take a miracle to redeem myself on this one!

Did I hear someone ask for a miracle? Let me hear you say "aaah"!

Aaah!

That's close enough! 

**Please say you know the movie reference!

Giving Thanks

So with it now being November, it was time to change the decorations to Thanksgiving! It was really hard to find any great ideas and the stores have jumped right to Christmas, but I was determined. Last night around midnight (when I do my best thinking), I had a moment of inspiration! I knew how I wanted to decorate for the season of gratitude! And this is how my idea came to life.....

 The picture is a little blurry, but I just think it shows how it turned out being so warm and happy!

 

I kept the candles and pumpkin from Halloween, but added the fall leaves and a little sign that says "Happy Thanksgiving"

You can't see it too well, but there is a little metal turkey that is really adorable.

 Ok, I couldn't help myself and had to get these lit branches, which are just the coolest things ever!

So I bought the cinnamon scented pine cones and wanted to put them on the mantle, but with the leaves there wasn't room. So I was thinking of doing a basket, but then I found this little gem of a trunk. I just think it is so cute and I got some birch firewood too.

I am grateful for fall colors and decorations!

11022011

What a great day! Not only is the date a palindrome, but today I enjoyed the best part of corporate America....PAID TIME OFF! My friend, Joni, is back in town for a few days before she moves away. I am quite sad since she has been my best friend since moving to Portland and my tender mercy from the Lord. So I thought it would be fun to take the day off and spend it with Jones!

We started the day off with shopping. We are very good at it and especially together. We went to Nordstrom's to try on shoes and 2.5 hours later, we had tried on more than 50 different pairs of shoes! I am sure the sales-lady hated us, but it was so much fun. Also, we wear the same size so we just kept trying on shoes the other one would pick out. It was quite the system we had going!

After, we explored the many wonderful scents of Bath and Body Works. Don't even worry, Vanilla Bean Noel is there now! Seriously, it is like putting vanilla yogurt on as lotion....yummy! Also, they had some other fun scents that were so good too.

Then in honor of Portland spirit, we bought matching scarves!

After we went to Whole Foods for some snacks then we headed downtown. And what do you do to truly "experience" Portland? You go to Voodoo Doughnuts. And that is exactly what we did! I got the bacon maple bar of course and then we picked out some other fun ones.

To finish the night out, we went on the Portland Spirit Dinner Cruise. It travels up and down the Columbia River and offers great views of the city. We got hot cocoa to warm us up when we first got on board. Then we ate yummy salmon stuffed with crab and shrimp, along with bread, salad, veggies, and rice. We finished the night off with cheesecake! We enjoyed the good times of being together even though it was pretty rainy, but really if we were going to truly experience Portland the rain was quite appropriate.

Giving thanks for the Lord's tender mercies!

All Saints' Day

Happy 11-1-11 Day! I actually looked at the clock right at 11:11AM today....it was a lot of ones! But besides all the ones, today is All Saints' Day. A great holiday because it reminds me of Austria! It is a holiday where everyone goes to the cemeteries and churches to honor known and unknown Saints. I am a Latter-day Saint so this is kind of my holiday too, right?!

Of course, what better way to celebrating All Saints' Day than by eating CORNED BEEF AND CABBAGE! I mean come on St. Patrick would agree with me. This is actually one of my favorite meals!

Let the giving of thanks begin!