Mes Belles Lettres

I have a confession guys. When I first joined Pinterest I was rarely on the site. I was busy, didn't have time for more social networking, I never thought about it, etc. Ever since I started my job I've becoming a Pinterest maniac. Our kids have computer lab every day. They have to work on SuccessMaker, a program designed to improve their reading and math scores on the ultimate indicator of whether one will be successful in life: standardized tests. Because working with kids to make them successful by helping them with concepts they have not yet mastered is taboo, we are not allowed to help them while they work on said program. Therefore, we have a lot of time to sit in the lab, and be on Pinterest. I often start pinning things involving my current food craving. All of this pinning led to me making pretzels today. They were delicious friends. Also, not hard to make. I followed the recipe exactly. No substituting ingredients, no experimenting with ratios or trying to...

Happy Martin Luther King Junior Birthday Observance Day today guys. For the first time since 2008 I took part in a family tradition of heading up to Flagstaff and playing in the snow. We took the tiny people with us. They are ridiculously cute. It was good times. After the mission I am definitely going to have to move to Flagstaff. Coconino County here I come! Soon... Anyway, in other news, here is a video for y'all to watch. Just in case you didn't catch it, Stephen Christian wrote this song after listening to a radio show about the life of MLK, Jr. Remember to always judge people by the content of their character. I think people always kind of forget that part of his dream. Content of character counts.

The title of this post is ridiculous, but I was at a loss for words. It is 2013 everyone. Who else finds this a little surprising? No, not because of the whole Mayan calendar thing, that was silly. I just remember when it became the year 2000 and it didn't seem possible that we would move so far beyond that as to be in the teens! That was thirteen years ago! Where has the time gone? I've already looked back at 2012. It was a full and wonderful year for me. I think 2013 will be even more so. After all, In a mere 50 days I'll be entering the Provo MTC. Six weeks later I'll be in Lyon, France, or somewhere else in southern France/ western Switzerland/Corsica. There I will stay for the rest of this year and most of next year. Crazy. My life is crazy. Crazy awesome. The slight bummer about today, besides this persistent cold, is that my sister +Alicia Reynolds   and brother in law  +adrian Maruri  left this morning to head back to Provo. My sister is a teacher at a ...

Yesterday was one of  those days when I was reminded why I went to law school. This last October when my church had it's General Conference Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave this talk on protecting children . I just sat there the entire time thinking, "yes. So much yes!" I have this little blog, for anyone to see. I don't know who will come across this spot and read it. I don't know if it'll be someone who lives in Connecticut, or some one who is just struggling to come to grips with the idea that we live in a world where someone would walk into an elementary school and start shooting innocent children. Yesterday I hugged my nieces and nephew a little tighter and told them I love them a little more. I can do so very little for people on the other side of the country whose hearts are broken. Christmas is coming, this should be a time of happiness and love. Just in case you've happened upon here today, in whatever mood you may be in, I want you to know ...

I found out I have had three people from Poland look at my blog.  Please come back! Unless you are the people who have been spamming me. Then go away. I just took this picture for our family Christmas card. Everyone has to hold a letter of our last name in the picture. I am 'N.' Hence the letter. Anyway, here is a brief Christmas letter update on my life. In case my blog in general was insufficient for you to know. Lets do a one thing a month thing okay? January: I found myself back in Vermont ready to start my last semester of law school. I lived in a little apartment right across the street from the school. It was ideal, except there was no counter space. February: I believe it was February when I was finally able to get to Middlebury Vermont and visit my friend Kathy and take a tour of Middlebury. I liked Middlebury. Go visit. I also like Kathy. I won't invite you to her house though, because that is rude. March: I spent my spring break in Utah visiting my si...

Life is flying by fast guys. I can't believe that in a mere matter of weeks it is going to be Christmas. My job is going as well as can be I suppose. Did I ever tell you I got a job? I work at an elementary school. It is pretty much adventure time all the time. Things around here have been pretty crazy,  we finally got the house all decorated for Christmas yesterday. This year for the church Christmas business I've had to pull out my flute, which I haven't played since 2010. I've had my flute for about 12 years now, so it really needs to be fixed. It makes me sad to have to mess with it as much as I do to keep it in tune. My plan this week is to see what I can get done on it just this week, in time for the 23rd, the Sunday before Christmas. I had to play it tonight for a stake fireside, it was... interesting. Anyway, now my sister and I are reveling in the joy of the ABC Family original musical "The Mistle-Tones." Tia Mowry guys, you know, the pretty one...

It has been a long time since I have posted a recipe type thing for you lovely people. Which is really too bad because I have made my delicious fajitas a few times in the last couple months. Now with the fall all around us and the pumpkin wonderment that it brings, it seems a little ridiculous that I, the girl that throws pumpkins a party every year, doesn't have a single pumpkin recipe on this here blog. Especially considering the fact that every time I make anything at all I think, "hmmm... this would be delicious with pumpkin in it." Well we've had a big bowl of pumpkin sitting in our refrigerator and so I decided it was high time for a pumpkin weekend. This weekend the temperatures dropped from the 80s to the 60s, it was finally fall in Phoenix! I made these delicious pumpkin snickerdoodles (thank you Pinterest!) and I made my amazing pumpkin chili for dinner last night. I also found the Coffee Mate Pumpkin Spice Creamer for my hot chocolate, so the pumpkin wa...