Thursday, December 31, 2013

The price for the Frozen soundtrack went down to $6.99 on iTunes today! 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Oh, and Happy New Year!

Monday, December 30, 2013

A few months ago, I went to a Thai restaurant and had some yellow curry. That was one of the most amazing things I've ever tasted, and since then I've been dying to make it myself. I read lots of recipes before deciding that the easiest way to make it must be to use curry paste. I looked for it in grocery stores, but couldn't find it. I accepted the fact that I had to order it from the interwebs. Amazon had the one I wanted, but it was an add-on item. I finally made a big enough purchase a few weeks ago so I could actually buy it! And tonight, I made my own yellow curry! Oh. Yum. It was certainly not as good as what I ate at the restaurant, but it was delightful!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Saturday, December 28, 2013

I watched Pete's Dragon this evening with Littlest Sister and Curly. I remember watching this movie when I was little. I remember that we had a very large pine tree by our house that had an open area underneath that was a perfect play space for little kids. My older sister called it Nora's house, and I'm 76.2% positive she got that from the movie Pete's Dragon. It was fun to share the movie with Littlest Sister. I think she liked it. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Friday, December 27, 2013

I made this awesome salsa! Curly and I sat around the table eating it just before bed. We went downstairs to get ready for bed, and all of a sudden, the power went out! Curly grabbed a flashlight and we sat  in littlest sister's room until it came back on. Then we watched a funny movie together. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Curly, Littlest Sister, and I went to see Frozen this afternoon. It was really good! Littlest Sister was so excited about going, she was counting down the minutes all morning.



Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day.

Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Merry Christmas! I've been looking forward to today for quite a while, just because my family got to Skype with Loveduck today. I was surprised at how much time she had to talk with us, but very ok with it! We Skyped for an hour and a half, then she called me and the two of us just talked for another two hours! (Missionaries for the LDS church are not allowed to call home, except on Christmas Day and Mother's Day.) She told lots of stories about being a missionary and the things she's been up to. I loved that she and I could still talk for hours like we used to before she left on her mission. It's like nothing's changed! Sort of. 

You'd think that on Christmas Day, of all days, I'd have taken at least one picture. But I didn't.

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Tuesday, December 24, 2013

I drove to my parents' home this evening for Christmas. I'm really excited to be home and spend some time with my family. 

Every year, my siblings and I draw names for Christmas gifts. We open them on Christmas Eve. Curly got my name this year. She gave me this awesome vegetable peeler! It's shaped like a carrot!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Monday, December 23, 2013

My roommate gave me a cookbook for Christmas! I love cookbooks!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Sunday, December 22, 2013

The Polar Express is one of my favorite Christmas movies! I watched it this evening. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Saturday, December 21, 2013

I went out to lunch with my aunt and cousin today. They surprised me with a thoughtful Christmas gift. It's a set of silicone spatulas, which is actually something I've wanted for a while! It was fun to visit with them for a bit. We don't see each other often enough. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Friday, December 20, 2013

When I got to work at the new job today, I smiled when I saw a stack of these fleece throws. Each had a cute label with a traditional Christmasy nap-time related phrase on it. (I'm so tired I can't remember the others.) One of my coworkers had gotten one for each of us. Remember how I love blankets?! This made me so happy!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Thursday, December 19, 2013

I went to see the movie Austenland with a few friends this evening. Got some much-needed laughs!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

There is nothing wrong with Cold Stone two days in a row! Especially if one is spending time with Charwhal before she leaves town for the holidays!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Today was just one of those days. You know the ones where the only thing that helps is ice cream? And, a good phone call from a friend. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Monday, December 16, 2013

When I checked the mail tonight, I was excited to find my grandma and grandpa's Christmas letter, which always includes a family picture from that year's family reunion. I'm pretty proud of my huge extended family. This picture is missing about a dozen cousins. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Sunday, December 15, 2013

I got new shoes! I've been trying to find new brown flats for months now. They're pretty much a staple in my wardrobe since brown is my favorite color. I took a risk and ordered them without even trying them on. I love them!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Saturday, December 14, 2013

When I left for work this morning, I was so happy to find there wasn't any frost on my car! No windows to scrape!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Friday, December 13, 2013

I had the afternoon free today, so I was able to make cinnamon rolls and deliver them to a few friends who have done favors for me recently. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

My new job shares a building with a few other businesses, one being a restaurant. They frequently come visit us to see if we can trade money for different currencies. Today, when they sent an employee to trade, he said basically that since we're always willing to help them out, he was going to bring us some cookies! He brought a couple of every kind they sell. That was fun. I ate the one on the right. It had white chocolate chips and something raspberry, I think. It was pretty good!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

My shift at my old job had shift bonding tonight! We had dinner at our supervisor's home, then did a white elephant gift exchange. I love my coworkers so much! We always laugh so much when we get together. (I don't know if this has been clear, but I now have two jobs. I didn't quit this one when I got the new one.)

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Monday, December 9, 2013

Oh, look! 8:25! My favorite!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

I was able to watch the Christmas Devotional with my old roommates, then spend some time catching up on the goings-on in our lives. It's always nice to visit my old apartment!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Saturday, December 7, 2013

Today was a very productive Saturday, which is just how I like them to be. I got lots of cleaning done, I finished budgeting November and started December, I made cookies, and I made a pretty good dinner even though I had leftovers in the fridge. Which leads to the happy thing for today: Quinoa. If you have not tried quinoa, you need to and soon!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Friday, December 6, 2013

Today was pay day at both my jobs! And there was a happy surprise in my bank account: a $50 Christmas bonus!

(No picture... Again...)

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day.  

Thursday, December 5, 2013

I finally had a day off today, and I definitely needed it. I've been getting home so late every night this week that tonight was the first time since Thanksgiving that I've had a chance to make a nice dinner. I made this chicken Alfredo lasagna and it was so good! And I'll have leftovers to eat for a few days, which is so convenient. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

The vacuum in my apartment has been broken for a few weeks now, which is really frustrating for me. I'm pretty sure I vacuum a lot more often than most people, probably because I see the specks and spots and they bug me more than they do other people. So since the roller on the vacuum hasn't been working, I've been very aware of all the little bits that the vacuum leaves behind. I reported the problem to the maintenance people a week ago with low expectations for them fixing it. But when I arrived home from work this evening, I was so thrilled to see a brand new vacuum waiting for me! That's pretty silly, huh? That a vacuum makes me so happy? Oh, well...

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

I really don't like snow. Not at all. But driving in snow is even worse. That terrifies me. So when I heard a few days ago that a big snow storm as headed our way, I began dreading today. Today was the day I picked to run all my important errands and they had to be done. 

So, the happy thing for today is that even though the roads were awful, and even though I was terrified, I somehow managed to run all my errands, get to work, and get home, all without getting in an accident or stuck in a ditch. Whew! That's a relief!

Oh, and here's a picture of all the snow. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Monday, December 2, 2013

So, I forgot to take a picture today, and at first that really bugged me, but then I remembered that this is my project, and I make the rules, so it's ok for me to forget the picture every once in a while. 

But I didn't forget to think of a happy thing for today's post! Today was my first real day at my new job! It went really well, I think. Eleven hours is a really long time, especially the first day!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day.

Sunday, December 1, 2013

I made some almond poppy seed muffins today. I figured they'd be perfect for breakfast this week. I love the smell of almond extract. And these muffins smell so good while they are baking!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Saturday, November 30, 2013

I drove to the airport to pick up Charwhal this evening. We had a really good chat on the drive back!  (And I didn't bother to look at he picture after we took it... Until now. Oops.)

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Friday, November 29, 2013

I've new employee training all week for my new job. Today was the last day! It's been hard! There was a lot of information to learn and remember, and then we had to pass the test. I am so glad it's over and I passed!

So, this is a picture of part of the cover of my handbook... If I took a picture of he whole thing, I'd be advertising, and that's not the purpose of this project.  

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Happy Thanksgiving! I have so much to be thankful for and so many things to be happy about today!  I hosted my first Thanksgiving dinner today, and everything was perfect! My family came to visit, so there were only six of us. 

My thoughtful aunt in California sent us all special gifts to open "after the dishes were done." She sent me this cute Christmas apron. I pretty much wore it for the rest of the afternoon, even though we were done cooking! It was packaged in these really fun Russian-nesting-doll style houses (a big one with a smaller one inside a smaller one inside a smaller one.) I thought those were so fun! So I displayed the on the shelves in my living room. 

A few days ago, I asked my mom if she still had an extra artificial Christmas tree, wondering if I could use it for the season. Turns out she got rid of it. But today, my family surprised me with this fun little tree and ornaments and a tree skirt! I was so excited!  See, when you are a single adult like me, you don't spend lots of holiday time at home, so there's no tree to enjoy. I'm pretty sentimental so I miss that. But now I have a tree in my apartment! I love that!

We watched the Macys Thanksgiving Day Parade this morning. I just remember watching that when I was little, but since my parents done have tv anymore, my younger siblings hadn't really ever seen it. I hope they enjoyed that. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Wednesday, November 27, 2013

I got this nifty little coupon intje mail about a month ago. I finally used it today and got some incredible deals on soap--which is pretty much all I buy from Bath and Body Works. Too bad I have to wait a few weeks for shipping. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Tuesday, November 26, 2013

When I arrived home from day two of training at my new job, I was really tired. I was preheating the oven to make dinner and decided to make a quick trip to the mailbox. I ran into some neighbors who said they were going out for dinner to a local Mexican/El Salvadorian restaurant. They invited me to go, and of course I said yes! After dinner, we went to one of the girl's apartments and ate cake. That was a good way to end a long work day!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Monday, November 25, 2013

Today was the first day at my new job! I really like it so far! This is a picture of me and my trainer. She's so spunky!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Wearing high heel shoes makes me feel more confident! (Ps. It's really hard to take a good picture of shoes. )

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Saturday, November 23, 2013

I've been paying some medical bills left over from the beginning of the summer. Money is tight so I've had to break them up into monthly payments. Today, I got the notice in the mail saying the last one is finally all paid off! It feels so good to be done with those!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Friday, November 22, 2013

I was able to see Catching Fire with some friend this evening. I enjoyed it, but I don't know that I'd buy it or pay to see it again. It was nice to do something social on a Friday night for a change; I've had to work for the past three Fridays, so I haven't been able to. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Thursday, November 21, 2013

The rest of my new clothes arrived today! I love dress pants!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

A few friends/neighbors came over this evening and we played Seven-Up, which is a card game that probably goes by a few other names. I like it because it's simple and takes two minutes to learn and two minutes to play, but there's also an element of strategy. It was fun to catch up a bit with some friends; I hadn't seen them in a while. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

This made me laugh today. I don't really care for the "YOLO" (you only live once) philosophy, but this was still funny! In case you can't see, the cat's shirt says "YOL9."

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Monday, November 18, 2013

I went out to lunch with my mom today!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Sunday, November 17, 2013

I have a binder full of sheet music I've collected over the years. I brought it home with me this weekend. This evening, I asked my parents to come sing with me around the piano. My dad and I sang a few duets and my mom played piano. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Saturday, November 16, 2013

I decided to come home to my parents' house today. I think I just need a weekend where my mom takes care of me and I don't have to worry so much about... being an adult. Tonight I taught Curly how to play cribbage! She caught on pretty quick and she played pretty well. This is a picture of her first cribbage game. I'm so proud! (I always play red, she played blue. )

Also, three years ago today, I was in a bit of an accident at work and ended up with nine stitches in my right hand and two in my left. I feel so grateful that my hands both work just fine--there was no permanent damage. I just have this scar (it's sort of hard to see, but it's right in between my thumb and pointer finger.)

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Friday, November 15, 2013

These were left over from a craft we did at work tonight, and I got to bring them home! The craft was pretty fun, too. We made cute little bars of soap. Some had rose petals and some had limes and some had lemons.

Also, my wonderful dad called me during his lunch break today. He has done that a few times this week. But today, he called just to give me some extra support because he knows I don't like clouds or rain or snow, and that was the weather for today. It felt so good to know he cared enough to realize today might be a little rough for me. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Thursday, November 14, 2013

I went out to dinner with some coworkers tonight! I love chatting with these ladies!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

The sunset this evening was gorgeous! I wish I had a better camera for this. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

I really like blankets. A lot. I think most if that is because I'm usually cold. But I'm also pretty sure part of it is a sensory thing--the weight of a blanket is comforting to me. This red one is probably one of the best blankets I've ever had. My older sister and I made matching fleece blankets when I was in middle school-ish. Red on one side and strawberry print on the other. It's the perfect size for a "lap blanket."  The blue one is also pretty great cause it's a down feather blanket, which means it's heavy. Before my mom gave it to me, I would sleep under three blankets, but now I only need one!

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Monday, November 11, 2013

New job means new wardrobe! I love new clothes, but I hate shopping. I'm so proud of myself today because I went shopping and actually found some nice things and awesome sales! 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day.

Sunday, November 10, 2013

I invited some friends over this evening to play games. We picked Clue, which I hadn't played for a while. I feel like we laughed a lot, which is always a good thing. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Saturday, November 9, 2013

I went to the symphony again tonight with my aunt. They performed Vivaldi's Four Seasons, which I don't think I've ever heard all the way through before. Our seats were on the second row, so I could see the orchestra really well. There's something about seeing a live performance. I really hope I have the opportunity to play with an orchestra again someday. 

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day. 

Friday, November 8, 2013

I was getting ready to go to work this afternoon when there was a knock on the door. It was a UPS man with a package for me! That was a fun surprise! It was from my aunt in California. She sent this cute little journal with a note telling me she appreciates this project I'm doing on my blog. I didn't know my posts were having a positive affect on anyone, so it feels good to know I'm making a difference.

Life is beautiful, especially when you are looking for the beautiful things that happen every day.