Next time you're wondering what to make for dinner...

Try This. I am always looking for super easy recipes with as few ingredients and labor as possible. Because frankly I don't like cooking very well. But I came across this recipe on All Recipes and it was pretty yummy! And easy as well. I skipped the Vodka (fresh out) and crushed red pepper flakes and it still turned out good.

Tomato Vodka Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (28 ounce) can canned peeled and diced tomatoes
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream
• 1/4 cup vodka
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 pound penne pasta
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a large skillet over medium heat, melt better with oil; add onion and saute for 8 minutes or until transparent.
2. Add tomatoes and cook for 25 minutes or until almost no liquid remains in skillet; stir frequently.
3. Increase heat and add cream, vodka and red pepper flakes; boil for 2 minutes or until thickened to sauce consistency. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
4. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add penne and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain and transfer to a large bowl.
5. Bring sauce to a simmer and pour over pasta; toss to coat. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese; serve.

Inspiration

My friend Alyse set this to me because she knows I love surfing. I have heard the story of Bethany Hamilton, the surfer who's arm got bitten off by a shark. But I haven't heard this version, the story of her faith in God and how she feels like God's mission for her included this tragedy in order become a greater mouthpiece for God and Jesus Christ.

Her strength and faith are truly inspirational as well as her talent for surfing. There are three parts to the video, about 30 minutes in all. If you get a chance, watch them, your day will be better for it. Then take a moment to think about what kinds of greater things God might have in store for you if you let him.

Dear Elder

Elder Davis,

It's your first Christmas away from home. This year will feel strange without you. We gave a lesson in church today about building up the new Zion in Independence, Missouri and it made me think of you. There. Serving a mission.

I miss you.

Brianne

Merry Christmas

This is us wishing you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! We are so grateful for the wonderful family and friends we have. You all are wonderful, especially if you know we even have a blog!

A little off the rocker

I thought I show the finished result of this project we started quite a while ago when we still lived in Reno. Steven has fixed up a few rocking chairs in his day. He let me help pick out the fabric and paint for this one. We finally finished it this summer! (Thanks to the special help of a talented seamstress.) Now if we only had somewhere to put it, other than our basement...

Notice our other long term project there in the background...
a headboard for our bed that we made out of an old door
(and have never attached.)

Close up of the fabric.

A few weeks ago we found the perfect rocker for our next one. We already have the fabric picked for this one. (We got it the same day we bought the bee fabric at an eclectic fabric store in Ashland, OR.) This one has fabric on top and bottom. I can't wait to pick out colors and piece it all together!

Letters to myself

So this blogging thing...obviously not up my alley. I'm not sure how to present my life in this format I suppose, and honestly am not always certain I want to share my life with everyone. But I've decided to today.

I came across some "letters to myself" that I wrote back in high school. They were both assignments from church. I wrote the first one right after my freshman year on 6-11-00. It was supposed to be written by the future me and included things to remember along the way, along with things I would hope to have done. I was allowed to re-open this one on my 18th birthday.

The other was an assignment from my seminary teacher David Hardy (now Judge Hardy), whose name and "for Justice of the Peace" are stamped all over the stationary and envelope. This one was written on 5-21-02, a few weeks before graduation and was meant to be opened on my wedding day, or after one year on a mission. The assignment on this one was to write about a weakness that I struggled with then, and how I would want it to be a few years down the road.

I keep these letters along with with my patriarchal blessing, a special letter from my father, and a letter that I never gave to Steven right beside my bed. Whenever I read them I usually tear up. For many reasons. One, they give me a clear sense of who I am, who I've always been, and who I can become. Two, they remind me of things I've always deemed important. Three, they remind me that God loves me. Four, they give me renewed strength.

Sometimes when I think back to the past I expect to find a girl who was much stronger than the person I am now. But by reading these, I am actually filled with the encouragement that I am on the path that I was always meant to be; even though I may not have overcome certain challenges as gracefully as I would have hoped. Sometimes I look at my life and feel like I've messed it all up. But when I read my goals and hopes, I find that many of life's challenging situations have shaped me into a person I hoped I would become.

This reminds me that somewhere I have a list of goals that I made when I was a kid. I will have a to find it and post it here so you can be entertained by how close I have actually come to accomplishing everything on my list, with slight variations.

I guess the bottom line is that for me, listening to my own words from the past, and hearing what kind of person loved ones know me to be is a marvelous treasure. I am so grateful to have each of these, and know that I need to continue to do things like this so I can have it in the future!

Hello...from our garden