Goal #69: Learn to Cook!!

French Coconut Maccaroons!
Yummy Yummy!

To make:

4 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar
2 cups flaked coconut
1/2 cup flour

Beat egg whites until still peaks form. Add vanilla and mix well. Gradually add in powdered sugar, beating well after each addition. Beat until stiff and glossy. Fold in coconut and flour until well mixed. Drop by teaspoonfuls into lightly buttered and floured cookie sheet. Bake at 325 for 25 min or until lightly browned.

Book Report: Glimpses

Glimpses Into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley

This is an amazing, AMAZING book! I loved every minute of it. Sister Hinckley is so real. It makes it easy to relate and be inspired by her.

I want to share some of my favorite quotes, gosh dang, just cause I love them so much!

We are His children, and if we ever got that through our heads thoroughly, understood that completely, we would never do a small thing, we would never say a cross word, we would not use bad language, we would not criticize anybody, we would love everyone the way the Savior loves us (pp 11).

Shortly before we were to be married,Gordon called and said, "I think we had better go to lunch today." So we did and he said, "I think you should know that I only have $150 to my name." Well, $150 sounded like a small fortune to me. I had hoped for a husband and now I was getting $150 too! I said, "Oh, that will work out just fine; if you've got $150 we're set!" (pp 79)

Think about your particular assignment at this time in your life. It is to get an education. This is a wonderful assignment. Don't take it lightly. Give it your full heart and energy. Do whatever you have to do this week; and do it cheerfully. To do less than this will leave you with an empty feeling (pp 85).

Make life an adventure. Don't say, "Well here's another day." Say, "Here's a new day. What have I that I can put into it?"

And my all time favorite quote:

Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said, "We are here in mortality, and the only way to go is through; there isn't any way around!" I would add, the only way to get through life is to laugh your way through it.
You either have to laugh or cry. I prefer to laugh. Crying gives me a headache(pp 107).

This book is a must read for sure! Especially if you need a daily dose of inspiration!

Hard Times

Solution:

1) Prayer

2) Country Music

4) Ben and Jerry's New York Super Fudge Chunk

100 Things To Do in Life

I love life! I really, really do! We've been blessed with so many opportunities! Sometimes it just makes me excited to think of all the things we can do here in mortality!

A couple years ago I wrote up 100 Things I'm going to do in life and I decided (along with my personal history that I'm sure I'll write in my later years) that I'm going to write a book with my experiences with these things: If I ever did them, how I accomplished it, lessons learned, and even lessons learned if I didn't accomplish it. It's going to be so much fun! And I think it will be a great legacy to pass on! :)

If you've never sat down and written a list like this I HIGHLY suggest it! It has been a blessing to have during times that I've been down, depressed, and unmotivated. Its reminded me that there is so much to do and we only have one lifetime to do them! Anyway, if you get a minute I would definitely write one out. (Make sure 1-they are things in your control! 2-They are completable!)

Since this is a STUDY of MY LIFE I thought it would be more than appropriate to put these on my blog and track them. So here it is...

100 Things To Do in Life
In no particular order

1. Get married in the temple
2. Make friends with a Muslim
3. Write a book
4. Visit 100 countries
5. Raise my kids to be missionaries:
provide opportunities for my kids to learn and grow in missionary work
6. Attend the temple ever week for a year
7. Go skydiving or hang-gliding
8. Bake bread and make homemade jam with my kids
9. Sacrifice something I really really want for a stranger
10. Have a garden
11. Make a quilt
12. Do my genealogy and temple work with my family
13. Have a "library" in my home
14. Adopt a child
15. Love someone that I really don't like
16. Act in a play
17. Learn to arrange flowers
18. Provide opportunities for my children to understand the importance of temples
19. Lean to sew
20. Give haircuts (learn how first!)
21. Make a difference to a child
22. Learn a foreign language
23. Help troubled youth
24. Be fugal with my expenses... always
25. Teach
26. Get a bachelors degree
27. Get a pilots license
28. Go sailing
29. Snowboard confidently
30. Swim with dolphins
31. Own a dog
32. Own a horse
33. Go mountain biking
34. Serve a mission... and if I can't serve full time
than live the life of a missionary
35. Go to Real Estate School
36. Invest in several real estate investments
37. Learn to play piano confidently
38. Learn how to play the violin confidently too!
39. Give a significant portion of income... or $1 million dollars to different charities
40. Always pay tithing first
41. Floss once a week for a year
42. Create memories for my family working together
43. Go camping with my family
44. Go on a road trip across the country
45. Do something for my parents to let them know how much I love them
46. Live in a foreign countries for at least a year
47. Provide opportunities for others to "experience" life :D
ie. trips, parties, games, discussions, etc.
48. Start and Run a successful business
49. Stay in touch with lifetime friends
50. Memorize the Living Christ/Family Proclamation
51. Be a fitness instructor
52. Learn how and decorate my own home
53. Buy, Fix up, and Sell a home
54. Learn Feng Shui
55. Learn to fix my car and be "car literate"
56. Teach my kids to tie their shoes
57. Keep a book of precious memories of my kids
(Things the did or said)
58. Give people presents unexpectedly
59. Learn to accept compliments and give them freely
60. Magnify my callings
61. Develop an artistic skill and give something as a present
62. Go on a formal date with my husband
63. Learn grammar
64. Make something beautiful in representation of my love for the Lord
65. Write and submit an essay
66. Help on a political campaign
67. Help children develop their talents
68. Believe in someone
69. Learn to cook!!
70. Always recognize the potential and goodness in my husband...
and let him know!
71. Say "I love you" everyday for a year!
72. Help a friend come into the gospel
73. Do something special individually with each of my siblings
(while we are young, and when we get older)
74. Organize my pictures!
75. Hike Kilimanjaro or Everest Base Camp
76. Learn ASL (American Sign Language)
77. Get a masters
78. Work outdoors for a summer
79. Write letters to all my grandchildren and children
80. Have a sleepover with all my grandkids
81. Learn photography... make a portfolio
82. Learn to rock climb
83. Oversee a large humanitarian project
84. Host a foreign exchange student
85. Study Abroad
86. Have a lifetime pen pal
87. Start/join a book club
88. Ride an elephant
89. Take dance lessons... ballroom, ballet, swing, etc.
90. Teach kids how to invest their money
91. Learn to play tennis
92. Become friends with an orthodox Jew
93. See all the 7 wonders of the world!
94. TRY fish/seafood
95. Find a good way to support the troops
96. Get kissed in the rain
97. Throw someone a surprise party when they weren't expecting it
98. Help someone in need
99. Plant a cherry tree in my yard...maybe a plum tree
100. Always do the things I'm afraid to do
Recently added:
101. Do a bike race
102. Complete a triathlon

103. Get my picture on Jones Soda!

Remember

"God is weaving his tapestry according to his own grand design. All flesh is in his hands. It is not our prerogative to counsel him. It is our responsiblilty and our opportunity to be at peace in our minds and in our hearts, and to know that he is God, that this is his work, and that he will not permit it to fail."
President Gordon B. Hinckley

Study: Water

Man! Weren't the Olympics awesome! There is something about a dedicated athlete that just inspires me! Dara Torres was incredible! Even though she didn't get her individual gold I'm still impressed! And Michael Phelps... whoa! Now there is a powerhouse! I can't believe someone can swim that fast! It was so much fun watching him meet his Olympic goals (and kicking everyone else's butt)!

So I have a confession. I hate water. Actually, its more of a love-hate relationship. I love water. It hates me. Whenever I tell people that they don't believe me. I put on a good game face around water so you wouldn't usually be able to tell that we don't get along. Now don't get me wrong, one of my very favorite past times is looking at it when we're at the beach or the lake. Plus I really enjoy a good canoe, boat, or raft ride.

However, I've never liked it just me and it (unless its a bubble bath in my own safe bathroom).

Well I recently made a personal goal to complete a triathlon.... a mini one. Baby steps, starting small! And as you all know a third of that is... swimming. Yuck. "So what do we do? We Swim! Swim!" (Thanks Dory)

I started swim lessons yesterday. Ha ha... it's true! When I got in the water the instructor looked at me and asked, "Do you have a phobia of the water?" I laughed and asked if it counts as a phobia if I won't put my face in the water. She smiled and I'm sure quickly realized she had her work cut out for her.

I would like to announce that at the end of the day I had successfully put my head under the water MANY times! AND I learned how to dive in! (Special thanks to Flannel and Jason! You guys ROCK!)

So thus begins my study of water. Wish me luck. I hope the next time I see you won't be at my funeral. ;)

Ryan

A couple of years ago I developed this habit of signing "I love you" to people. Well yesterday Ryan, my autistic brother, was passing me in the kitchen and I stopped him and held up my hand in the ASL sign for love. Normally he wouldn't care what I had to say and would be on his way. But every once in awhile he'll let you connect with him and his world. When he saw my hand he looked me right in the eye and said, "I love Carlee."

Wow!

I didn't even know that he knew signs!

Now when I hold it up he says, "I love Ryan."

And I do! I love ya Ry!

Book Report: Count of Monte Christo

What a good book! I've wanted to read this since high school, but I didn't get around to it until last week. I loved it! Just ask Casey... I couldn't put it down!

“There is neither happiness nor misery in the world; there is only the comparison of one state with another, nothing more. He who has felt the deepest grief is best able to experience supreme happiness.”

What I liked:
-The adventure!
-The tone the author chose
-The developed themes that represent the core of human emotion
-The developing of characters throughout the whole book
-Dantes relationship with God

What I didn't like:
-It wasn't a happy ending. Let me clarify-It was a GOOD ending-I'm just a sucker for happy endings.

Recommendation: Read it! And then keep it on the shelf for a rainy day. (Just to note: It's nothing like the movie)

My Study of Life

Alright, it is finally time to use this blog as I originally intended-a record of 'my study of life.' So far I've basically used it to journal my life and travels, but I'm going to try and revert it to what I've always intended it to be. And the reason I'm posting this intention at all is so that I will finally commit! ha ha! Sometimes you just do what you got to do!

Life is to precious to just sit back and watch it pass by. We only get one chance, one life. Doesn't it just catch you off guard once in a while that you are alive! That the Lord has blessed you with this chance to prove yourself here on Earth. We get to live, love, and serve Him and those that we have been blessed to have in our lives. Wow.

You're alive. Do something. The directive in life, the moral imperative is so uncomplicated. It can be expressed in single words, not complete sentences.

It sounds like this: Look. Listen. Choose. Act.

-Barbara Hall, A summons to New Orleans, 2000

I'm terribly excited to use this blog for my studies, projects, and findings. I've been doing this in a notebook for years but its time to get it organized and share!

The unexamined life is not worth living.

-Socrates

Love: Holly and Isaiah

Holly and I have been great friends since high school when she sat behind me in seminary my junior year. She is one of the sweetest, most genuine people I know! In July she is marrying the love of her life... Isaiah. I offered to take some pictures for them and we had a TON of fun! So I thought I would post of few so you could see. Let me know what you think!

Home!

I realize that I completely left out Budapest in my blogging. I apologize. You have to understand you can't get much done when you only have 20 minute intervals on a super slow computer in the middle of McDonalds which is the ONLY internet available at any respectable location. Yes, I did just call McDonalds respectable. Actually, I wish I would have taken a picture of it because I've never seen a classier McDonalds establishment! I'm serious! It was beautiful... well almost. To bad the food tasted the same. Yucky.

Budapest was a delight. The first highlight: Turkish Baths! hmmmmm! It makes me happy just thinking about it. Just imagine beautiful, elaborate thermal baths and soaking for hours. Yep. It was amazing! Another highlight was running into a long time high school friend who is serving his mission in Budapest. It was so much fun seeing him! Let see what else... Getting stuck in a downpour of rain after church in the middle of "Pesht." It had to have be hilarious to watch the three of us in dresses and heels sprinting a half a mile to the metro station. Oh... and Peach Sundays. Delicious. It was more of an indulgence than a highlight since we kept going back for more.

Me and Baxter Elder (aka Elder Baxter)

To serve as before and after pictures: Above is Before, Below is After

A Budapest indulg... I mean highlight.

Since I've been home: I'm trying to recover from laryngitis. I can hardly squeak a word out. This morning my dad was laughing at me when my little sister asked why I keep speaking so funny. I tried to laugh by my attempt ended up even more awkward than my speech. Other than that I've been enjoying my family and the sunshine. Summer is here and I'm ready for it!

Church

Can I just say... I LOVE the gospel! We've gone to church now in London, Amsterdam, and Prague, and its always been the highlight of my week. The members of every branch are so kind, and outgoing. I've never been so grateful!

Its good to know that everywhere we go there is a network of members that are always willing to help. And its always interesting to me to see the gospel in action ALL around the world! I love it!

The church is true. Thats all I wanted to say.

Prague Castle

Well we made it to Prague. Its been harder and harder to find the internet so I apologize for the lack of blogging.

I love Prague! It is absolutely gorgeous! The architecture is incredible! The buildings and bridges are so diverse and colorful. I love it! However, the people here are about as nice as the Dutch (in other words... they're not)!

Yesterday we hit the main tourist attraction, Prague Castle.

There is so much history in this one little city. It makes it so much fun!

Prague Castle

Being just a little cheesy inside the Old Palace

This is for Ryan!

Do you like the shades theme in this picture?

ha ha... I do.

First Day in Prague in front of the National Museum

John Lennon Memorial Wall that we just happened upon.

Can you imagine?

My mark on the wall-You're jealous!

I have a ton more pictures and lots more to say. But I'm out of time!

Lots of Love!

Quick Wrap Up of Amsterdam

Amsterdam was a lot more fabulous than I thought it would be. Since I didn't get to a computer before we left, here are some pics to wrap up my stay there.

I told you it was beautiful

I'm famous

Okay Okay... 3 Posts in one day is a little overkill BUT I wanted to show you something.

If you check out Brody's Blog you can see me! Just scroll half way down to the post that says The New Girls and you'll find me. I'm doing an internship with Brody Dezember Photography and I love it! I'm learning a lot and really enjoying every minute of it. Anyway, check it out!

 http://web.mac.com/dezemberphoto/dezemberphotoblog/Dezember_Photo_Blog/Dezember_Photo_Blog.html