slightly late

I'm going to keep this weeks party list short. 
- I'm engaged and I get to marry my very bestest friend and spend the rest of my life with him. 
:) 

oopsie

Remember this post from a week-ish ago? About how amazing the discovery of baked bacon? 

Well, I have a little tip to add to that...

Make sure you watch the bacon closely in the last few minutes of cooking. Or else you'll burn it. And fill your apartment with bacon smoke. And freak your dog out, making him run around the house trying to find a non-burnt bacon smelling spot.

...Not that I've ever done that or anything...

SHUT. UP.

Today was arguably one of the best days of my life. 

It wasn't the 10,000 mile walk in the rain with a dog and boyfriend to see a Temple ground breaking that made it awesome. Although, that was pretty cool. Or, I imagine it was. We left before the program even started. It was 45* and rainy. I'm a wimp. Don't judge :p

It wasn't the amazing car ride through Provo canyon, Midway, and Heber. Although the clouds touching the tips of the mountains were pretty cool. See for yourself: 

Definition of 'puppy dog eyes' right there. He doesn't look pleased. He was loving the car, don't let those eyes fool you. 

The part that made my day so amazing? 

This: 

and this:

that's right! WE'RE ENGAGED!!!!! 

(I promise I'm working on the entire proposal story right now.) 

happy friday!

Last night these guys: 

(source)

beat the Yankees to advance in the Playoffs. Now, if you know me, you know that I really don't follow baseball. In fact, I think it's kind of boring. But, there's something about watching the team from your home town kick butt and shut A-Rod down. It's satisfying. ;) 

And Sunday, these guys: 

(source)

Are going to try to go 5-0. Yep. The Lions. Who have barely been able to put together one or two wins A SEASON for the last few years are undefeated. The last time they started the season out 4-0? 1980. 1980 PEOPLE! That's a very long time. 31 years actually. That's longer than I've been alive. How can you not get excited about that. (I may have started yelling 'SUPER BOWL! SUPER BOWL! after their win last week.) 

And the Red Wings are looking really good too. Overall, Detroit seems to be kicking butt in sports as of late. Last night, T texted me 'wouldn't it be funny if the Lions won the Super Bowl, the Tigers won the National Championship, and the Wings won the Stanley Cup the year you leave?!' 

...yeah dear...REAL FUNNY... 

Anyways, tonight we're going to the Salt Lake City home show and I'm making my momma's famous pot roast for dinner. Saturday, we're going down to the ground breaking for the Payson temple just south of Provo and then up into the mountains to see the leaves changing. Sunday will be church as usual. And Lions football. :)

Overall, it's should be a wonderful weekend. Lets just hope I don't ruin this pot roast! 

;) 

Did you know you can BAKE bacon?

'tis true my lovely readers. You can, in fact, cook bacon in the oven. 

I had some bacon that I bought with the intention of frying, but never did. It was coming close to expiring and I didn't want it to go to waste. I don't remember how I ended up finding the wonderful news that you can make it in the oven, but somehow, thanks to the internets I did. 

Start with a cookie sheet. Line it with aluminum foil (Use two sheets. Trust me. Just use two.) The aluminum saves you mucho time on clean up afterwards. 

Lay the bacon on the sheet. Did you notice that I didn't tell you to preheat the oven? I meant to do that. DON'T preheat the oven. I don't really know why, but just listen to the recipe, kay? ;) So, put the bacon in a cold oven, turn the heat up to 400* and walk away. Set a timer for 17 minutes and come back and check it. The recipe said to cook for 17-20 minutes but mine was done at 17 minutes. The bacon will burn quickly too, so watch it. Also, the closer to the bottom of the oven (or wherever the heating unit is in your oven) the crispier the bacon will be. I had 2 sheets in there. The one on the lower rack was nice and crispy the one on the top was more soft. 

PERFECTLY COOKED BACON! Without the nasty jumping burning grease that I am terrified of. 

The best part? 

You can crumple up the tin foil afterwards. It makes clean up a breeze. :) 

I've still got 5 minutes!

I haven't done this in a few weeks! 
- It was Conference weekend (I blogged about it earlier here) - I have a job interview on Wednesday! - The Payson Temple ground breaking is Saturday and we're going! (yeeeeeay!)- I discovered you can cook bacon in the oven (it's really good guys) - Snow is in the forecast for the next few days.-It should finally feel like fall around here. (I've had enough of these stupid 80* days) 
:) I hope everyone has a spectacular week :) 

Conference Weekend! Yay!

This weekend was Conference weekend! And it was my first General Conference in Utah. T's mom got us tickets to the Saturday morning session. I can't tell you how blessed I felt that I got to go to a session my very first year in Utah. We got up far too early and got there far too early (I blame my mother for making me paranoid about being late to everything. ;) ) But it was way cool. 

I got to hear a Prophet speak. I got to hear the second Provo Temple announced and felt the goosebumps when the entire conference center gasped at the same moment. It was a pretty gosh darn good session, and it was only the first one!! 

I had a lot of 'favorite' talks this conference. I always do. I can usually find inspiration from all of the talks but President Uchtdorf's talk on Saturday morning was one of the best. (I about jumped out of my seat when he was introduced. He's one of my favorite general authorities.) 

Some of my notes from that talk (these aren't direct quotes, but close to them. I didn't edit anything that I put in my journal) :

We are nothing compared to God, but to God we are everything.
No matter how meager your appearance, you are not invisible to Heavenly Father. He knows your humble heart and he cares for you.
What you experience now is not what it is going to be what it's like forever. 

God sees you as his child. You matter to him. 

How awesome is it to think about those things? We DO matter to Him. No matter how forgotten, invisible, or sad you feel, you are not forgotten. You are not invisible. You will not be sad forever. 

Another one of my favorite talks was by Elder Niel Anderson. It was about the family, children and motherhood. His talk gave me two of my favorite quotes: 

"Motherhood is not a hobby. It is a calling." 

&

"Having children is not something you do if you have time, having children is what God gave you time for." 

I cannot wait to be a mother. I can't wait to start a family. Elder Andersen's talk reminded me of that and he reminded me of how important the family is to our happiness. 

In other picture related news, I failed to take ANY pictures of me & T at conference! Bummer dude! But here are some pictures from after. :)

Sunday morning, I watched the morning session by myself. It was nice to roll out of bed, roll onto the couch, turn on the TV and listen to amazing men and women teach me. I watched the afternoon session with T and his family. As much as I liked watching it alone, I like being with other people while watching conference too. :) 

We went on a little drive before dinner. Every day I have to pinch myself to remind myself that I do really live in this beautiful place. 

I hope everyone else enjoyed their weekend!!! :)