Juicing Party

When I was growing up my friends and I would always play "the game".

It is really easy to play and we would play whenever we needed an idea for what to do.

The first person to start has to give an idea of an activity.

If no one rejects the activity idea then that is what we do. 

BUT...if someone does reject the idea then it is their turn to come up with a new idea.

We play it until we are able to come up with a fun activity

so fun? yes!

I taught "the game" to Gil the other day and it has done wonders for our weekend activities
This particular time we played we came up with our best idea yet

I feel like we both won "the game" (if there even is a winner)

We decided to get a bunch of fruits, invite some people over from our ward, and have a juicing party!

 Everyone was given a plate to put whatever on it they wanted. We juiced up everyone's concoction and gave scores to each one out of ten. The lucky winner got to take home some blackberries!....a last minute award Gil and I came up with on the spot.
We ended the night with this game-always provides a good time.

In case anyone is wondering we own this juicer. It is pretty cheap compared to what most juicers cost.
 So far I have been pleased with it!- easy to clean too

(my favorite thing to juice is plain grapefruit!)

Marchant Christmas Video

We were in the midst of busy school work and clearly we needed a break.

Our options were: 

1) Watch White Christmas--a worthy option

2) Make a music video--cool, but neither of us knew where to go with it

This is the result of us picking option number 2!

Enjoy :)

WARNING: It is a little weird...

My Challenge To Myself and You

WARNING: only keep reading this blog post if you are up for a challenge.

To all of you wonderful people who are still reading, thanks :) This challenge I give to you is a challenge I am also going to give myself. If you are a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS, Mormon) then I challenge you to find someone in your ward who you feel is trying very hard to excel at their calling or be a good visiting/ home teacher. I don't care how well you know this person, I don't even care if you have never talked to them, only observed them from a distance. I challenge you to sit down and write a thank-you note to this person. If you are not LDS then I challenge you to find someone in your community that is serving with a lot of effort.

I have been served my so many people in my life, especially by others who are in my ward. I am now starting to realize that I have never expressed my thanks towards these people. I regret that I've never told them the difference they have made in my life or the example they have been to me. During this Christmas season I hope you will make an effort to write out a special thank you card to someone who has impacted your life in one way or another.

Happy December! 

p.s. here are some pictures from Thanksgiving Break

Please note my awesome nephew on the left

I don't know how I did it (it might have involved reminding him of all the sports games I go to with him), but I convinced Gil to drive all the way up to Sundance to do something he greatly dislikes--take pictures. I only wanted two things to be in our pictures (besides us): an evergreen and snow. I said, "Gil, the second we find an evergreen with snow we can stop driving". heh heh apparently in November it is hard to find an evergreen with snow unless it is like waaaay up Provo Canyon. So we drove all the way up. He did a good job of pretending to be happy about it :)

The picture above is not the actual one we are going to use for our Christmas card. I can't ruin the surprise!

PS Thanks Noksie Pokes for being our photographer !

Sneak Peak

I had a very specific pattern in mind for the coat I wanted to make, but could not find anything that even resembled it! (C'mon Simplicity, Butterick, McCalls, and Vogue...you all need better coat patterns for little girls).

The inspiration for my coat. I searched the internet for hours trying to find a similar fabric because I love it so much.
Also, I love the neckline, the pleats, and I love that you can't see the buttons when it is closed

Determined to make this coat I finally decided to draft my own pattern. This endeavor was problematic because normally when I sew I try the clothes on myself throughout the sewing process...this coat was for a toddler and Gil and I won't have one of those for a few years....so....I still have no idea if this even fits the way it should :/ (though I did babysit a 2 year old the other day and forced her to let me try one of my muslins on her)

Next problem was that I don't know how to draft patterns! I took a class in high school, but don't remember anything from it (I wish I could...). This project took a lot of muslin trial and errors. It also included many hours of unstiching, watching YouTube videos made by people that don't speak English as their first language, and required much patience on my part

It still isn't quite done, but it is close enough to take a semi-normal picture! I am going to make another one, but this time there are a few changes I will definitely make.

PS the fabric is wool, though it kind of looks velvity in this picture

We got spirit...yeah yeah we got spirit

I've never had a desire to go to BYU's homecoming dance. In my mind I saw it as a place where there were only freshman who missed high school dances too much that went. Gil brought up the idea of going a few weeks ago and I thought he was kidding so I laughed and forgot about it. He definitely did not forget about it because last Wednesday as we were coming in from school he stopped me outside our apartment, grabbed me by both hands and said, "Sarah Jane, will you go to homecoming with me?" The excitement he had on his face from the thought of going to Homecoming was too much and I told him I would.

He even planned a day date for us. We went biking up Provo Canyon complete with snacks at Vivian park and it was a beauty! Fall leaves and mountains cannot be topped, people.

For dinner we went to Cafe Rio because my mom gave Gil a gift card there for his birthday. The whole way there we were talking about how excited we were for a free meal out! We couldn't stop laughing when we realized Gil had forgotten to use the gift card and we ended up paying anyway.

The dance was actually quite fun. They had a chocolate fondue fountain....fancy shmancy, BYU. Also...I wish everyone could have witnessed Gil dance. He won my heart all over again. And yes... I confess, I am happy that I went to the homecoming dance. I recommend it to all.

P.S. The next morning when we woke up he persisted we go get BYU's blue pancakes they were serving before the homecoming period...Oh Gilbert, you definitely keep my school spirit in check!

P.P.S. 50 years from now I think this might be one of my favorite memories from BYU together

But I actually did fall in love in the fall.

 If you would have gone to this same place four years ago you would have seen two freshmen falling in love with one another. AKA This is the place Gil and I went on for our first date.  I remember coming home and groaning to my roommates about how I was in big, big trouble. I had fallen for Gilbert and I knew I shouldn't get attached to someone who was going to leave for two years to serve a mission in Sweden. I went to bed with the biggest smile on my face, nonetheless.

P.S. The shirt my niece, Jane, is wearing is one I made. I'm selling others just like it on my newly created Etsy shop! It doesn't have a whole lot to offer, yet. With time (and hopefully once I finish drafting that coat mentioned in the previous blogpost) it will slowly see new inventory items!!

Shop: https://www.etsy.com/shop/LittleEfflorescence?ref=hdr