Christ Lives and Loves Us

Today's church was so great! We got a new bishopric and we had a great musical number she sung His Hands. I love this song! It brought tears to my eyes. Both our old bishop and our new bishop both testified of the truthfulness of the things Christ taught and did. 

Then in Sunday school, we talked about Nephi's psalm. In 2 Nephi 4:15-35. I want to be like Nephi. I too want to shake at the appearance of sin. I want to HATE sin! Someday, I too want to be able to say vs 32: "May the gates of hell be shut continually before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord, wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!" 

Our teacher shared with us this video that I absolutely love. It is from a devotional in 1996 by Elder Busche. 

 

Then in Relief Society we talked about having a testimony of Christ. 

I have seen a big change in myself in the past couple of years, as I put the Lord first in my life. Things fall into place and I have realized that God plays such a big part in my life. I have realized that it is through the Atonement and God's grace that we are saved. Our works alone will never be able to measure up to all that Christ and our Heavenly Father has done for us. We need to be continually holding on to the rod, with both hands clenched, and not just a pinky touching it. Christ, our older brother, loves us so very much, and he will be there at the judgment day cheering for us and standing next to us when we go to be judged. I am so very glad that He did walk that mile with a cross on His back all alone so that I will never have to.I am so very grateful for the scriptures and all of the testimonies of Christ that are in them so that I can have more witnesses that he does live and He does love us. I am so very grateful for His sacrifice so that I can live with my Heavenly Father and Mother again.  

I love the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints!

Boyce Avenue

Check out Boyce Avenue I just found them. I really think they are super good.

Country Pierces My Soul!

I realized I LOVE COUNTRY! Like this isn't a surprise or anything. But, not just any country. I has to be good ole' country. Real country. The kind that most people hate. Deep voices. Real stories. The songs that bring up old family memories. The kind with good morals. 

Randy Travis, Skip Ewing, Diamond Rio, Phil Vassar, Clint Black, Alabama, Alan Jackson, Billy Dean, James Taylor and the many more that my ipod shuffles constantly, I am grateful for you!

Listening to this music reminds me of my the Curletto house, having all the kids home, walking in Brads room with these playing, standing on Brads shoes dancing in the living room, cleaning, doing dishes with Maddi,  driving home from the grandparents house with all the family in the car, and singing in the kitchen with the whole family. 

 It is days like this that I am especially grateful for my friends and family that have been great influences in my life. I love my family and do not know what I would do with them. It is days like this when I wish I was 7 again, everyone was home, and life was so simple. But then I think that would stink to not have the other members of my family like sister-in-laws and nieces and nephews. I guess I will just have to introduce the next generation to the greatness of this music that I love, so we can all sing along.

So Divine!

I am a pinner. I am guilty. Usually I just look so I can feel creative and then I never actually make or do any of the things I pin. This one was too good to pass up. So when I found it, I got up and made it. Luckily, I had all of the ingredients. These are called cinnamon roll pancakes! Do not underestimate them! 

Ingredients:

PANCAKES:

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 Tablespoon canola oil

1 large egg, lightly beaten

CINNAMON FILLING:

1/2 cup butter, melted

3/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1 Tablespoon ground cinnamon

CREAM CHEESE GLAZE:

4 Tablespoons butter

2 ounces cream cheese

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Prepare pancake batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk in milk, oil and egg, just until batter is moistened (a few small lumps are fine).

2. In a medium bowl, mix butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Scoop the filling into a small zip baggie and set aside. You don't want this to remain super-liquidy. It's best if it becomes a consistency similar to toothpaste.

3. In a medium, microwave-safe bowl- heat butter and cream cheese until melted. Whisk together until smooth; whisk in powdered sugar and vanilla extract; set aside.

4. Heat large skillet over medium-low heat. Spray with nonstick spray. Scoop about 3/4 cup batter onto the skillet. Snip the corner of your baggie of filling and squeeze a spiral of the filling onto the top of the pancake. When bubbles begin to appear on the surface, flip carefully with a thin spatula, and cook until browned on the underside, 1 to 2 minutes more. Transfer to a baking sheet or platter and keep in a warm oven until ready to serve.

5. When ready to serve, spoon warmed glaze onto the top of each pancake.

Tips:

*Keep the heat low or your pancakes might cook up too quickly. Don't flip them until you see those bubbles starting to pop on top. Flip them with a wide spatula so you can grasp the whole thing without batter and filling dripping all over the place!

*It's best if you pour the batter onto your skillet, wait a minute or so and then swirl the cinnamon onto the batter. That'll give it a chance to set a little before you add the swirl.

*If your baggie of filling begins to get too thick, just pop it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up again. On that same note, it shouldn't be too runny. The consistency of soft toothpaste is perfect. If it's melty and runny, it will tend to run all over your pancakes. Once you micro it, let it sit on the counter at room temp for a while until it thickens slightly.

These instructions can also be found HERE!

What they don't tell you is that this recipe only makes about 4 pancakes. Also the cinnamon brown sugar swirly stuff is probably enough for 7-8 pancakes. So if you double the recipe you do not have to double the cinnamon mixture. 

Now for the pictures :)

 If you do make these, you will only be able to eat one maybe two. And this is from the girl who LOVES pancakes. Don't get me wrong, they are delicious, but they are like a cinnamon roll and one will do you. Enjoy! I know I did.

Devotional- Dale Sturm

This devotional was so good! I recommend it to everyone. Maybe it is just the place that I am now in my life but I really loved it. Take 25 min out of your busy day to be uplifted...

Watch it  or you can read it  

Tomorrow, Tomorrow I Love Ya Tomorrow!

Well, I guess I will love you today too, but I will love you even more tomorrow! Maddi comes up to Rexburg to spend the weekend with me! I am so excited! Ahhhhh! Okay, well better be going off to do homework so I don't have to do much when I am wanting to do other things. Have a most splendid Thursday.

No Snow?

     So it is January 21 and there is no snow on Rexburg's streets at all! Today was perfect! It is sunny but rainy. It reminds me of spring in CA. I could have gone out with just a light jacket. This week and semester has been wonderful!

Happiness

     This week has been a happiness filled week. I have learned so much about myself and all hat I can do with the lord's hand in my life. It is oh so necessary to include the Lord in all you do. "When obedience ceases to be an irritant, God endows us with power."- Thomas S Monson. So I put it to the test. That day was the best yet. I felt so close to my Heavenly Father, and in each of my classes I not only understood the material but I had learned something about my personal relationship with my father in heaven.  Also, it has seemed like every talk and every devotional were made with me in mind. Man I love the power of prayer. It amazes me how much our Heavenly Father knows each and every one of us individually, and knows all of our needs, fears, and excitements. 

Random Thoughts of the Week

You guessed it school has started! We are only 2 days in thus far though, and I already am waiting for it to be over. On a happier note I have wonderful roommates. I am always nervous that we will not get along with each new semester, but we seem like we will all mesh really well. We are all unique in our different ways, but yet that uniqueness draws us together. Well that is pretty much all the excitement that has been going on in my life since the last post.

p.s. My love and desire to go to Africa has been growing, and growing, and growing, someday it will end up bursting and my wallet will deplete, but who cares? I will be able to see little black kids someday, and maybe see an African animal.

Winter is approaching

Winter is approaching and that means that Fall is ending. This is not good for these reasons:
1.  It is getting colder, which means
     a. snow is going to be tickling my nose, cars will be sliding, and my feet and hands will continue to be frozen for the next 4 months. (My roommate literally just walked in and was like  "It snowed! ERG!" Man, we got this far with only one or two snow occurrences, let the freezing begin.)
     b.It will be getting too cold for just a sweatshirt. I absolutely love sweatshirts, and I would wear them nearly everyday of the year, but now time to bring out the big bulky attire.
     c. Rexburg winters are harsh. Did you know that your body is a thermometer? If you walk out in the morning and the first breath you take freezes your nostrils, it is -20 or below. Oh and did I mention wind chill?
     d. Rexburg has the worst, and I mean the worst roads in the winter. They plow the streets every few days, put red rock down as salt, and leave huge piles (about 5-6 feet high) of snow in the middle of the road to create medians, that were never there in the summer.

2.  Fall semester is ending. This is bad for numerous reasons. My best friend will be going home for the next 4 months, school starts for me with some hard classes I am very nervous about, and I will be working while I am going to school.

But, there is opposition in all things, these are the reasons I am excited for Winter to begin:

1. I am excited for the material in the classes. I am excited for my Teachings of the Living Prophets class, and semi-excited (but when I say semi I mean on the lower end closer to not excited) for Organic Chemistry and Human Biology.
2. I get to continue to work with some amazing people that teach me to think about the simple things in life. I love old people.
3. I will be able to get into a routine. I like it when I have things to do all the time. My brain goes crazy when I have nothing to do.
4. New semester means new roommates (now this could be good or bad), new ward, and some new friends.
5. New semesters mean new challenges, but new growth.

I am so glad that I will not be alone for Christmas, I would have been so sad if I was going to be in Rexburg all alone for Christmas. Granted I am working most of Christmas eve and most of Christmas,  but at least I will have Mark and Summer and Summers family to come home to. Thanks so much for allowing me to be the party crasher. It really means a lot. I think that this is the first Christmas when I have actually never had anything on my Christmas list besides being with people I care about. When you take that away from the Christmas season, nothing else matters.

Also, We took roommate pictures. Except for I am the adopted one. I sleep in 211 but eat, live, and party in 109.  Here are a few: 

Thanks girls for an amazing semester, it is one I will never forget!