TWENTY - SEVEN

I turned the whopping 2-7 yesterday!

cute banner given to me from my chick-SIL bryn. 

Although my day consisted of the usual items of my everyday living, I still had a wonderful day!

I arrived to work to find my desk completely covered in "happy birthday" banners, sticky notes and balloons. I also was given a 3-layer pineapple rum cake and mint brownies from Leslie's Pastry's. I seriously have the best office!

the delish cake

A few family members took me to lunch after work at The Happy Sumo and it was divine! I am so in love with their Brooklyn Roll...YUM!

I spent the evening at Momentum, rock climbing with Splore. I enjoy working with the kids and learning from them and couldn't imagine doing anything else on my special day than this. It is truly such a great gift to me just to be with them for a few hours a week. 

When I arrived home, later than expected, I was greeted by my two favs, Sweets and dork-face. I quickly got dressed and cleaned up and headed to Silver fork for a late dinner. It was freezing cold up in the mountains but it was so peaceful. I appreciate that my sweets knows exactly what makes me the happiest woman in the world! After dinner, dork-face helped me open my gifts and I LOVE LOVE LOVE them! 

Thanks sweets for making my day the best and all about me. I am in complete love with you! 

Thanks family for all the calls, texts, gifts and birthday wishes! 

Thanks friends for the many "happy birthday" 's!   

Love you all! 

MY DARE TO CHALLENGE MYSELF

When I started officially making goals a number of years ago, my weakest link was having self worth and confidence. I was unable to accomplish those goals and I felt horrible about myself and spent most of my time beating me up about the failures. So, this past year I have made great efforts to learn more and understand myself better in this area.

As I look back on my life and the goals that I have made over the years the questions of "why this time? How is this time different than the last? Am I really capable of completing this?" have entered my mind over and over. Setting numerous goals that mostly are out of reach with very little confidence in myself, I have realized is just plain crazy! But as I ponder now I think to myself, why not make goals to better my self-esteem? I am sure plenty of people think this is crazy! I am sure I would if the tables were turned. Practicing confidence and self worth for me, can be uncomfortable at times, tiring and quit frankly painful. I get extremely nervous around people I do not know, I have a hard time making conversation with others and I usually end the experience with anxiety over what just happened. So, then why do I care? I care because I keep hearing confidence is attractive. And who doesn't want to be attractive? Confidence is a positive outlook about yourself that shows the world that you are beautiful, fun, loving and proud of yourself just the way you are. It shows that you are accepting of different situations no matter if the conclusion is good or bad.

I have concluded that I need to know how far pure desire can take me. The acute notion that desire is what we are after in this world, be as it may, and my desire is to love myself unconditionally. The only way to really get to this understanding is if I strip away all the negative thinking and feelings of my everyday living and get down to the most basic human instinct, survival. There are many ways to challenge this pure desire to strive for survival and I can do this through building my self esteem up with setting and accomplishing goals, entertaining positive interactions with others that I do not know or who do know me and developing self worth through learning experiences no matter the outcome. This opportunity gives me a much needed push to set goals for confidence that make me stretch and reach to achieve them.

I believe many people would benefit from testing their own possibilities as I am hoping to do. Sometimes in life we stop the journey early and find out that we have limits, while others might loss their life trying to discover their limits, but to dare something that is difficult is a very admirable goal. 

Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat. – Theodore Roosevelt

OVER-TIME AND UNDER-POINTS

This was the ending result to the Jazz game last night against the Washington Wizards! The game, which was a surprisingly good game, went into overtime after the Jazz were behind almost 8 points the entire game. They rallied back in the last 3 minutes, but like most overtime games that the Jazz play, they just couldn't pull it together for the win! We fell short yet again! 

dinner at the lexus club

center section row 4

Sweets and I loved the game anyway, in part that we were lucky enough to get the invite from the parentals to sit down in the reserved section and enjoy a fabulous dinner buffet with the Lexus Club beforehand. We filled our plates with seafood, soup, chicken, salads and meats and then watched the game from row 4!!! During halftime we went back and enjoyed a plethora of desserts. 

Thanks parentals!

PLANE+FUN+SWEETS = TEXAS!

Sweets took me on the best vacation this past weekend as an early birthday gift. He took me to Austin Texas and a side day trip to San Antonio! It was the most perfect trip. We walked all around the beautiful city and saw amazing historical sites, ate delicious tex-mex food, shopped, watched and listened to Harry Connick Jr. and relaxed. It seriously could not have come at a better time. We both were in need of some sunny weather and warm temperatures and sleep.   

texas state capital - austin

mr piggy at the livestock auction in downtown austin 

lake travis

longhorn campus

rudy's briskit

town bridge on s congress st

lance armstrongs' bike shop - mellow johnn'y

the riverwalk in san antonio

the alamo

world famous bbq sauce

the best husband in the universe

harry connick jr. - they wouldn't allow pics but this is the best we could sneak

the long center

Thank you sweets! I seriously LOVE you! This was the best birthday present I have ever recieved!!!

PROJECT SECRET AND THEN SOME!

I will let you in on a little secret. This pic has a little to do with a new project that I am working on! It unfortunately won't be finished for awhile, but when it does, I guarantee that you will love it and want to do the same thing!!! As I continue working on it i'll post a few other 'hint' pics. It should be awesome! 

In the meantime, here are a few other items for another project that I am helping with. It has been fun working with them and hopefully soon we will be able to put together a few rooms in their newly built house. I am excited to see how this all turns out and comes together!

home decorators.

crate and barrel.

ikea.

ikea.

crate and barrel.

pier one.

pier one.

company c.

crate and barrel.

ALL THINGS FLAVORFUL!

Last night our ward had the Relief Society Birthday Social and I was to bring:

 Sausage Potato Soup!

Give it a whirl and try it one night this week. It is easy to make and super tasty. Although the recipe was given to me by a lady in the ward, I did change things up a bit just it make it more mine. For instance, I added some red pepper flakes, a pinch of garlic, 2 kinds of onions, some flour and more potatoes etc., but here is the original recipe...

some of what you'll need

onions. carrots. potatoes.

chopped spinach

almost the end of the soup. i forgot to take a pic of the final but this is close.

SAUSAGE POTATO SOUP!
1 cup chopped onions1 cup chopped carrots1 quart boiling water with 1 cube chicken bouillon 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning1 teaspoon saltdash pepper1 bay leaf2 1/2 cups diced potatoes1 1/2 - 2 cups mild italian sausage1 cup fresh spinach leaves chopped1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese2 tablespoons grated romano cheese1 can evaporated milk1 cup frozen peas

To the boiling water with chicken cube, add onion and carrots. Cook for about 10 minutes then add potatoes and seasonings. Cook vegetables until soft. Fry sausage in separate pan, drain excess oil and mix with soup. Add cheeses, evaporated milk and peas. Cook for another 5 minutes. Add spinach leaves last. 

*if you want thinner soup just add water, but i like mine thicker so I added flour. 

WHO PEED IN YOUR CHEERIOS!?!?

This is most likely what you will be saying after you read this post, and I would like to say that 'no one' peed in my Cheerios this morning. I, in-fact, didn't even eat Cheerios this morning. I ate something entirely different and more scrumptious. Nonetheless, every once in a while I get these motivations so say what is on my mind, and this is the perfect outlet for me. If I try to exhaust my efforts of conversation on feminist issues with my husband, he kindly walks away smiling at me saying I am being stupid. Thus, this is the next best thing. OK, so let me start by saying:


There is no level-headed reason why a woman in 2011 should have to abandon her family’s last name in order to prove her fidelity and allegiance to her man! Ok, so I am not THAT opinionated, however I would like to point out that this concept is archaic and patriarchal and I do support it. I mean really, is our name not good enough? Is it less of a name? Are we less of a people if we keep our original name? I certainly don't think anyone should be expected to take their husband's name. It should be a choice. A mutual decision between you and your husband, not the rest of the world and the demands of what society thinks. 


The reason why women started changing their last names in the first place to their husbands last name was ownership rights. Take for instance "MRS." for a married woman. How did this term originate? It came from "MR'S." without the apostrophe. Yep, the very title that we woman claim comes from the possessive form of "Mr." and implies that a woman is indeed a possession.  This tradition dates back to the times when women were legally property! Can you believe it? WOMEN=PROPERTY!!! Anyway, that is another subject for another time. The marriage ceremony shows a transfer of ownership from her father to the husband and the change of her name solidifies that partnership. But since we are not viewed as property any more, there is no longer a good reason to change our last name. Wait, I take that back. one good reason is the fact that I can pick up laundry, do or get anything for him and vice versa and pay with his credit card using the same last name. But back to the topic at hand and I repeat, there is no longer a good reason to change our last name! 


There are many pressures to keep with 'tradition' for women and this issue. For instance, when I was getting married Sweets and I talked about this a lot. Actually, we talked about it our whole dating relationship, so he knew what he was getting into beforehand. I was very clear about my love for him and that I would do anything for him...anything but change my last name. Why? Why wouldn't I want to change my name? My answer lies in the innermost defiance layer of my body that tells me to not do what is expected of me to do by others. I will do things on my own accord when I am ready and feel no need to feed into pressure from others all because 'tradition' says so. Sweets was a little peeved by this whole thing but if he wanted to marry me, he would have to marry my feministic views as well. And he did! I love my husband and he loves me! We were able to compromise about the use of my last name and agree that I would use my original last name as my middle name and in addition take upon me his last name and not hyphenate them. I officially go by Julianne Gardner Arnell and I use all 3 names!


For some of you haters out there, I am all too familiar with your backlash. You claim that I am a half-ass kind-a-girl and I am not really a feminist but rather one who just wants to pick a few issues and battles those for women. In response, I would probably say you are right, but not really, but right. Yes, I am all for women. I am all for women to get paid the same in the workforce! I am all for women to vote! I am all for women to hold high CEO, CFO etc position in corporate america! I am all for women pilots! I am all for women in sports! You name it, I am for it, however, I am also for men opening my car door, and for men paying for my dinner, and for men doing things for me. I like to think of it as mutual equality. I do things for them and they do things for me, yet I do things for me and they do things for themselves. It all comes out in the wash anyway. 


So, in closing, I do believe women should not be pressured or expected to take their husbands last name and they should have the right to keep their own last name as a testament that they belong to no one else but themselves. I do also believe that there needs to be a 50-50 take and pull. It is personal choice and they should respect their spouse and make this decision together for the benefit of their marriage and their future and should not be looked down upon for whatever decision they choose! 

THE FEAST...

and boy was it! 

Sweets and I enjoyed a wonderful and colorful breakfast! We ate a bowl of "Lucky Charms", drank a tall glass of "gold" juice and ate our way through the fruity "rainbow". It was super yummy and it totally started my day off on a Happy note! 

breakfast

For dinner we ate homemade Irish Stew (lamb), a side of asparagus, rolls, Leprechaun slush and Magic Cupcakes! Although it took awhile to make, actually like the whole day, it was well worth it. I have never cooked Lamb before and I was really nervous that it wouldn't turn out ok, but I was seriously in love with it. It was perfect!

magic cupcakes

dinner

Following the feast, we opened a few gifts and watched the NCAA tournament! Way to go BYU and so sad USU! 

Happy St. Patrick's Day Sweets! 

sweets. sweets.

TOP O' THE MORNIN' TO YA!

Today is a wonderful day!

It is the non-holiday HOLIDAY, as we like to put it in our household, of ST. PATRICK'S DAY and I am totally stoked! I love celebrating these kinds of non-holiday HOLIDAY'S and I especially love celebrating them with my non-celebratory husband that humors the celebration with me anyway! 

Thanks sweets!

Today is going to be filled with an incredible amount of non-holiday HOLIDAY decor, food, gifts and activities as possible! 

YIPPEE!

 (pics of the day will be posted later tonight, so check back to see the adventures)

ROCK ON!

I am so freakin' excited to be apart of Splore for the next 2 months!!! Splore is an awesome non-profit organization that specializes in outdoor adventures like rock climbing, snow shoeing, rafting  etc. for children/people with disabilities. Last week, I completed my training on Autism Spectrum Disorders and received my belay certification inorder to start the ROCK ON! program. Basically, I will be mentoring a child with Autism and their siblings and taking them rock climbing at Momentum. The main goal for rock climbing is for the children to learn experiences of overcoming real or perceived fears through increased confidence and physical fitness. Not to mention, that it is a great way to learn better communication skills and to build trust with others. I seriously can't wait to be able to learn and grow from these children. I am sure they will be teaching me more than I will be teaching them! 

DITCH THE WORKOUT!!

As many of you already know, I am a lover of ZUMBA! I have been apart of this dance craze for  2 1/2 years and I am in total love with it still. In the meantime of not having a gym membership for the last  year with our moving of houses, I was taking classes here and there at different facilities but I have now recently joined at TAC and have resumed by ZUMBA workouts! While there is so much to explain about ZUMBA, (the latin style dance moves of reggaeton, salsa, merengue and hip-hop, the targeted body sculpting moves using the toning sticks, the thumping international beats of loud music to get your heart beat up and blast the calories away, the friendly workout for all types and shapes, the invigorating party-like atmosphere of dancing), I will just give you a quick summary of what I think its all about...

* shaking the 'junk in your trunk' in front of a mirror and other peeps for 1 hour

* twisting and contorting your body in 'sexy' ways that are foreign to you

* hooting and hollering, or 'panting', like a chimp to try and keep the energy up

* 'easy to follow' moves of Latin Americans with rhythm that us white folks attempt here in America

* a form of 'dance' that one does believing they are actually good dancers when in fact they are horrible

* an excuse to get 'down and dirty' in spandex

I will forever be a fan of ZUMBA and I encourage those who haven't tried it yet to do so. It is so much fun and you don't even need to know how to dance. You just need to know how to let loose and have fun! Give it a try - 

WKND FUN!

This weekend was a busy jam packed few days full of fun, family and friends!

While Sweets was enjoying the super sunny and warm weather of St. George doing this...

joe. sweets.

  on Friday with his friends (scott, grant, sam, bryan not pictured) getting a couple pars and eagles (yay), I was here doing this...

one of two birthday cakes for the special occasion

dad with some (not all) of his grandkids

birthday boy

celebrating my Dad's Birthday (march 4th) with my family! We ate Mandarin takeout from Bountiful and Andrew and Angie were nice enough to host the Party for all of us. My Dad is the best Dad in the world and has been the greatest example to me. He is caring, loving, selfless, funny, giving, patient, charitable, intelligent and my Dad! Happy Birthday Pops! Love you!

Then on Saturday while Sweets was doing this...

view from promontory tower

one of the models of city creek

working (pooey) showing Promontory the new high rise urban living downtown at City Creek all day, I was doing this...

kerstin. sian. brooke. sara. lyndsey. me.

mama to be

with my friends! I through a baby shower for Sian with the help of Kerstin for all of us wives! (Wives, meaning the wives of our husbands high school group.) It was so fun! We ate Orange Rolls, Cheese and Sausage Strata, Fruit and Dip, Sherbet Punch and instead of games we did a project of making decal onesies for Sian to take home. It was great to see everyone and catch up while celebrating the upcoming birth of baby boy William Riley Davidson!

Finally, and no picture to display sorry, Sweets and I had to chaperone the tri-stake young singles dance at our stake center Saturday night. WOWZERS! We are so glad that we never have to experience that awkward stage of life again. We walked the dance floor and people watched. It was surprisingly fun but not on my list of things to do again! When Sunday came around, we slept the day away after church due to the time change. It was a doozy. We did take a break from napping to take a scenic drive and eat dinner. But then it was back to napping! 

UTAH SNOW!

This is what Sweets and I were driving in Monday night trying to get to our house! We could not believe just how much snow was falling and how wet the snow was. It was definitely a slick drive but we loved every minute of it. 

Tuesday morning we woke up to this massive pile of white! 

YAY! 

The snow literally blanketed the valley!

Happily, Sweets set his alarm super early so he and T could play with the "beast" in the snow. After snow blowing our driveway, Sweets made the rounds to the other houses on the street and did all the walks. What a trooper and a lover of his "manly" toys!

Seriously, look at the teeth on this Beast! It certainly does mean business! 

And of course, after running up and down all morning long with dad, T decided it was nap time. He made himself a comfy bed in the snow and laid down! He is such a funny dog...