Trust in Him

The fall, like always, brings with it the start of a school year (specifically the start of Brad's last year of his undergrad) which is always exciting. As for me, I have decided to take a break from school. I have a good full time job at an optometrists office so I am not teaching piano this year (which is sad, I love teaching...). I tell people it's so I can support Brad and we can save money for when grad school hits us, but it is also because I need a mental break. School is stressful... and your mental health is important.

I don't know when I will continue my education but I do know that I still want to get more education, it's just going to take longer than what I originally planned. More often than not, the plan God has in mind for us doesn't always work with the plan we had intended. I'm not saying to forget your dreams and plans but to let God lead your life to paths and doors you wouldn't have seen otherwise.

Alma 57:27 Now this was the faith of these of whom I have spoken; they are young, and their minds are firm, and they do put their trust in God continually.

D&C 84:116 Let him trust in me and he shall not be confounded;

I know that when I let God lead my life and I have faith in him to know what is best for me, everything turns out better than I could've imagined.

Our adventure

In July, my hubby and I went on an adventure. It was cold, wet and tiring but an adventure nonetheless.

At the beginning of summer I wanted to take a road trip to Oregon to see my bestie, my travel buddy, from France. You may remember reading about the times I had with Alandra or you may not. But we got really close that year in France and I hadn't seen her since we parted ways that tearful day at the airport. 

Unfortunately that road trip wasn't able to become a reality and I was heartbroken. So as I consolation prize, Bradley took me back-country camping in Waterton. 

As soon as we parked the car I swear it started raining. We hopped on our bikes with our packs that probably weighed as much as I do. 

Since we couldn't start until after work at 5:30 we literally were racing the setting sun. 

It was an 8 point something km incline and we DID NOT stay on our bikes the whole time. I think I walked half the time. I am not complaining though, it was an adventure. 

We got to snowshoe cabin with sunlight to spare and a new burst of energy.

This was our 5 star accommodation equipped with a built in clothesline.

We saw some beautiful sites that made me appreciate nature.

And some sites that made me respect nature... (Luckily that is the only part of the bear that we saw)






Bringing the bikes was worth it even if it was just for the ride back. It took us less than an hour to ride downhill to the Red Canyon packing lot. We spent the hot afternoon walking through the icy water in the canyon to cool down. We even had time to go to a temple session after we cleaned up. I often forget how much I like being away from people and disconnecting from the world, so those 2 days were great to realign myself with nature and God.

What's your battle?

As I was reading the Book of Mormon last week I found this verse that got me thinking. 

First, some context:

Zeniff was taking a group from Zarahemla to the land of Lehi-Nephi and the Lamamite King lets them have the land. But it was a trap and King Laman just wanted them as slaves to work the land for them. Wars and contentions began to break out but Zeniff's people armed themselves with bows and arrows, swords and the strength of the Lord. Zeniff asked the Lord to deliver them out of the hands of their enemies and God did hear and answer their prayers. 

Although our battles aren't a war against the Lamanites do we have the strength of the Lord as we fight our daily challenges?

Your battle could be an illness (physical and/or mental), it could be a tough class or an assignment, a financial problem, it could be exercising and keeping healthy, a job (or lack there of), cleaning your house, making dinner, remembering to drink enough water... 

You get the picture. Basically your battle could be anything. And whatever your battle is, the Lord will deliver you if you remember to ask for help and go forth with the strength of the Lord. 

Pixie Cut!

You are probably aware of the big chop I just made to my hair!!  Ever since I got married I wanted to cut off all of my hair but I was too nervous... I kept flip flopping back and forth. Long hair like Rapunzel... or try something new with short hair.

So how short did I go? Pretty darn short... I was able to donate it again. I am sporting a pixie cut now, and I rock it... at least I'm telling myself that until I get over the shock.

I feel like I lost ten pounds though (ha there's a diet plan for you) and I keep expecting my hair to swing when I walk and to blow in my face when I go outside (Thanks again southern Alberta wind...) but it doesn't.

Thanks to pinterest, I was able to find many different kinds of short cuts. My favorite was the longer pixie cut style.

 I also had to keep in mind that I have a heart shape face so we didn't want to make my chin a focal point, but draw the attention to my eyes and smile.

If you are thinking about making a big cut to your locks make sure to:

Do it because you want to. 

Talk to a hairdresser who knows your hair 

Do it for yourself. 

Have confidence (you can rock anything if you just believe).

If you want to, do it. Don't let others decide for you.

No matter what you do, (to quote Taylor Swift) the haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate, and people are going to judge you if you do it AND if you don't. So do whatever will make you the happiest. 

Not Enough Storage? Not a problem!

We recently moved into a basement suit and after house sitting for a senior missionary couple it was quite the down size. But as far as basement suites go, this one is pretty decent. The windows are large (according to Brad that's my selling point), it has three bedrooms and our own washer and dryer! Though the kitchen is was lacking in the storage department and therefore we had no where to store our pots and pans.

We wanted them easily accessible, not too high (so I can reach without a chair) and organized. Ultimately, we decided to install a pegboard and it is the best/cutest thing ever! I love how it's functional and decorative!

The pegboard cost like $6 at home depot, we used scrap wood to space it from the wall (make sure you line them up with the studs on the wall you are putting them... we tried.. but we had to reposition one anyway). I painted the board a light blue colour and we ordered hooks in bulk off amazon. 

 We fiddled around with the order and placement of pots until I was happy. I traced all the pots and their handles so I could paint their shadow later.

I love it! And we will never have to guess where each pot goes we just match it with its shadow!

Peach Pork Chops

For Christmas my mum gave us twelve jars of canned peaches and twelve more of apple pie filling. We love it and will love it for a while yet (until we run out...). Both Brad's and my mum's do a lot of canning, so we have quite a few canned goods! But now what to do with those? I love peaches, but I wanted to try something different then just eating them plain or on pancakes or with ice cream.
The other Sunday Bradley comes up with a jar of peaches and asks if we can eat this for dinner. I had already gotten out the pork chops that we would be eating but hadn't yet decided how to cook them, so I replied as a joke "Sure we can have peach pork chops". It was a joke because I had never heard of such a thing and didn't think it would work. Bradley, however, jumped on the idea and thought it was fantastic. He looked up a recipe and found this one.

It turned out deliciously that we wanted to share it with everyone else.




All you need is:

3-4 pork chops (cut off the extra fat)
some sort of oil (I used canola)
salt and pepper
peaches 29 oz canned with liquid
3 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground ginger

1. In a frying pan (I suggest a deeper than normal one) heat up the oil on medium heat.
2. Add the pork chops and salt and pepper them. Cook them until brown.
3. In a separate bowl mix together the syrup of the peaches, brown sugar, and ginger.
4. Pour over chops and cook until boiling.
5. Add the peaches and cook for 15-20 min uncovered (or the juice has been reduced by half and is thicker) turning occasionally to get the flavour everywhere.
6.  Serve!

We served it along side mashed potatoes and vegetables and the peach syrup with the potatoes was surprisingly good!