...a few more things I will or won't miss

I won't miss the occasional dead cockroach laying on the floor, or on the kitchen counter or in the lights

I won't miss driving by the shady night clubs that are opening up as I am driving home (those patten leather thigh/hip high boots really aren't that flattering)

I will miss the bright florescent pink donut shop that I pass...I never entered but it was fun to look as since it was trimmed with other bright florescent colors

I will not miss the occasional body found in the parking lot, either the homeless person asleep or the ...well they didn't tell us what happened that day

I will miss driving past the Dairy Queen where the sign says "Temporarily Closed" but the windows are boarded up and the actual building has a "For Rent" sign on it

I will not miss wondering what is in the ceiling...mid morning to late afternoon the scratching starts...and they say there is no way for the pigeons to get in there...hhmm

And of course...I will miss all the wonderful ladies that I have worked with, even though the place we worked was well...you read about it.

Change is good

Change is on the horizon for me. After 23 months in my current position I am changing jobs to work closer to home. This is something that I have wished/hoped for ever since I had a commute, so for over 10 years.

I will not longer be subjected to a drive every morning and night that is at least 30 minutes, and that is a good day, usually it is 45

I will not have to sit in bumper to bumper traffic when there isn't anything good to listen to on the radio

I will get to eat lunch at home everyday if I so choose

I will get to leave work and be at home in the garage in uh...less than 10 minutes (more like just over 5)

I will save 2 hours of my life everyday, however, I have been told that I will lose those 2 hours pretty quickly on other things, not 2 hours of exercise or extra sleep...hopefully I can prove that wrong

I will lose 2 hours of talk time on the cell phone to catch up with friends and family

So to sum up this post...Life is Good!

Squash...

I was at the farmers market today and bought some more yummy squash...I picked up some butternut squash, spaghetti squash, grey squash, summer squash and some zucchini.

I thought I would post some fun ideas of ways to eat the squash that I like...

Butternut squash...cut in half clean out the seeds, put in 9x9 or 9x13 (whichever will fit in your microwave) put 1/4 -1/2 inch of water in the bottom of the pan (after putting the squash in cut side down). Cover with plastic wrap and cook about 10 minutes. It will be soft to the touch when done. Then you can cut into smaller pieces...this one I generally eat just plain, it comes off of the peel very easy with your spoon or fork...tastes very yummy.

Spaghetti squash...cook same as butternut squash, when this one is done I scrap it out of the peel into a bowl and serve with spaghetti sauce. Much healthier than the carb packed spaghetti noodles :-)

Grey Squash...I have only ever seen this at the farmer's market. It is very similar to zucchini and I eat it the same way, just a slightly different flavor.

Summer squash and Zucchini I cook and eat the same way, just slice about 1/4 in slices and put about 1 inch of water in the bottom of a sauce pan. Cook until tender and eat. Again, I eat it plain, but it would be great with a little basil and pepper, or salt.

I started getting the magazine "Health" and it is fabulous. I absolutely love it. I found a couple of recipes in it that I have tried and many others I want to try, but thought I would share the recipes that I found so far, so here they are:

Parmesan Pork Tenderloin

1 lb pork tenderloin
3 Tbsp fine dry bread crumbs
1 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp
2 tsp vegetable oil
1 small onion thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
2 small zucchini or summer squash, thinly sliced

Cut tenderloin crosswise into 12 slices. Place each slice on its cut surface and flatten with heel of hand to 1/2" thickness. Mix bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper; dredge pork slices to coat. Heat oil over medium-high heat in nonstick sauce pan. Saute pork for 2 to 3 minutes per side; remove and keep warm. Add onions, garlic, and zucchini or squash to skillet and saute 5 minutes or until tender.

I love this one, but I use some of both zucchini and summer squash. The magazine said to visit www.theotherwhitemeat.com for more pork recipes...I haven't tried that site out yet, but after this dish I can't wait to see what's out there.

Roasted Squash Salad with Maple Vinaigrette

1/4 cup chopped skinned hazelnuts (I used walnuts and it was great)
1 pound butternut squash, halved seeded and cut into 8 wedges
3 Tbsp maple syrup
1 1/2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
5 cups mixed winter salad greens
1/4 cup shaved Parmesan cheese (I used grated)

preheat oven to 425
place the nuts on a baking sheet in the over, bake for 5 minutes or until fragrant. Set aside
coat a 13x9 nonstick baking pan with cooking spray. Place squash on pan, cut sides down. Cover with foil, and roast in the middle of oven about 20 minutes or until tender
whisk together the maple syrup, vinegar and mustard in a serving bowl until well blended. Add greens and toss until well combined
divide the dress greens onto each of the 4 plates, and surround with 2 squash wedges. Sprinkle evenly with nuts and Parmesan.

This one I thought looked great, but sounded different...maple syrup and mustard. After trying it though, we will be having it again.

Enjoy the squash

Contact - Who initiate's...

I would love to hear your perspective if you have the time...

This is something that I have been thinking about for some time. In relationships, friendships, family relations etc.

Do you often feel like you are:

A. always reaching out
B. never reaching out
C. meeting in the middle

Do these feelings get to you? Whose "job" is it to reach out?

In my opinion there needs to be balance. I have experienced all of the scenarios that I have listed above. It seems to work best when the relationship uses option C. Otherwise there is too much strain on one member of the relationship, which slowly generates some form of resentment. Not necessarily always noticed by the other member of the relationship depending on how strong the resentment is, or how the relationship has been built over time.

(...still my opinion) In the end the best option is to reach out to those who you truly love and who help you to grow to become better people, when this happens, I find that option C seems very natural.

Just some food for thought. I hope that in all of the relationships in my life I can work to move all of those to option C...however, there is only so much that one party can do since communication takes 2 people.

I am going to try~

A Wonderful Day

Here are just a couple of photo memories from a Wonderful Day in my life.

Blog safety :-)

I was reading a blog the other day that had some wonderful information on how to protect your pictures. I did a little research and was able to protect this blog as well.

In the October 2009 Ensign there is an article titled, Finding and Sharing the
Gospel Online, the end of the article has some great safety tips for blogging.

The Internet is a very powerful tool and can help in Sharing the Gospel and life's experiences with those around us.