Friends

Change sucks.

And sometimes, no matter how hard you try, things don't work out.

But it will be okay.

Someday things will work out.

And you'll be happy.

And yesterday, I was sad about changes that were taking place.

But then, I went to Zumba class with an awesome instructor and afterwards got to talk to my best friend.

Life got better.

I think that God gives us people in our lives to help us.

And no matter what, friends make everything better.

And if they don't, they are really friends.

I wanted to write a word, but spellcheck keeps telling me that "Shopkeeper" is the closet word.

Whatever.

My point is this:  Life sucks and its difficult and sad and all that crap.  Friends turn bad situations/days/weeks into good learning and hopefully, if you have a great bff, they will talk crap out with you and talk crap about whatever is bugging you. 

Things will work out.

I think.

I hope.

Whatever.

"Heartbreak is more common than happiness.  No one wants to say that, but its true.  We're taught to believe not only that everyone deserves a happy ending, but also that if we try hard enough, we will get one.  That's simply not the case.  Happy endings, lifelong loves, are the products of both luck and effort.  Call it God's plan, but we are all at its mercy.  And sometimes, God doesn't seem so merciful." - Jane Austen Ruined My Life  (now, there are a ton of great quotes in that book but the ending blows...just fyi)

So here is to wishing myself and yourself lots of luck and effort so we can get a happy ending :)

Until next time...

Janalee

Triple Chocolate Zucchini Cake

Yo...

Some people say that zucchini doesn't belong in cake.  I say if you eat a piece of this cake, you can count it as a serving of veggies.  Whatever.  To each their own.  I'm just saying that I don't love cake...but this cake is enough to make me rethink that.  It is super soft and so chocolatey.  They said it only serves 12 people, but it has served WAY more than that the two times I've made it.  I got the recipe for Double Chocolate Zucchini Cake from Tasty Kitchen and tweeked it both times to be more chocolatey.  For their recipe click here.

I made it last with my niece, Savannah, and she has been asking for more even though that was on Sunday and its Thursday now.  Guess its just that good.

Ingreds:

1/2 cup margarine, mostly melted
1/2 cups vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup milk with a teaspoon of lemon juice
2 1/2 cups flour
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 Tablespoons cinnamon
2 cups shredded zucchini
1 bag (or more if you want) MILK chocolate chips


So you mix the first six together, then add everything but the zucchini and cchips.  Mix really well.  Now throw (literally.  Just kidding) the zucchini and cchips in and mix some more.  Pour into an extremely well greased and floured bundt pan.  Throw in the oven for 62 minutes (just depends on how gooey you like it) at 350 degrees.  Cool it.


Icing Ingreds:


1/2 cup margarine, completely melted
2/3 cup baking cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 or more cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla


Heads up:  I could eat the icing without the cake and be okay with it all.


Melt the marg, then add the cocoa til its mixed good.  Mix in one cup of sugar at a time.  Then the milk and vanilla.  Beat it baby.


Let the iced cake hang out in the fridge.  Be prepared with a glass of milk or a huge scoop of ice cream to go with it.  Or not.  Whatever floats your boat.


Welp...Enjoy.

Goals...for August

So my quest for more happiness is underway.  I bought a pedometer, made a poster to put my star stickers on, and I am trying to start practicing for the new goals I have made.  So far I can see that Sundays are my least productive day and I'm okay with that.  I think I will save Sunday as my day off on most of the goals I have.  So six days a week, I will be trying to boost my energy (body and mind) by:

• Walking 10,000 steps.  Did you know that 10,000 steps a day makes your heart happier and healthier?  Yeah...I didn't.  I've been working on this one already and it is AWESOME.  Love this goal.
• Exercising 30 minutes a day.  Whether its Zumba, which is hilarious and a good workout, or Taebo at home, or just walking, this makes me feel better about myself.  Good ole endorphins!
• Sleeping for 8 hours, bed by 11, up by 7.  Most people need 8 hours of sleep to feel positive and if you aren't getting enough sleep you get sick more frequently.  I have an awful habit of staying up way late and then getting up early.  Thus, I am tired and I have no energy to do anything that I want/need to do.  And sleeping is one of my favorite things to do. 
• Writing down my meals and activities through the day.  This way, I will try to only eat things I want to write down
• De-cluttering my apartment...this one will be awesome.  I will use the five minute rule, so anything that takes five minutes of less gets done.  I will also be doing the evening tidy-up.  I like waking up to a cleaner home and so this will be great.
• Not drinking soda pop.  Ugh.  This one with be my demon forever.  I love soda pop.  I do.  I'm not ashamed.  In fact, it is not that bad.  There are a lot of worse things in the world...but nevertheless...I am going to give up my soda for the time being.  I did it for Lent this year and did great.  I lost ten pounds by doing nothing different other than not drinking soda.  Its not a healthy habit...Sound like I'm trying to convince myself?  Yes.  I am.  In fact, as I type this, there is a Coca-Cola with lots of ice keeping me company.  Jealous?  I will be too when I read this in 15 days.
• Doing things!  Okay, I have been putting LOTS of stuff off so this month I will do one of those things each day and get crap done!  That way I'll stop worrying about them and just get them outta the way.

The end results I'm looking for?  A happier home.  Healthier choices.  More motivation.

So as the end of July closes in, I'm drinking all the soda I can, walking more often, trying to get to bed earlier and focusing on my new goals.   Gretchen Rubin came up with 12 commandments for her happiness, so I thought I would too for me.  Some of mine are the same as hers.  My 12 commandments are:

1. Let things go.
2. Breathe.
3. Wants and needs are different.  You don't NEED people to love you.  (This one is because I often only like myself if other people do.  But that is not the way it should be.  Whether people love you or not doesn't affect your worth.  Or at least it shouldn't.  This one will be a tough one for me, but I'm ready for the challenge.)
4. Look for the positive in each situation.
5. Do it now.
6. Be fair.
7. Enjoy the process.
8. Read.
9. Pray.
10. Let yourself feel how you feel.
11. Laugh.
12. Worrying helps nothing.  (Even though I'm PRO at it.)

Welp...
I guess that is all for this post.  Wish me luck!  But I don't NEED that so nevermind.  Ugh.

Janalee

Happiness

Welp...On the 4th of July, I went to get a book for the CC Library Book Club, A Midsummer Nights Dream.  But after I picked it up, I saw a book that I have been wanting to read and putting off for 2 yearsish.  The first time I saw The Happiness Project was in SLC with my best friend Chelsea.  We were in Anthropology and while she tried on pretty clothes, I looked at books.  So Wednesday, I thought about which one I would rather have and The Happiness Project won.  Sorry Shakespeare.  

It has made me think, if life is about being happy then we should be really good at that, right?

If you have not taken the time to define what happiness means to you, what have your spent your whole life pursuing?  Bo Bennett 

Ugh...what indeed?  I made a list of the daily things that make me happy.  Here are just a few:

music - not a day goes by that I'm not jammin.

work - I have the best job ever.

my kiddo friends - their phone calls, calling me Gramma, etc.

friends - absolutely necessary.

food - I love making it and eating it and giving it away. not always in that order...

crafting - its amazing how you feel when you create/recreate something.

reading - give me a book and my day will get better nearly every time.

Gretchen Rubin wrote the book and takes each month to add new goals.  My first happiness month will be August, so I'm just in the prep stages, but I'm so excited that I've started some of my goals already.  I even made a chart to put star stickers on for each day I succeed in my quest for being happier.  Silly?  Lame?  Don't I know it.  But if it helps me to find more happiness, so be it.

I have been focusing on more external things thus far in my pursuit, but it should be the Internal that I focus on:

Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.  Denis Waitley

I agree.  And I believe that God wants everyone to be happy.  No matter who you are or where you are in your life, that is what we're here for...Right?  Can I get a witness?

Some days you might feel like Robert Mapplethorpe when he said, "Happiness?  No.  Its not there for me."  But keep your chin up and work for it and maybe it'll come to you.  Or maybe you are meant to be sad all the time.  But I don't think that is true for anyone.  Except maybe Oscar the Grouch.  Its in his name not to be happy.

So.....Here's to beginning the quest for happiness.  Join me?  Okay fine.  Don't.  Whatever.  You know what?  I just remembered this quote:  "If you expect another person to make you happy, you'll be endlessly disappointed."  So there.  HAHA.  I'm crazy.

Welp...Happy Trails to you!!!

Baking/Crafting

This one is for you Missy.  Melissa.  Whatever they call you....

So, I make these delicious Corn Starch Cookies and I was bragging on them the other day...So I decided instead of just typing them for one, I would type them for all.

Corn Starch Cookies

1 cup butter, MELTED

3/4 cup corn starch (that's right)

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup flour

Mix in first three ingredients in a medium bowl and blend well.  Beat in flour until mixed thoroughly.  Drop by small teaspoons onto an ungreased cookie sheet.  Flatten them out with flour-covered bottom of a glass.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes.

Now, for the best part:

Cream Cheese Frosting

3 oz cream cheese, softened.  I like to put mine in a mixing bowl on top of the stove while the oven preheats.  That way, it is softened, but not melty.  And perfect.

1 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla...or more if you like.

Beat together until smooth.  You can even add color if you want.  If the frosting isn't runny enough for your taste, add more vanilla or you can even add milk in teaspoons if you like.

Frost the cookies.  And just you wait.  They melt in your mouth.  And they are tasty.  Tasty.  I might have to make some tonight.  Dang it.

And might I just add this:  Cream Cheese Frosting could cure all of the world's problems.

And now for the crafting part of this blog...

I found a quote the other day that made me laugh and so I made it for my bathroom.  I then showed a coworker.  And I made one for him.  It said, "Wash your hands and say your prayers cause germs and Jesus are everywhere."

So anyway...I have been crafting a lot lately, and I have come to feel that it is a great way for me to handle stress in life and a great way for me to feel like I am doing something worthwhile.  Even if I'm the only one who sees most of the stuff I make, at least it makes me happy.

Right?

 Anyway, Happy National Beauticians Day (Shoutout to Amy Garfield) and also Happy National Chocolate Pudding Day!  I shared my puddin with you!

:)

Have a great day!

Books

Wow.  I just finished the first book of  The Hunger Games series.  Wow.  I hated the ending, not in the this ending sucks way, but in the way she treats Peeta.  Poor guy.  If you haven't yet read these, you probably will like them if you do.  I'll admit that the first 100 pages were slow for me.  I kept thinking that I should be more in love with the people and the book itself.  But then once I got past that I couldn't put the book down.  I was reading it while testing people at work.  It was a two minute typing test they did three times.  So I read for two minutes, got up, helped them start a new one after recording the score, and then read for two minutes, on and on for nine hours.  It was quite humorous.

I will admit, I feel like I don't know enough about him to be team Gale.  I am team Peeta currently.  I think Gale was a great friend to her, but Peeta loves her.  And I think if you went through the crap they did together, you would need each other to recover.  I guess we will see what Catching Fire and Mockingjay bring.  I already hate President Snow.  Such a jerk.  And I hated Cato as well.  I think Foxface was quite tricky, but I'm glad she didn't win.

Favorite character:  Rue.  No Cinna.  No.  Rue.  Okay...its a tie between them.  I love Rue and Cinna, both.  Oh.  And Haymitch.  At first I thought he was weird, but I really liked him by the end.

Oh, I guess I should say that I saw the movie prior to reading the book.  I like to do that so the book isn't ruined by the movie.  I think they did great casting the movie.  I heard people complaining about the girl who played Rue, but I think that she was fabulous.

Anyway, read a book.  It is good for your soul...
And you don't want a book to kill itself because you didn't read it...
Seriously.
Read a book.

And have a great day :)

Books

Seriously.

How lucky are we to have access to such great and powerful objects?  I have been rereading a favorite book of mine.  Its called The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

This will be the third time I've read it...  And each time, new things stand out to me and I fall in love with it for a new reason.  Its about a little girl named Liesel who moves in with foster parents during World War II.  The street where she lives has lots of great characters on it.  At first, I hated Rosa Hubermann because she calls everyone she loves mean names.  But then that is just her way of showing them she loves them.  I know its opposite of what it should be, but that is how she does it.  The book is narrated by Death.  Weird?  Not even.  Totally awesome.

I cannot recommend the book enough.  It is sad, happy, funny, heart wrenching, and just wonderfully amazing.  Its a lot like life is really.

Its about losing.  And gaining.  One of my favorite quotes from Death is this, "I witness the ones that are left behind, crumbled among the jigsaw puzzles of realization, despair, and surprise. They have punctured hearts. They have beaten lungs."  So from Death's point of view, and my own personal point of view, its much worse to be the ones who live on.  Seriously.

Anyway, if you like good books, read this one.  If you don't like good books, I just don't know what to say...other than this:  We need to talk.

Enjoy.