I'm Back!

After 9 days of living out of a suitcase I am back! I seriously don't know how business people who travel all the time do it! I feel so disheveled when living out of a suitcase for so long! It feels good to be home, but what an AMAZING 9 days!

I have so much to blog about. The past 9 days have been eventful to say the least! I can't wait to start writing some new blogs!:) First though, I need to get organized! I have more laundry to do than I care to talk about!:)

Attitude Adjustment

I need an attitude adjustment. Seriously, I do. See the above picture? Yeah, I get to inject myself with that pretty little pen everyday...twice a day. When I was fifteen I was diagnosed with a female endocrine disorder. Boo. The specialist I was seeing at the time told me that along with the disorder often comes something called Insulin Resistance. After undergoing some tests, I soon found out that I most definitely was Insulin Resistant and my life hasn't been the same since. Three years ago my doctor recommended that I start taking Byetta, it's a shot I give myself twice a day when I eat. Of course I was terrified to give myself a shot twice a day, but I knew it's what I had to do. It has truly been a miracle drug for me. It has worked wonders and is exactly what my body needed. For that, I am truly thankful.


Here's where I need an attitude adjustment. My doctor warned me Byetta could cause severe nausea, so I should be prepared. She told me that most patients get use to it after a couple of months and are fine. Ugh, I wish that was me. From the first time I gave myself my first injection until now, I have always been nauseous. Every time I take the shot I am nauseous for about 2 hours. Thankfully, I very rarely throw up. However, recently I have been struggling more with the nausea. It has been crippling. AND I have had a major attitude about it lately. Normally, I'm fine. I know it's what I have to deal with it and I do. Lately though, it's just felt like too much. I have been getting more nausea and it's lasting for hours upon hours. Today I was in the deodorant aisle at Target and I almost lost my lovely Caesar salad from Panera Bread which I had enjoyed an hour before with my darling Husband. I literally sprinted to the bathroom! All I could think about was the embarrassment I would face if I spewed in the middle of Target. No thanks. This has happened before...I go through phases where I am more sick and eventually it ceases. I am praying this will happen soon. I am ashamed to admit that I have just been Miss. Attitude lately. I have repeatedly told Tyler over the last few weeks, "I'm done! I hate this! This isn't fair! I'm 24, I shouldn't have to deal with this!" That's not the attitude I want to have. I know there are so many sick and hurting people in this world, and what I deal with is incredibly minuscule compared to their pain and sickness. Sometimes it is just hard to remember. My prayer is that when I am feeling miserable, I will remember to pray for all the suffering people in this world.

I know God will never give me more than I can handle. He has promised that to all of us. I truly desire to praise God no matter what the situation. For the last 9 years he has allowed me to endure a lot, but he has never left me. Recently I read this during one of my devotional times:

"God designed you to be whole and complete, what every part of your life interconnects with his love and his plan."

Insulin resistance and all that comes with it is part of God's plan for my life. I don't quite understand it...I really don't understand it at all. It doesn't seem fair. Tyler reminded me just last night that one day it will all make sense. Right now, I sometimes can't see beyond the terrible nausea I am facing. I dread injecting myself twice a day. However, I refuse to succumb to having an attitude. No, no, no. I will trust that God knows what's best for me.

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not in your own understanding."
-Proverbs 3:5

Pizza Dough Recipe!

Here are my pizzas I made last night for the Ellis family birthday celebrations!:)

So, many of my friends have been asking for the recipe I use for my pizza dough! I must give all the credit to my mom...it's really her recipe! I grew up eating this yummy pizza and now I am thrilled to share it with all of you! Enjoy!



I am going to give you the recipe for crust for a cookie sheet. It makes enough to fill up an average size cookie sheet. If you just want to make a round smaller pizza, I would cut the recipe in half!



Ingredients:



1 and 1/3 cups warm water

2 packages of yeast

2 tbsp crisco

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

4 cups flour



Steps:

1) Melt the yeast in the warm water. stir it around so the yeast is mostly dissolved. (Don't worry if some of it isn't...not that big of a deal!)

2) Add crisco to the yeast mixture...stir.

3) Mix the dry ingredients together

4) Add the yeast mixture to the dry ingredients, mix well. (Once you mix in the ingredients with a spoon, I recommend that you use your hands to work the dough (Work It!). This is what my my mom recommended to me and it works fabulous! Just work the dough until it is all mixed together! Sometimes when I make the dough I find that it is still a tad bit dry so I have to add a little more warm water.:)

5) Spread the dough out on to a greased cookie sheet. I have found that just using a glass (dipped in a lil' flour)to roll the dough out on the cookie sheet works a lot better than a rolling pin because it's smaller and I can spread it towards the sides of the cookie sheet easier!! (Once again, this is what my mom does too!) The dough will rise quite a bit so don't worry if it looks a little thin! (Add a little flour as you need to if you are having trouble getting the dough to roll!)

6) Top with your favorite pizza sauce and toppings!:) I really like the Chef Boyardee pizza sauce...I always add sugar to it, because I do not like tart pizza sauce! The sweet sauce has gone over very well with my family! You can ALSO use just regular old spaghetti sauce if you do not have pizza sauce on hand...RAGU makes a yummy chunky tomato spaghetti sauce that is delicious on top of pizza...I add sugar to that too!;)

6) Bake at 400 degrees for about 20-25 mins! (depending on how soft/crispy you like your crust!) I bake mine about 22 mins and it's still soft in the middle, but a little crispy on the outside!



**This recipe is also DELICIOUS as Calzone dough! Yumm!!! Make the dough...spread it out into a circle...add toppings to half of it...fold over and seal the edges (I use a fork!)...brush the top with olive oil, parmesan, and basil (yumm!!)...bake at the same temp as above for about 18-20 mins..and enjoy!**

Vegas Vacation!!!

A couple weeks ago we were able to escape all of our responsibilities and get away to Las Vegas with my parents and brother. Ahhh...It was so incredible. We had such an amazing time. We were able to sleep in, stay up late, lay out in the sun by the awesome pool, eat yummy food, explore downtown Vegas and the strip, visit fun attractions, AND see my family whom we miss so much! That was the highlight of my whole trip...seeing my family! Our hotel was fantastic. Our room was BEAUTIFUL and spacious. I definitely could get used to that life!;) Hehe! It was refreshing to get away and not only spend time with my family, but with my Husband. I would say that since Christmas life has been extra busy. Both Tyler and I felt so relaxed on this trip. No work or meetings to worry about...we left those things at home (Well okay, let's be honest...Tyler did send ONE email on the trip! I let it slide!). It was a wonderful week.:) Here are just a FEW of the 280 pictures we took!

After just arriving at our hotel!

It was a little windy our first day there!

Ty enjoying the pool!

Going out our first night there! We were starving!

So happy to be on vacation!

Downtown the first night!

In front of the shark tank. The blue streak going through is the water slide!

The pool was STELLAR! A water slide through a shark tank!!:)

Lion exhibit at the MGM Grand!

M&M FACTORY!

My parents surprised me with a beautiful Juicy Couture bracelet to congratulate me on getting an A in my first Masters class! I literally cried as I was picking it out in the Juicy store! I always admire the bracelets at Nordstroms, but actually picking one out from the Juicy store was even better!

Love my Mom:)

Posing with Donny Osmond's Dancing With the Stars trophy! My mom still has the biggest crush on Donny!

At the Luxor!

At the Flamingo! We got to see flamingos up close and personal!


In front of the Venetian!

Walking down the strip!

So in love:)

It was so much fun to see my family! I miss them so much already!

It was really fun posing with the pirates and parrot! The guy charged us $1o for these pics, but I think they were well worth it!

Haha!

Silly!

The volcano eruption at the Mirage

Tyler's birthday dinner at California Pizza Kitchen! He loves Thai Pizza! (Haha..get it Ty loves Thai?!) Ok, enough corny jokes for now!

The AMAZING Bellagio fountain show! Tyler and I put staying at the Bellagio in a room where we can see the show on our bucket list!

This guy was awesome!

Me in front of my store!;)

I have always wanted to visit Las Vegas. I was a little apprehensive though...I mean I have always heard it referred to as "Sin City!" However, I was pleasantly surprised how much family oriented things there were to do! It was great! I can't wait to visit again!

Santo Wedding:)

On May 29th Tyler and I were honored to attend Dan and Shannon's wedding! The ceremony was at the Bendict Castle (so lovely) and the reception was at the Mission Inn (beautiful!). Dan and Tyler were roommates all 4 years at Simpson and so they have a special bond; Tyler was stoked to be a part of the wedding. It was a beautiful event and the food was delicious!:) Why is it that I always seem to be starving at a wedding? Of course, my Husband looked so handsome! I have a thing for him when he is all dressed up, especially in a tux!:) Here are just a few pictures from the evening. I am really bummed that most of my pictures turned out so dark!

1st Masters Class Complete!

I am so very relieved that I finished my first Masters class. It was a lot of work, but I finished strong and it feels great! I have actually been done since May 29th, but my grade just posted last week! I got an A! Woo hoo! That is truly a great feeling! I am taking June off, but will be back at it in July! If I keep this pace I will be done at the end of October! Yay!

BBQ!

So, I am way behind on blogging! So much has been going on lately. Wedding, family bbq, vacation, mission trip planning, Tyler's birthday! Whew...it's been a whirlwind! I will catch up! I have so many great pics from vacation that I cannot wait to share!
Here are some pics from our last small group BBQ we had a couple weeks ago! We have been so blessed by the amazing group of students who have packed into our tiny 830 sq feet apartment every Thursday night (I am a bog believer that no matter how small your home is, there is always room for more!)! They have been such a fun group with a true yearning to know Christ more! It's also been great fun co-leading with Kristin and Cody!:) Hope you enjoy the pics!:)