Dave and I had heard from several sources that we should watch "Music and Lyrics."
Watched it this weekend. Haven't been able to get PoP! out of our heads since.
We also loved the music video.

Enjoying life as it happens. . .

So a few weeks ago I was craving chocolate chip cookies. I could make a mean batch of cookies when I was 12, but for some reason, I haven't really had time or made some cookies just for myself since high school.

I guess I was a little out of practice; you can see this batch doesn't look so hot. Why? I can sometimes be a little bit of a Scrooge. I didn't want to waste ingredients/extra cookies, so I only made half a batch. In doing so, I accidently put in twice the amount of salt. I didn't want to waste flour, so by the time I mixed everything up, I figured the dough looked fine, albeit a tad bit soft. After all, wasting food is wasting money. I didn't want to waste TIME while I was cooking, so I crammed all the cookies on to one cookie sheet. In addition, I called up Dave's mom to talk with her on the phone and the cookies stayed in the oven for 16 minutes.
What I ended up with was a pan of burnt, salty cookies whose texture was more like crackers. But Dave and I still ate every single one. Perhaps I did because I didn't want to waste any.

Here is a picture of the batch of cookies I made the following week. I didn't skimp, and I stayed off the phone while they were in the oven. I froze the other half of the dough in the freezer (I learned from a friend it's easy to thaw and have fresh cookies quick :) They turned out a LOT better.

This post goes in memory to a few people who I will miss greatly since they have passed away this month:

Grandpa Harper

I love my Harper grandparents. Growing up, my favorite place in the world was their white house on their homestead in Paul, Idaho. Since they moved, their new house is still a favorite place of mine. It is partly because of Grandma's good food and learning how to make bread and knit and crotchet, but mostly it's the love that is always there. My grandpa loved his family, loved his missions to Fiji and Philadelphia, horses, and Grandma.

This past semester, my capstone English class was called "The Great American Cowboy." We read cowboy poetry and autobiographies and novels about cowboys, looked at cowboys in film, and learned about ranching and cowboy history. For the final project for the class, I interviewed my grandpa about his experience at a sheep ranch in Shoshone and also raising cattle for a few years in Paul. I'm so glad I did it; I was able to spend some valuable time with him right before his health declined. The picture below is one time when I was interviewing them and grandma pulled out some cowboy clothing and dressed me up while grandpa told me the reasons behind all the clothing.

Jana

I had known Jana as a girl who went to Albion before she even moved to Declo in 7th grade. We became friends and played soccer together in high school for four years. She was a great friend--this is a little goofy picture of her, but I wanted to put up this photo because it reminded me of a story about her. My dad was taking this picture of me and a few of the other girls here (at our seminary graduation) and Jana accidentally walked right in front of the camera. We have the picture of her head. She started laughing and then jumped into the picture, pulling along Jessica to get in line, too. That is so like her--really bubbly and fun, wanting to be with her friends.

Grandpa Royle

I hope I have as good as health as Grandpa Royle until I die. He was just shy of his 98th birthday when he passed away this week. Up until three weeks ago, he was walking three miles a week at a nearby gym, and he was driving up until last fall. He was astonishing for his good health and memory. He had a lot of good friends; the people he met from his missions and school stayed in touch with him for years. I will always remember him for his cozy house and delicious garden. I hope to have a garden like his. He took care of my grandma Royle until she died, and I'm glad they are together again.