to be a pioneer

yesterday was a holiday here in utah-pioneer day. it's basically the day the pioneers arrived in utah after trekking across the country to escape religious persecution. if you're mormon, it's a pretty big deal. if you're not, it's a nice excuse for a day off work. since i am mormon, it's a pretty big deal. i have ancestors who left everything they had to come and settle utah with the hope of religious freedom. they endured so many hardships to get here. many people lost their lives and families and literally every single thing they owned. they did it because they believed it was the right thing to do. 17 miracles facebook page
the past couple of weeks at church we've been singing some songs with the little tykes about the pioneers. i especially love this song. "you don't have to push a handcart, leave your family dear, or walk a thousand miles or more to be a pioneer. you do have to have great courage, faith to conquer fear, and work with might for a cause that's right to be a pioneer."
yesterday wasn't just a day off work to relax and go running and the pool and finally have time for a pedicure. i did all of those things, but it was also a day to think about having great courage, faith to conquer fear, and working with might for a cause that's right. it's so easy to hangout in our comfort zones rather than pushing ourselves to do something more, to be something better. 

i can't pull that off

do you ever see someone and think or even say out loud "that's so cute, but i could never pull it off." it's probably not true most of the time, but we all say it anyway.

glasses are one of those things for me. i always feel like i look a little silly in trendy glasses so i just never wear them. i basically keep my contacts in until right before i go to bed. i've been thinking a little more about glasses lately after someone tweeted about some bad effects of wearing contacts. it scared me enough to start looking into glasses. enter the warby parker beacon collection inspired by impromptu, can't duplicate them all nighters. sometimes i wish i could say i'm old and go to bed super early, but that's just not usually the case. this new line was designed for late nights, early mornings, and everything in between.

these frames are so stylish and trendy. the question is...can i really pull them off?

as cute as they are, my fave part of the company is their donation of glasses to people in need for every pair purchased. i'm excited to check out the whole collection and see if it's something i can really pull off.

what about you? anything you think maybe you can't pull off?

blogging the bach 10.10 ...men tell all

i'll be honest, the men tell all isn't my fave episode. the women tell all is a different story, but there just isn't really too much to get excited about.

i am excited to have ashley co-hosting with me this week. i can't wait to see what she has to say.

i've used this season to talk about various things we can learn by watching the bach, but this week leaves me with more questions than answers.

1. whyyyyy do they continue to show those awful suave commercials?

2. i love ashley and jp...a lot, but if they already have been buying a ton of clothes and have narrowed the baby name down to their top choice, what makes the producers think we are going to believe they don't already know the baby gender? that whole thing was just way to bizarre for me.

3. how is it that in 2014 grown adults (who know they have a mic at all times) make racist comments? i don't even know what else to say except i really don't even want to touch that convo.

4. did anyone survive bachelor in paradise? michelle money says "words cannot describe" i have a few words...train wreck=can't wait.

5. has marquel ever seen this show? was he really that surprised that everyone else was kissing andi? he really is adorable though.

6. after watching the recap of andi and chris, do people still think she belongs with chris? i love chris. i really do, but he and andi are not a good match. #chrisforbachelor

7. who came up with the scarf idea and dylan's idea to cut his hair? both great ideas.

8. can we have more bloopers please? best part of the whole show.

9. how did i miss that poem from josh? did they ever show it? i usually make fun of the poetry so i think i would remember.

10. who's excited for the finale next  week?

did you blog? link up below. 

An InLinkz Link-up

bright night event

***blogging the bach is coming tomorrow. i missed half of it last night so i need to watch those parts before i have much to say. basically i missed chris in the hot seat so that's an obvious problem**   i'm a little behind on posting a few fun events i've been too lately. a couple of weeks ago, i spent the day/night with women celebrating women at bright night. it was an amazing event and so much fun. the event featured several small classes, amazing food, a dance party, and a great time. it was the perfect day away from work and a great chance to re-charge. i freaked out for weeks about what to wear. i always stress out way to much about what to wear. 

the decorations all day were perfect. 

the day started with lunch and keynote from the alison show about being awesome. she had the whole group completely engaged. we went from laughing to crying to standing up and dancing. 

diana (livy loves to run) did a class on setting goals and overcoming obstacles. her main goal over the last year has been weight loss, but she applied the same principles to all goals (like finding a husband-danger of being friends with the presenter)

next was photography class. mckenzie was hilarious and gave some great photography tips. she set up the cutest backdrop for photos after class.

our first round of pics...

too good not to post

tater tots and jello came with craft supplies and no instructions. i loved that class a lot. the idea was for everyone to be creative and make whatever. 

the dinner decor was just as good as the rest of the day. everything was so cute, and there were so many great details (like the metal straw).

carissa and i have been looking forward to this event for months. we started out the day together and then somehow i couldn't keep track of her all day. i sent her a text to in a class to find out where in the world she was only to find out she was standing in the back. it became the running joke of the day.

i'm not big into dance parties, but this was really fun. i had to leave early, but from the videos i've seen, people had a great time.

kyla came just for the dance party. 

i had such a fun day with friends, met a few new girls, and left feeling AWESOME.

the key to discipline:

I posted this over at Academic Advancement a while ago. It's such a got topic, I wanted to post it here too. For some reason I rarely blog about my job. I am a child development specialist in early intervention which means I work with children ages birth-3 with developmental delays and disabilities. Discipline is always a hot topic. No matter whether it's a 2 year old, 10 year old, or 25 year old, the principles are the same.

                                                                                                                                             image credit olive the things Crying kids are no fun, but what are you supposed to do about it? A lot of people think timeout is the answer. I don't think timeout is bad or wrong, but it's not necessarily the answer. It just doesn't seem to work much of the time.

Being consistent is probably the most important and hardest part of discipline. Consistency is my number one tip to dealing with behaviors. Here are the top 5 tips for being consistent and handling discipline. 1. Ask 2 times and then help. If you ask your child twice to do something, and they don't do it, it's time to jump in and help. They will learn you are consistent and will be more likely to follow your directions. 2. Avoid empty threats. If you are not prepared to follow through on the threat to take away electronics for an entire month, avoid saying it. Children will believe you when you follow through. 3. Use positive reinforcement and rewards. Children crave attention and praise. When they get this attention for doing good things, they are less likely to seek attention by doing inappropriate things. 4. Ignore negative behaviors. If children do not get attention for certain things, they will eventually stop the behavior. It takes time and consistency, but it does work. 5. Beware of negotiation. Children are master negotiators. They try any and everything to get what they want unless they realize it won't work. All these tips come right back to consistency. It really is key. Easier said than done right?

PS..i'm over at and here's to you mrs robinson sharing a fun, easy craft for kids.

foodie friday...coconut lemon cake

i posted a cake stand for WHAT WOULD YOU DO this month. i made the cake stand for the post, but i also made a cake for a celebration at work. i wanted something a little fancier than a regular cake, but i also wanted something easy. i love anything citrus and especially lemon. this cake was so easy and so delicious.

i started with a recipe on the back of coconut extract and changed things up a little.

ingredients

coconut extract

white cake/eggs/oil/water

lemon juice/lemon zest

coconut

buttercream frosting

lemon pie filling

 1. make cake per directions

2. add 1 tbsp coconut extract

3. squeeze juice from 1 lemon

4. add 1/4 c coconut

5. bake in 2 round pans, let cool

6. combine buttercream frosting, 1 can lemon pie filling, 1 tsp coconut extract

7. frost cake

8. sprinkle with coconut

9. enjoy

dinner group friends

a few weeks ago i talked about work friends. i've also talked about my recipe exchange dinner group in the past, but it's been a really long time.

we realized last night we have been getting together once a month for almost 7 years. we usually meet at someone's house and all bring part of the meal-appetizer, main dish, wild card, and dessert. we share the recipes and bring our assigned part of the meal. due to kitchen remodels we decided to go out this month. with our various busy lives it's pretty amazing that we can find a way to get together monthly, but it's always exactly what i need. we met downtown this time and ate outside. the weather was perfect, and the conversation was great. 2 of us are single and 2 are married with kids. we talked about everything from things we hope for in life, to jobs, to kids, to travel, etc. i really don't know how i got so lucky to have such amazing friends in my life, but i am truly blessed.

blogging the bach 10.9...fantasy suites

i took a lot of notes this week, but i'm still having a little bit of a hard time organizing my post. let's start with the word tally since that overwhelmed the whole episode.

journey...2 (surprising since it's almost the end)

amazing...28 (started out with a lot of amazing but died off quickly)

love...84 (we get it. everyone is in love)

fairytale...1 (also surprising)

right reasons...0 (they're all there for the right reasons by now)

husband/wife/spouse/fiance/mom/dad...20 (all lumped together because i messed up my counting)

lucky...3

andi did not say stop or good one single time this week #shocking

i should have counted romantic. it was said a lot.

i lived in the dominican republic for 4 months in college. it really is one of the prettiest places i've ever seen. i haven't been back since, but this week's bach makes me really want to. everything this week reminded me of something that happened there from dancing merengue with locals, to riding and falling off donkeys in the mud, to hiking, to being in the capitol, to the cute kids. it was really hard. but i loved it so much.

some thoughts on this week.

nick-still my least fave, too serious, not seeing the passionate part andi keeps talking about

the book is cute, but i'm a little nervous that in order to say i love you "he had to write it in a children's book" --co-worker tiffany

"i feel hopeful" --andi

josh-happy, young, vibrant, fun, he loves andi, and she loves him too. you can tell by the duck face she makes everytime he says i love you. she wants to say it back and can't so she does duck face. the producers have done one heck of a job drawing out the baseball player biz. he talks about kids and families, and i still think he's the one.

chris- "she's more of a country girl than i thought"-i have no idea what about her response on the horse made him think that.

chris is adorable, sweet. his exit was one of the most mature i've seen ever.

#chrisforbachelor for sure

the rose ceremony is uneventful. i can't wait to see what happens in 2 weeks. i'm also pretty excited to see men tell all next week. what do you think will happen?

i posted on social media and had quite the response about favorites. who's your fave?

An InLinkz Link-up

soccer ball cake

i went to a super glam blogger event last night and missed the bach. I'll be back tomorrow for blogging the bach. 
since the world cup final landed on the same day as laurann's birthday, it was only fitting to make a soccer ball birthday cake. she loves soccer almost as much as my brothers (one of which didn't go to school this summer because of the world cup). i've seen the 3D ball pan several times, but this was my first time using. aside from needing to google the pattern for the soccer ball, it was fairly simple and so fun to make.

i always thought cake decorating was way too hard. it really is much simpler than it seems, and i love it.

mathis family reunited part 3...the hike

i took an unintentional little break from the family reunion posts. for something that only lasted 3 1/2 days, there sure were a ton of pictures.
one thing i remember from visiting st. george when i was young is climbing the red hill. you walk up and see the whole city from the top. it's a pretty easy walk up so it's a perfect family activity.
my mom and her 2 sisters whose initials used to be on the top of the hill

 johnson fam

 several fun spots to climb inside

karlee fits perfectly in this 

 my cousin shaylee

 jordan, chelsea and kyler, zach

 with karlee

 with karlee and karson

 just karson

 extended johnson fam

  andrew, malea, and ap=

 my family

 my cousin's baby miles

 tell this girl to strinke a post and she's a pro

"hiking" with my family was a highlight of the whole reunion.  what do you like to do with your family?