Day 18, My Beliefs

I thought this would be the perfect post for the day after Thanksgiving because my beliefs are some of the things I am the most thankful for.

I probably don't talk about it enough on here but I am LDS, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. You may also know my church as the Mormons.

I believe in the Bible. I believe that Jesus Christ, God and the Holy Spirit are three different personages. I believe in The Book of Mormon, it is another testament of Jesus Christ from the people of the Americas before, during and after Christ's time on earth.

I don't drink coffee, black tea, or alcohol. I don't smoke or do any drugs. I don't swear or use the Lord's name in vain. I try not to watch movies that swear or have sexual themes. I don't watch porn and I think it is disgusting. I didn't have sex until after I was married and I will only have sex with my husband.

My husband and I got sealed to each other in the Boston Temple for eternity, so we believe that because we were sealed and because we follow God's commandments that we will be married forever and our children will be born into this sealing and will be sealed to use forever also.

We believe that when we dies we will go to the spirit world and wait to be judged and then we will become Gods and Goddesses of our own worlds.

To help everyone understand more of my beliefs and the beliefs of those in my church I will post the thirteen articles of faith which can be found at the end of the Book of Mormon.

1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

To learn even more about my beliefs you can visit Mormon.org where members have profiles where they share their beliefs through their testimonies. Another great place that you can visit to understand the LDS member's beliefs it to go to http://www.youtube.com/user/MormonMessages. Mormon Messages are great because it illustrates our beliefs from members of the church and how they practice those beliefs in their lives.

A video I just watched that I love from the Mormon Messages is one called "Having Children Enriches Your Life", you can watch it below.

 

I hope you enjoyed reading about what I believe in and I hope you learned from me or from the websites that I provided. My church is so important to me and Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit are companions that I am so grateful to have in my life.

Taco Cupcakes!

This recipe is super yummy and it so cute! My husband though thinks I should call it something else because every time I say taco cupcake he says it makes him sick because a taco cupcake would be disgusting! Don't worry it is not disgusting and although you may be picturing a sweet cupcake with beef frosting. Now that would be disgusting!

Here we go!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1 package of taco seasoning, I used hot and spicy because that was the only one in my cupboard and it made it really spicy but Ryan and I both liked it!
• 1 can refried beans
• 36 Wonton Wrappers
• 2 C shredded cheddar cheese
• Toppings: sour cream, diced tomatoes, ketchup

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Coat with oil.
2. Brown beef in a skillet and drain the fat.
3. Add the taco seasoning and follow the directions on the package.
4. Place one wonton in the bottom of each muffin cup. Next put in some refried beans, then the meat, then the cheese. Now repeat starting with the wonton wrapper and repeat for all the muffin cups.
5. Bake for 15-18 minutes of until golden brown.
6. Remove cupcakes from tin and top with you favorite taco toppings. I topped mine with ketchup because it helped cool down how spicy it was.

They should end up looking something like this! Now that doesn't look as disgusting as what you first pictured right? I hope you enjoy!

I got this recipe from Tablespoon blog, check out how they made their taco cupcakes and other great recipes! http://www.tablespoon.com/recipes/taco-cupcakes/01bc4542-2c87-4b98-a8e8-ac81e79357d9?nicam4=SocialMedia&nichn4=Facebook&niseg4=Tablespoon&nicreatID4=Post

Day 17, My Highs and Lows of This Past Year!

I will start with my lows because there is not much that I want to go over because it is very personal and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings but my lows happened in the beginning of the year because of some things that went on but I am happy to say that things are looking up.

Now that I have that over with =) I will go over my highs! Obviously my biggest high is m beautiful daughter Savannah! She is almost one year old now and I love her so much. I am so proud of her and how quickly she learns and I just love her cute personality. I will share some pictures from the past year!

Well before I post the pictures I have to warn you, I went through my facebook album for Savannah and picked out some of my favorite ones and I have a lot more favorite ones than I thought so the rest of this post is just going to be pictures with some captions!

 One of the highs of this year was that we were able to go and visit some family in Washington state so they could meet Savannah! Above is Savannah with her Grandma Kris.

 Savannah holding Ryan's finger!

 I was even able to go down to St George, Utah to visit my mom's family! I was so happy to be able to have them all meet my precious baby girl especially my grandma J, in the picture above!

 She is the cutest Dalmatian I have ever seen!

 Savannah loves her Grandpa Lewis so much! Every time she hears his voice her face lights up! It is so precious!

 Another high of this year was in March Savannah had her baby blessing and it was even more special because Ryan's brother Taylor was able to be there and be in the circle to help with the blessing!

 Savannah has def had plenty of baths this year! This path above was probably after having carrots fed to her by her father, he is very good at getting more food on her than in her mouth haha!

 Savannah loves being on her dad's shoulders!

 Savannah just loves her aunt Caitlyn so much!

 I love that I have a picture like this! My parents have one like this of myself and my dad.

 Cutest Michael Jordan fan ever!

 "Is this real life?"

 More love for Grandpa Lewis.

 I love Savannah so much I let her fly on my legs even though I knew she would spit up on me!

 "Gross Dad!"

 Another high of this year was that we were able to go to Washington DC with Ryan's mom and step dad. It was all of their first times going to DC so it was fun to see the sites with them and it was also Scott's, Ryan's step dad, first time meeting Savannah and it was love at first site! Savannah loves it when her Grandma Dena visit her!

 Cutest Seahawks fan ever!

 Her great great grandpa love Savannah so much!

 CRAZY HAIR!

 We got to spend mother's day, my first mother's day, at the beach!

 Savannah was not a big fan of hiking but it was still a fun 30 minutes lol.

 Another bath, this time because of spaghetti!

 Savannah was Ryan and my date to a stake dance that we helped chaperone!

 My little princess.

 Savannah wearing he aunt's shirt and a bow that I made!

 Love!

Savannah's second time apple picking!

Well if you made it this far I hope you liked the pictures and could tell how much I love my sweet baby girl!

Crock Pot Chili!

This is one of the best chilis that I have ever had and it is so easy, you just make the meat and stick everything in the the crock pot and after a few hours it is ready to go!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb cooked ground beef, seasoned with salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder
• 1 C. chopped onions16 oz. can pinto beans
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 T chili powder
• 2 10 oz. cans rotel tomatoes, I used original which is diced tomatoes and green chilies
• 1/4 C hot chili peppers, I used a jalapeno
• 1 pk taco seasoning mix
• 1/2 C corn (frozen)

Directions:
1. Make sure to cook the beef. Drain.
2. Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.

3. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.

Serve and top with cheddar cheese and tortilla chips!

To check out another way to make this chili check out the recipe over on the Random Mommy blog http://www.randommommy.com/2012/10/crock-pot-chili/

Stain Removal!

This tip has saved my husband and I from hideous carpet stains so many times this year from diaper blowouts to juice spills! The first time we used this stain removal technique was after a disgusting blow out...

Sorry for the graphic photo but I think you need to see it to understand how horrible the stain was!

Well this stain removal trick that I am about to show you was the reason that we no longer have a blob of green on our carpet!

The stain that I got to remove from the carpet was a dark purple grape juice stain. When this incident happened Savannah and I were home alone as we often are since Ryan works 5 days a week but I had gotten myself a glass of grape juice and put it down on the coffee table, mistake number one, and as I  turned my head away for one second, mistake number 2, I hear glass hit glass and then I hear liquid pour and start dripping onto the carpet. I turn my head around and there was the scene of the crime!

As soon as I saw it I was freaking out! I had no idea what I should do but I had remembered the awful stain that Ryan had been able to get up so I called him right away and he told me that the answer was beer!

We do not drink alcohol so us having beer in the house is not a normal thing but in Brazil they use beer a lot in their cooking and baking and Ryan loves to make Brazilian food so that I can try it and so he can relive his mission years so we had beer in our house because he had used it for dinner one night and he had only used one of the 6 bottles so we still had 4 left, he used the second one for cleaning up the first stain.

So here are the steps to removing a stain with beer.

1. Dab up as much of the liquid as you can with paper towels.

2. After you have gotten as much of the liquid up you are going to pour the beer over the stain.

We used Bud Light Lime only because that was what was the cheapest when Ryan went to the store so I am sure any flavor or brand would do the job but I am also sure any of them will not make your carpet smell not so good because beer smells awful but the smell goes away pretty fast.

3. Let the beer sit for 5 minutes and then rub it with some wipes.

Now you should be done and the stain should be gone!

Before and After! What a change and it all only took about 15 minutes! I was so relieved when it worked! I was freaking out because I knew this would be the perfect reason for the manager of our apartment building to keep most, if not all, of our deposit when we move out!

Let me know if you have ever tried this or what other stain removal tricks you know!