So Long Nov 2012...

1.  It was 61 degrees today and it's the last day of November in Idaho.  Last night Tristen and I went jogging and half way through we were down to our short sleeves.  I think I must have brought NC weather with me!
2.  We went to the theater to see the second Breaking Dawn on Saturday.  I absolutely LOVED it.
3.  Last Friday I saw 67 patients.  That is the 3rd most I've ever seen in one day.  On my way home I thought how lucky I was to have helped 67 people in 1 day.
4.  We finished all of the ward Christmas and Young family Christmas presents this week.  Now we need to put up our Christmas decorations because it sure doesn't look like Christmas around here.
5.  Mom has a new left hip!  After 3 years of limping the problem is solved and she came home today after only having it done yesterday.  Talk about a trooper.
6.  I went to the Boise Temple on Tuesday.  It is sure nice to have our temple back in service.  What a blessing it is to have one so close.
7.  I had a patient once tell me that St. Al's had healthy and delicious food so today for lunch Alisha and I went to visit mom and have lunch.  It was yummy.  I had cod with ginger and mandarin oranges and quinoa salad.  The funny thing was my LPN nurse who is in RN school was there doing his clinical's and joined us for lunch as well as we saw Alisha's mother-in-law who works there. So we all had a nice lunch chatting.

Pam's Pomegranate Salad

The year after grad school when I was still living in Kentucky, some of my family came out for Thanksgiving.  My dear friend Pam made the most delicious Pomegranate Salad that has since become a main staple for our Thanksgiving dinner.  It isn't the cheapest salad and such a treat, which is why we only make it once a year.  I might also make this for Christmas Eve dinner since I bought a case of 12 Pomegranates from Costco.  It is a beautiful, festive dish for sure.  Because I love this so much I'm willing to share the recipe with you.  This of course is exactly what I'll be spending time making tomorrow, because yes it is a bit time consuming but so worth the time, effort and expense.  ps.  I leave out the pecans and often put in more pomegranates.  I also use sugar free jello.

Boise Idaho Temple Rededication

This morning Troy and Becki brought their kids over for mom and dad to tend to while we attended the first session of the Boise Idaho Temple rededication.  Mom and Dad get to attend the last session at the temple.  The first session was beautifully done.  We listened to the new Matron and President of the Boise Temple, Elder Christiansen of the Seventy, Elder Bednar, and President Monson.  The dedicatory prayer was beautiful.  I especially enjoyed the following quotes by Elder Bednar:
"The world is hectic and hurried.  The temple is a place to be still."
" The temple should be what our spiritual priorities actually are."
"The temple is a place of stillness."
"The temple becomes a light that can not be hid in darkness."
And from President Monson:
"We come to this holy house so we can bear trials and temptations."
"May this temple be a beacon of righteousness in our lives." (This is my favorite)
"Make a commitment to attend the house of the Lord."
"If we attend the temple, we will leave with refreshed spirits and peace will fill our hearts."
"In our busy lives have time for Christ."
"Let us welcome the Lord in our hearts and lives."
"Let us open our hearts and minds to the spirit today."

I had to sneak a picture in of Stella.  She is just a doll!

Boise Temple Rededication Cultural Event

In celebration of the Boise Temple Rededication tomorrow, 9,000 youth from the Treasure Valley put on the most amazing, unforgettable performance at the Cultural Event tonight! The feeling in the Stake Center where I watched was so powerful.  Mom and dad were sitting 2 rows in front of President Monson at the event.  She said it was amazing.  It was a fun evening of celebration for all.  I loved the different themes that were presented, but my favorite was the BSU re-inactment of the Fiesta Bowel.  I took 4 of my friends kids with me as her and her husband attended with his mother who was once a Matron in the Boise Temple.  The father passed away this spring and as we were driving home the kids were talking about how their grandpa would have liked the football part too.  We all agreed he was probably there in spirit.  

All day I have felt such an incredible, indescribable feeling of peace in our area given that President Monson and Elder and Sister Bednar are visiting and will rededicate our newly renovated Boise Temple tomorrow! I have a special place in my heart for Elder and Sister Bednar.  They came to BSU when I was a freshman and had just been put in as BSU Idaho President.  They also came to Charlotte a few years ago for Stake Conference where I was able to play the organ and Sister Bednar turned my music pages.  It will be so nice to have our temple back open.  I surely have missed it.  

It's Mid-November FF

1.  Monday I met my new nephew Kaison when Tyler and Danielle came to get Kadyn after school, but before they came Kadyn and I built a cabin out of lincoln logs.  
2.  It has been a rather lovely week of Brick Oven Beanery eating!  (They call it the Bistro, but it started out as the Beanery, which I why I still call it that, they changed the name years ago).  Ok, well I only went twice, but come on it's closing in a week and I need my gumbo fill.  I went with Tristen and the girls for lunch on Tuesday and with mom today for a late lunch.  Today I just had the soup, salad and bread.  I've never gone away from the turkey sandwich, but the salad always looks good so I got it.  It was delicious too!

3.  I had a guy from work call to ask if he could take the 2 Sundays I have left to work this year and he said he would work 1 each month for me.  An answer to prayers for sure.
4.  The buckle on my dansko shoe broke this week. These are my works shoes and I need them. Gratefully when I picked up my Doc Marten Mary Jane shoe that broke a month ago, from Lynns Shoe repair today I was able to drop off my new broken shoe.  For years, Lynns Shoe repair use to be right by the over pass headed to Grandma and Grandpa Youngs.  We just thought they shut down years ago.  I was happy to see they just moved locations, even though Lynn is in his 70's, he still does a great job repairing shoes.  And he is cheep.  15 dollars for 3 shoes.
5.  I got my password reset to my computer today at the Apple store.  Now this may be trivial, but for the past year I had forgotten my password, so I couldn't update important programs on my computer like Adobe.  Well, now I can start working on the Shutterfly book, because I now have Adobe!
6. Tuesday Tyler, his family, mom, dad and I attended the BSU Health Promotion Health Fair.  Tyler and I have both helped put these together in prior years when we were getting our bachelors.  It was fun to go back to my college stomping grounds and to see Dr. Spears our advisor.

7.  I have cleaner teeth this week thanks to my dental hygienist Tristen!
8.  I met with my financial advisor today, which makes me feel financially responsible now!
9.  Mom and I have been working on Christmas presents for the ward.  We are nearly 1/2 way through.  It will be nice to have them done before Thanksgiving this week.
10.  I spent time with Alisha, mom, Troy and Becki today.  It was a full, fulfilling day for sure and to end it, I'll watch the first half of Breaking Dawn, so that I'll be ready to watch Part 2 since it came out this week.

Baby It's Cold Outside

Ok, so maybe it's not the coldest that it is going to get this Winter, but by golly it's sure cold in the mornings when I go out to a frosted car and get to use my Eddie Bower hand mitt window scrapper that I bought myself 4 years ago for Christmas.  I also bought one for Nick who to this day makes fun of me for buying him such a nice present when in fact I had not even met him in person when I made the purchase.  The other morning I went out to get into Betty and no joke there was a light dusting of SNOW on her and her thermometer read 23; that's stinking cold.  There was also a new light on her dashboard which meant your tires need air, because the cold air sucked the warm air out; shame on the cold air.  Tristen and I went on our nightly jog a few nights ago after my shift and my legs ached the next day, because my poor body just isn't use to 30 degree jogs.  Yesterday I swear it didn't get above 40 and sure enough I only went outside once and of course it was snowing light flakes, even though it was 39.  I stayed inside almost the entire day because I'm that much of a wimp.  I do enjoy our wood fireplace that is keeping me warm as I sit here and blog.  I have to admit, we did have the best and longest Fall I've ever seen Idaho have or at least in quite a while, so I better just quit my whining, at least we don't have 6-12 inches of snow like Salt Lake got this past weekend.  Let's just hope and pray Winter comes and goes quickly or I'm going to have to visit someplace warm soon.

Nov. Week 2 FF

1.  Super Saturday went so well. We had a great turn out and every one had a wonderful time.  Every time I've done this in the past I've said it would be the last one; we shall see.
2.  Dad and I went to the BSU football game.  I haven't been to one in over 10 years, probably close to 15 years.  We had a great time.  The weather was perfect, as were our seats, but the team didn't do so hot.  It was a fun memory anyway.
3.  We made Apple Juice with the apples we still have (still have boxes full).  Delicious!  Nothing like homemade apple juice.
4.  We welcomed Nephew #6 on Wednesday.  Not sure of a middle name yet, but Kaeson is the first name.  Pictures to come...
5.  I had a lovely visit with my friend and young womens leader yesterday afternoon.  Her and her husband are going on a mission next week.  We will miss them but only for 1 year.
6.  Last night I met my dear friend Kaycee for dinner at none other than the Brick Oven Beanery.  We are sure going to miss the restaurant, the memories we've made there and their amazing food.

Garden Vegetable Pesto Soup

You've all heard me rave about Panera's Garden Vegetable Pesto Soup.  Well I've really been craving it a lot given that it is fall and all.  So I combined a few recipes and added my own touches and brought together an even better T's Garden Vegetable Pesto Soup!  I ate it for lunch today by myself at the bar and thought how much better it would have been to be eating it with one or many of my Panera friends...
Olive Oil or I used Garlic Macadamia Nut Oil from Hawaii
1 can of tomato's diced (I only had mexican stewed)
1 1/2-2 small zucchini diced
onion grate or dice a "little"
4 stalks celery, diced
4 carrots, diced
1/2 bunch of fresh Kale chopped
1 can wax beans (they taste the same as green beans)
1 small can tomato paste
2 cans chicken stock
Salt and pepper to taste
1/4-1/2 tsp pesto mine was from Costco

In large soup pot drizzle oil.  Add onions, celery, carrots.  Saute.  Add zucchini and kale until kale has wilted.  Then add canned tomatoes, beans, tomato paste and chicken stock enough to cover vegetables. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are tender to liking.  The pot of soup will look beautiful and oh so colorful; perfect for fall.  Top off bowl of soup with a small amount of pesto to your liking and mix.  Delicious indeed. It is amazing how the pesto adds so much taste to this soup.  Hope this is one of your new favorite fall/winter dishes as it will be mine.

November 2012 First FF

1.  Yep, the holiday season is upon us.  Halloween this week I hate to admit wasn't nearly exciting as it use to be.  Our Saturday celebration was much more exciting for sure.  I ran lots of errands on Wednesday, in preparation for Super Saturday, went to our ward Trunk or Treat and chili feed and then  had a lovely chat with my VT.
2.  Alisha and I met up for lunch at one of our favorite Boise restaurants, which I have talked about in the past, The Brick Oven Beanery.  One of our reasonings for having lunch there this week was because we got word this week that after 28 years of being in business, the owners and chefs are retiring.  This isn't fabulous at all, but our turkey sandwich's and my gumbo soup and Alisha's cheddar vegetable soups were amazing as always.  We sure are going to miss this Boise staple, but are grateful there will be a cookbook with all our favorite recipes by next summer.
3.  Yesterday I had a patient who had a broken tibia.  The x-rays were pretty amazing.  It was my last case of the day and I was glad I was able to save them an ER visit and able to get them in with orthopedics this morning.  Lets just say long boarding and texting don't go together.
4.  I'm listening to Christmas music more and more each day!
5.  We've been drying lots of apples lately.  We still have a ton.  We definitely will have our store for winter.
6.  It is November and we still have plenty of leaves on our tree out front and the weather is still in the 60's.  I don't ever remember a fall when the leaves where on that tree past Halloween.  I'm loving this fall for sure!