HIking FF

1.  My favorite part of this week was hiking with my Girlfriends Staci and Ofa.  I love these girls.  They are my therapy in Phoenix, along with my Aunt Leslie!  I had been looking forward to our hike for 2 1/2 months.  It felt so good to hike Shaw Butte.  I even felt a little burn in my back side the next day. 

After our hike we had us a picnic with fresh fruit, popcorn and this delicious Greek Pasta salad that I made thanks to favfamilyrecipes.com.  Funny that last week I posted a dressing similar to this one.

Light Greek Pasta Salad

Ingredients

• 12 oz. penne pasta (2 cups uncooked) (I used the spiral ones)
• 2 medium cucumbers, seeded and chopped
• 1½ cups grape tomatoes, cut in half
• ¾ cup pitted Greek Kalamata olives, cut in half
• ½ red onion, sliced (I used 1/4)
• ¼ cup fresh mint leaves, chopped (I was hesitant to use this but it made the salad so delicious)
• ½ cup feta cheese, crumbled (I used the tomato and herb feta)

Dressing

• ½ cup lemon juice (yes I used stolen lemons)
• 2 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp honey (I used agave)
• 1 tsp lemon peel, grated

Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
2. In a small bowl, combine all of the dressing ingredients and mix well. Set aside.
3. Drain pasta and rinse well with cold water.
4. Add cucumbers, tomatoes, olives, red onion, and mint leaves to the pasta.
5. Pour dressing over the pasta and vegetables and gently mix. Sprinkle with feta cheese.
6. Refrigerating for at least 1 hour before serving will really bring out the flavors in the salad
    
   Did I mention how much I love this awesome spoon that I got in Mexico?  Ofa loved it too!

2.  I heard that Tenielle took a sick day this week to help Tristen pack (because they are moving to Spokane the end of this month, boo).  I have the best example of a sister.  They are both so special to me.  I'm so grateful for the love we share.
3.  I went to the Mid-Singles religion class this week.  It was so good.  It has made me want to study more about the Savior and to develop a stronger relationship with Him.  A cute redhead asked me to have lunch sometime, I told him I didn't have a day until mid-May, he said he would wait.
4.  My Visiting Teacher's came over on Wednesday for 2 1/2 hours.  I'm pretty sure we could have talked all night if we all didn't have to work the next day.
5.  I have the best calling in the church!  I love Sunday's that give me the opportunity to play the piano in Primary.  Our kids know the songs so well and sing so loud.  It's so fun!  Yes, lots of SO's in that sentence.  My niece Stella says she loves everything so much.  It's so cute!
6.  I'm getting so excited to go to Matha's Vineyard in 8 weeks!  Every day I get to see a picture from there because of this awesome photographer.  I love their talent.  This was one of my favorites this week.

7.  I'm even more excited that I'm finished working 5-6 days a week for now...(someone else just quit and so I'm sure I'll pick up some shifts at the Mesa clinic).  But I'm excited to only work 3 days this week before going to a medical conference in Seattle for the next week!  I'm going to spend my evening's studying for the boards that I'm up for retake.  I have horrible test anxiety and it never gets easier.  This is a great conference that I attend every other year.  It is usually in January, but glad they have moved it to April.  I usually feel pretty prepared to take my boards after attending this conference and review course.