Melt Your Heart

Well hello!!

It has been a long time, but here I am, giving blog some love.

I am currently taking the semester off from school and have a bit of free time to do stuff such as blog. I hope to blog about great things in 2010. This is MY year. This is the year I am going to live for me FIRST and take care of myself.

I have done well for myself so far, but I think I can do much better. It is only February so it is certainly onward and upward everyday. The motivation is one of the hardest parts and a roller coaster ride at that. (I HATE ROLLERCOASTERS) Some days I feel like I can run 20 miles, clean the entire house sparkly clean, and run all necessary errands. Then...there are days I don't feel like doing ANYTHING. I give myself a one free pass on that if I have worked a lot the previous days, but those free passes aren't getting me closer to my goals.

All in all, I am happy with what I am doing and getting back on track towards my ultimate goals.

So, I will start with this last weekend.

I have decided to use my new Weight Watchers cookbook I got for Christmas and find a recipe every week. I make the recipe in full and take leftovers to work for about 3 days of enjoyment. I have done this with a few times, but my last meal adventure was documented :)


There are a lot of yummy recipes in here:


I decided on the recipe SAUSAGE MUSHROOM AND TOMATO STEW


First, I browned some turkey sausage, mushrooms, and zucchini.



Then, I added the kidney beans, petite cut tomatoes, tomato sauce, and spinach and let it simmer over medium heat.



All the while, I decided I needed some CARBS!! I decided on some red potatoes. I have wanted to roast some red potatoes for a while now, so I found a simple way to put them together. I cubed the reds, tossed them in olive oil and mixed in some onion soup mix. I roasted them for about 40 minutes.




I could hardly wait to dig in. This meal was so filling and hearty. I have taken it to work the last few days and it's just as good each time I heat it up :)





Since the BF isn't big on Valentines day, I called this my Valentines dinner to myself. After I cleaned up the mess, I cleaned up and gave myself a manicure and pedicure...With bright red fingers and toes. It was really nice. Here I am, loving MYSELF. I am learning that YOU are the most important person in YOUR life and LIFE IS WHAT YOU MAKE IT!!!! :)


I also thought I would share with you my Valentines Box I made for work. I don't really think I need to explain my motivation behind it. People instantly knew it was mine when they saw it.


Enjoy!

I think that's it for now, I plan to use my camera lots more and post more for your visual pleasure.

Thanks for reading

Peace. Emily.

Woodstock

I am obsessed....

Everything Woodstock is so intriguing and interesting to me. If I had the chance to take a trip in a Delorian, I would without a doubt, choose to go to Bethel, New York for the 3 day festival.

I recently purchased a really neat collectors edition of Woodstock documentaries and replicas of ticket stubs and items used and seen at the festival. What a great purchase.

Watching the documentaries is SOOOOO cool to me. I love seeing how these people lived and how 1,000,000+ people loved and cared for one another and were all there for the same reason. For peace, love and music. There were no problems at the festival. Just a bunch of free spirited, drug having, happliy tripping music lovers.

I have come to learn of all the performers and their music. My favorite of the festival would have to be Janis Joplin, Crosby Stills Nash, Joe Cocker, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe, Sly and the Family Stone, Jimi Hendrix....basically all of the bands.

I would like to share my favorite performance. It is Joe Cocker's rendition of With A Little Help From My Friends. Just watching the passion and intensity of this song sends chills down my spine and has me smiling from ear to ear. So fun to watch! Enjoy....




Definitely one of my FAVORITE things.

Peace

We'll see you all again in 1974

Doesn't everybody have a favorite movie?

Many peoples' favorite movie changes as new ones come out, but I think there is a REAL FAVORITE for everyone. One that holds that special place in your heart and will always be the movie you can plug in when there's nothing else to watch.

For me, that movie is Almost Famous

Almost Famous was one of those movies that didn't do well in theaters and didn't roll in the dough. I don't understand why! People just have different taste in movies, and that's cool, but I think this movie is incredible! My brother and parents also love this movie.

And the soundtrack...AMAZING. The music is all 60's, 70's...which I'm sure by know you all know is my favorite.

Here is a link to the Wikipedia article and description of the movie, but I HIGHLY suggest seeing it.

Along with this being my favorite movie....here is my favorite scene...and conveniently done with one of my favorite songs. This scene sends chills down my spine and puts a huge smile on my face.

Leading up to the scene, the band Stillwater has been in a fight. They went their seperate ways for the evening. Russell (lead singer of the band) and William (the journalist) were invited to a house party where Russell becomes under the influence of drugs and does crazy stuff, such as screaming "I am a golden God" from a roof top before jumping into a swimming pool. The next morning, the rest of the band was notified and went to pick up Russell. There is silence back on the bus, but as you'll see, the power of this song was able to help them free their worries and be happy!




I invite anyone over who would like to watch it!!!!!!

Good People

There is something about good people that swells my heart. I have always LOVED seeing good samaritans in action. For example: A few years back I was driving with my mom and we were stuck behind a few cars. The light was green and nobody was moving! I was getting irritated, but mostly because I can be somewhat impatient. The next thing I could see were people in the street. When I finally zoned in on what was going on, I saw at least 5 guys who had jumped out of their vehicles and were pushing this gasless vehicle into the nearby Chevron. I just love knowing that these people had no problem helping this car when they could have easily kept going towards where they were headed. Not just one but five! I thought it was cute. Maybe this is something many people have seen, but I know it was a big deal in my life because I still remember it and can visualize it years later. As we got through the intersection, my mom and I talked about good people. I know MANY good people and I am so glad they are in this world.

This 'Good People' blog was inspired by a news story I saw on Friday night. My grandma and I were having dinner and the ABC nightly news was on. The TV was mostly background noise as we were talking and eating our dinner. But if you know my grandma, you know that bathroom breaks are frequent. So she rolled down the hall and I started to watch the TV. It was the end of the news cast and they always have the Person of the Week which I love to see. This particular story had immediately caught my attention because the persons of interest were children with cancer. The story is about Ironworkers who are building a new cancer institute next to the currents institute, called Dana-Farber. The kids enjoy watching them work. One day the kids started making signs that said "hi" and were also putting up signs with their names on them. Since then, the ironworkers have spray painted the kids' names on the beams in fluorescent colors. The story is very touching!

This is the link to the actual news story:

http://abcnews.go.com/video/playerIndex?id=7027264

I am a sucker for these types of stories and I would have to say that stuff like this is definitely one of my FAVORITE things! :)

Thanks to all of you who make a difference in peoples' lives!!

Brilliant Idea!!

I often think about things to blog about, but my daily living is not much more than going to school, going to work, and cleaning my apartment (really). I have decided to do posts of my favorite things. One favorite thing per blog. I figure that can't take too much time, right?? Especially if it is something I am passionate about. I don't know if it's "brilliant" but I'm thinking it will help me to blog more. WOO!!!

Today's favorite thing is VINYL!!

As many of you know, I am super obsessed with antique vinyl and the way an old record sounds. My dad has a bunch of old records that he listened to back in the day and every once in a while I would take a trip down memory lane with him as he pulled each one out one by one and told a story about them. He remembered most years he purchased them, how much they cost, and certain events he would do while listening to them.

I expressed my desire to own records of my own. My mom told me about this groovy place called Randy's Records in Salt Lake that bought and sold vinyl records. I was ecstatic!! The first time I walked in there, I felt chills run down my spine. The place smelled of dusty cardboard...Weird I know, but it's the smell of antique. I immediately explored the massive selection. I spent a good hour in there and came out with some fabulous stuff, oh, and a hole in my pocket. I have been MANY times since and continue to find some wonderful records.

When I started my collection, I didn't own a record player. I had looked around a bit, but for the time being, I was just excited to have the records. I wish the records could speak of their journey. Which hippies owned them? How many times did they play the record? What joy did these records bring to these people? I often wonder all of these things. My favorite records are those made in the 60's and the 70's. I like all kinds of music, but that is by far my favorite genre. They have all sorts of genres!! I hope my collection will be a library one day!

As my collection grew, I became more anxious to get them on a turn table. My dreams came true on Christmas morning 2007. I immediately ran to my room and grabbed a few of the records and learned the mechanics of "no buttons". Soon there after, my ears were in heaven. It was everything I had hoped for!!!!

To this day, I make trips to Randy's Records and limit myself to a few each time. I have hundreds of dollars worth of records. I am excited at the fact that bands are coming out with a vinyl option. I purchased one after Anberlin's concert last year. So fun!!

Everything from going to the record store, loooking around, and getting home to listen to these records are definitely one of my FAVORITE THINGS!

I invite anyone over to sit back and enjoy a few albums with me. We'll burn some Nag Champa and paint. Good times.