New Blog

Hey guys,

Now that I'm all mature and grown-up and going to college...
(Yeah right. I watched Pocahontas yesterday)
...I'm making a new blog. New me, new blog. Is that how it goes?
Anyways, here it is:
www.confessionsofcarlisa.org
Enjoy!

And Counting;

So, right now, I feel pretty happy. Lately, I feel as if blessings from the Lord are basically being rained upon me, and I am so grateful for it.

• First of all, THERE IS ONLY 17 MORE DAYS LEFT UNTIL I FLY TO SPAIN. OH MY GOODNESS. I HAVE NO WORDS TO EXPLAIN HOW EXCITED I AM. Okay, that's not true. I definitley do have words for it. I am so amazingly, shockingly, wonderfully, unable-to-even-think-of-more-adjectives-ly excited for this trip. It'll be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. The crazy part that truly boggles my mind is that I signed up for this trip in October...of 2011. That was SO long ago. That is...hold on a second... 511 days or 1 year, 4 months, and 22 days or 73 weeks, or 12,264 hours, or 735,840 minutes, or even (this is getting serious) 44,150,400 seconds. (Wow, that date calculator was thorough). 44 MILLION SECONDS SINCE I SIGNED UP. Boggles my mind.
• Second of all, I've been worried that I wouldn't have enough money for this trip. Between my parents and I, we've paid off the actual trip, but for whatever reason, I didn't give much thought into the money that I need while on the trip. And then, when I did, I got nervous. How am I going to pay for this? To enjoy myself when I'm always worried about how many euros (so fun to say that) I have? This thoughts raced through my head. But, no need to fear, blessings are here. For real, though. This week alone, four DIFFERENT families in my ward asked me to babysit for them. Coincidence? I think definitely not. My boss asked me to work everyday last week, which, not gonna lie, was kinda stressful, but it was worth it. I worked an extra day today, also. Oh, did I mention I got a raise as well. Only 2%, but that still means I am no longer a minimum wage girl. Moving up in the world. Oh, yeah! *Imagine Vector from Despicable Me*
• Third, I love my job. Seriously those kids make me so happy. Today, one of my little girls, who I LOVE, was talking to me. I would post this hilarously cute picture of her, but I'm not allowed to. Anyways, she was talking about boyfriends and asked if I had one. When I said no, she looked aghast. "Why? You're beautiful!" It basically made my entire week. She's adorable and kids are adorable and I can't wait to have a beautiful little family of my own...I mean, I can wait. I'm only seventeen, for goodness sakes.

That's it for right now, but... OH YEAH

• They just called a two hour delay like a half-hour ago. Those sure make me happy. Especially when we get it called the day before and not fifteen minutes after I wake up for seminary. Woop woop. Holla.

So, that's it for right now, but I will talk to you guys later.

P.S. I have a joke for you. Don't cheat. It's basically my joke for the week. I've been telling everyone. It's just to clever...Anyways:

Q: Why can't you hear the pterodactyl go to the bathroom?
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Got it?
A: The "p" is silent.

:D

Talk, talk, talk.

So, I have a kind of funny story. Well, I don't know if you'd say funny - definitely one of those stories that only seems to happen to me - but here goes:
My friend Emily and I (and our sisters) usually watch the kids of choir members after church each Sunday. So we were sitting there, enjoying the antics of crazy kids - running, dancing, leaking pee on my dress (another story for another day...) , when one of the brethren from the ward walks in. I was prepared for him to come to me, but he walks past and stands in front of Emily: "Hey, Emily, next Sunday, would you be willing to give a talk on..." and that's when I zoned out. She agreed whole-heartedly, until her sister pipes in, "We won't be here. We're going to Florida."
At this moment, I knew what was going to happen. Maybe it was intuition, maybe even that still small voice, but it happened. I see him - as if in slow motion - turn towards me, tilting his head, and smiling. He didn't have to say a word. So, I agreed, of course. I actually enjoy giving talks, which is kind of weird, if you know me, cause I really dislike public speaking. But speaking in church seems so much easier, and I know that I can attribute that directly to the Holy Ghost, and the fact that absolutely NO ONE would judge me, and even if it was awful, I'll get about 102 compliments on it by the end of the three-hour block.
So, here I am. Actually studying for this talk. I think this is the fourth or fifth one I've ever given in sacrament meeting, which isn't a lot, now that I think about it. But I have definitely been known to be that member that is up late Saturday night just starting it. I wanted this time to be different. So, I've been studying, and it's been awesome - seriously. There are so many general conference talks out there, just a click of a button away. I don't know why I haven't been using those resources more often, but I definitely plan to.
So, anyways, later that night, I realized I didn't even know what I was speaking on, having zoned out when I thought it wasn't going to be me. So, I found out and this Sunday, Feb 17, I am speaking on How Living our Standards Helps Missionary Work.
So, I am going to keep you updated on that, but if anyone has any ideas or experiences or any awesome talks that could help me, that'd be fantastic. Really. A huge help. Huge. Yeah. Bye!

Twenty-Thirteen

I am so, so excited for this year. I feel like it's in this year that everything changes.

Three months from now, I'll be flying to Spain. How amazing is that? I am beyond excited.

In almost exactly five months, I will graduate high school. I cannot even fathom that fact. I remember first hearing that I was in the class of 2013 while in middle school. It seemed so far away then, and now it's HERE. In the flesh. High school is almost over. Forever. How can that be? How is it possible when I was just a little freshman, having just moved into town? Wasn't that just a few months ago?...I guess not.

So much has changed since then. I feel like a completely different person than I was those four long years ago. Yet, I feel like this year will help shape me into a brand new person as well.

A month later, I'll be starting college at BYU-Provo. I haven't officially been accepted, but that's alright.

This year holds so much in store for me and I hope to love every minute of it.


So, the reason I opened this blog post and started writing again is to share my New Year Resolutions. I have never officially done a list before, but I figure it'd probably be good for me. So, here you go:

• Love Myself
• I have always had a hard time loving who I am and not criticizing who I am. I want this year to be different. I am a daughter of my Heavenly Father who loves me with everything He has. He made me after His own image. How then can I criticize how I look, my personality, without criticizing Him? I can't. So I need to change that.
• Love Others
• I think something that is ingrained into our society and into human nature is to judge others. The first time we see someone, we automatically make a judgement based on how they look, how they speak. I think I heard something somewhere that it only takes 11 seconds after seeing someone to make a judgement about them. I am guilty of this, as I'm sure most human beings are. I don't want to be guilty of this. Every single person is a son or daughter of God, and like I said earlier, criticizing any one of them, or judging any one of them, is criticizing and judging God.
• Do Something Creative Everyday
• I love being creative. It just brings out a good side in me and I love it and, as of now, I don't do it often enough. Whether it's writing or crafting, I want to do it everyday. This also includes blogging at least once a week.
• Work Out Everyday if Possible
• I've been trying to go to the Y everyday if I can (and if I can't, there's definitely some Just Dance action at the Cramer home) for a little while now, and it makes me feel a lot better. Now it's something I almost have to do and I want to keep that going.
• Read 100 or more books
• I love, love, love reading. I have never kept track of how many books I've read in a year before so this is kinda a shot in the darkness as to how much I can read. But I can do it. I'm excited to do it :)
• Project Life 365
• My sister told me about this. It's a project where I take a picture everyday, with a one-word prompt. I feel like I just might not follow those, though, and just take one of what's going on in my life at that time. Throughout the year, I want to make an album with these pictures, too. This will be such an amazing year and I will be experiencing so many amazing things that I think it's a good idea to document everyday. I'll try posting them on here as I go.
• Scripture-study
• I want to develop my relationship with my Heavenly Father further, and so I want to make a resolution to study scriptures everyday. And not necessarily strictly from the four books of scriptures. Either that or talks from general authorities or Preach My Gospel. This will probably be the hardest one for me to follow. But I'm gonna go for it.
• Mormon 5:23
• I found a scripture that I want to kind of make my 2013 Life Motto. Mormon 5:23. The first phrase is what struck me: "Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God?" If I live each day, knowing that God is there to guide me, and to trust in him with all my heart, to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, I fill like my life will be so much more fulfilling. This is my most important resolution, I think, because with it, everything else will fall into place.

Baking Bonanza.

Today, I was off work and instead of the nap that I had been fantasizing about all day, I went on foodgawker.com..like Pinterest, but ONLY food. That changed my plans a bit. So, I went to Wal-Mart and am now experiencing a food frenzy. I just finished making my first masterpiece which are Reese's Peanut Butter Cookies, and put it in the oven. Nom nom nom. Eight minutes left. Here's the recipe:

Reese’s Mini Peanut Butter Cookies

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Ingredients(Makes 14 cookies):

• 1 cup no-stir peanut butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 King size Reese’s peanut butter cups mini unwrapped

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine in a large bowl the peanut butter, egg, sugar, baking soda and vanilla and mix.
3. Add and fold in the mini Reese’s.
4. Roll the dough into balls about an inch in diameter in between your hands and place them on a non-stick baking tray.
5. Press down lightly on the dough in a criss-cross pattern with a fork.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until the edges start to brown. Remove from the oven and let them cool completely before moving them or otherwise they will break apart.

[SOURCE: http://www.thewannabechef.net/2012/09/26/reeses-mini-peanut-butter-cookies/]


This is what they're supposed to look like. We'll see how mine did in exactly...SIX minutes.

 

[Six Minutes Later]

 

THEY ARE BEAUTIFUL.

 

Blogger won't let me add the picture, but they look pretty darn close to the original picture! Use your imagination. Now, I have to let them cool before I can try one.

 

 

Now, for Project #2: York Peppermint Patty Cookies

Mmmmm. You're just gonna die when you see the picture:

 

NOM NOM NOM. You see, that was very similar to my previous Nom Nom Nom, but it was bold and capatilized. That makes it way nomier more significant. Just saying.

Anyways, recipe time: 

York Peppermint Patty Fudge Cookies

makes about 2 dozen

• 1 cup + 1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped (I used 2 Ghirardelli bars)
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 5 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 14 snack size York Peppermint Patties, chopped

Sift together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Melt the chocolate in the microwave for about 1 minute. Stir. Continue to melt in 30 second increments until fully melted and smooth. Set aside. In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla. Set aside.
With an electric or stand mixer with paddle attachment, beat the butter until smooth and creamy – about 1 minute. Beat in the sugars, scraping down the sides every 10 seconds or so. The mixture will be granular. Mix in the beaten egg/vanilla until incorporated. Add the chocolate in a steady stream and beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients on slow speed. Fold in the chocolate chips. Do not overmix at any point in this process. Chill dough for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Scoop about 2 Tbsp of dough and roll into a ball. Press a few pieces of peppermint patties on the tops of each cookie ball. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until the cookies have just begun to set with the centers still appearing very soft. They will firm up as they cool.
Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
[SOURCE: http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2012/09/23/york-peppermint-patty-fudge-cookies/]

WONDERFUL. Baking is delightful.

Maybe if you're lucky enough, you'll get something tomorrow at school? ;)




THE MONSTER.

Imagine this: Footsteps creaking in the hall behind you, pitch darkness, a hand slowly curling around your shoulder. You scream, but no one hears. You kick, but your foot hits nothing. (Scared yet?) The monster takes you, grabs you, kidnaps you. And you're gone.

You might be wondering why I've told this short, yet chillingly frightening tale..It's a metaphor. This weekend, I was once again taken prisoner by the Craft Creature, the DIY Demon, the Baking-Ideas Boogie Man, some even call him He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named..Actually, I might be mixing him up for someone else.. Anyways, if you haven't caught my drift, I was attacked, mugged, and held for ransom by none other than the Pinterest Monster. (I would have used alliteration, but I couldn't think of a good enough P-word) Hold your gasps and shrieks until the end of the post, if you will. You heard me right.

Now, there have been earlier interactions that I've had with this monster, but it wasn't until this weekend that he really made his move. He would lure me in, get me going on one craft, and then disappear from my life for a while. But he always came back, more charming and attractive each time. That's where I started to realize he was a monster. But I couldn't resist. I felt like Bella in the clutches of Edward. Knowing he was dangerous, knowing he was a monster, yet not being able to leave out of pure love.

Yes, I said it: love. I love Pinterest. Judge me how you please. This weekend was enough to prove it to me. I'm in love with a monster.

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Pinterest was a monster. Second, there was a part of him - and I didn't know how dominant that part may be - that thirsted for my social life. And third, I was unconditionally, irrevocably in love with him.

ALL I WANT TO DO IS CRAFT. I think he has me hypnotized. If I don't answer your calls or texts anytime soon, I'm with Pinterest...and if you don't see me for a few weeks, I would go around and collect a ransom. Pinterest demands cash. Or your social life. He also accepts VISA and Mastercard.


DISCLAIMER: No Twilight characters were actually present or liked in the writing of this blog post. Also, I am not actually kidnapped. Do not call police or FBI.

The A.C.T.

ACT.
Those three letters normally are just a normal verb - to act. You can act natural, you can act in a play. But when those three letters are capitalized, the entire meaning changes, and a darkness fills the room.Those three letters can cause the earth to quake around us, the sun to melt out of the sky, long-inactive volcanoes to suddenly erupt, and high school students to spontaneously combust.

Not really. But pretty close.

You see, I took the ACT this morning. For the second time. And let me tell you, it didn't feel any better this time around. It's so hard for me how to say I did on tests, because, well, if I think I did good I usually don't do too hot, and vice versa. So, I've trained myself to just hope I did well, but not to expect much.

I didn't actually have to take it again, but when I got my first score, my dad practically called every single college in the Continental US (okay, like three schools) to talk about scholarships. I really want to go to BYU-Provo, and I guess they told him if I improve my score by one or two points, I can get a FULL-flipping-RIDE. Yes sir/maam, you heard my correctly. So, I tried again. And in 3-8 weeks I will know. If anyone who works for the ACT is reading this, MY WHOLE FUTURE DEPENDS ON THIS SCORE. TAKE PITY. Okay, it doesn't actually depend of this score, entirely. But, I don't think I'll be too upset if I don't improve. At least I tried, y'know?