Move over, Martha!

There's a new chef in town! I bought a tart pan a few months ago and I've suddenly had the urge to use it. First I made a raspberry, chocolate & white chocolate tart for a church bbq. Then this weekend for Father's Day I made my dad a cream cheese jewel tart. Check out the pictures below. I'm a pretty awesome baker, if I do say so myself!!

Amanda is getting ready for church.

LOST

We had our biometric screening test today. They take your blood, measure your waist, weigh you, etc. Anyway my cholesterol is nice and normal now. Oh and I lost another 3.5lbs (with clothes). They will also deduct for your clothes, etc. (so with that I lost 6 pounds).

I'm also wearing a smaller size now. So I have dropped 2 dress sizes since April 19th. I've gotta say that makes me pretty freaking happy!!!!!!!

Amanda is getting healthy.

Mission Accomplished

I completed my first 5K walk this weekend. It was for the National Psoriasis Foundation. I really had a great time. My dad did the walk with me and lots of my coworkers. It was a lot of fun. Check out my pictures below (on the left is my dad & I in action and on the right is my coworker Ellen with me).

I also got to do sealings in the Salt Lake temple with my parents on Friday night. We had a lot of family names so it was a really special time. All in all I have had a very nice week/weekend. I also made some yummy coconut cookies for an FHE bbq tomorrow night. I'm trying to attend lots of activities in my new ward and get to know new people. This ward is a little cliquey but I'm sure I'll figure out a way to break through. Luckily I do know several people in the ward.

Amanda is watching the Food Network

My weekend

I have had a pretty full weekend. On Friday night, I went to a Bees baseball game with two of my roommates (Patti & Jaime) and my singles branch. We had general admission seats so we sat on blankets out on the lawn. Can I just say that one blanket was not enough to cushion my derriere? That ground was hard!! The funny part about the evening was when Jaime called to let me know they were 5 minutes away from the stadium, but they just realized their tickets were sitting on the kitchen counter at home. Otherwise the evening went pretty smoothly. I was a good girl and did not partake in any ball park treats, other than roasted peanuts and a bottle of water.

Saturday I went to see the play "Treasure Island" at the Hale Center Theater. It is so amazing how they utilize that theater. This show's stage featured a ship complete with an area where people were thrown overboard into the water. There was also a very large waterfall that the actors jumped off from into the water.

Following the play, I went to lunch at Golden Corral with my parents. After that we had planned to do family sealings at the Jordan River temple. I guess it was a weekend for forgetting because my dad had accidentally left his wallet at their apartment in Salt Lake. So we had a nice lunch and rescheduled our sealings for this coming Friday at the Salt Lake temple.

The highlight of my afternoon was a trip to Home Depot with Janna & Jaime. Janna purchased a lawn mower, a trellis, and some bricks for edging our flower bed. Janna does not have a large car (Chevy Cobalt). The lawn mower was in a box and the box did not fit in the trunk (even with the back seats down). We determined that the box would fit in the back seat and the bricks could go in the trunk. The trellis was laid on top of the box - and it extended from the rear window to the front of the car. You are probably thinking - how are three people going to fit in that car? I admit it was my bright idea to squish in. After all, I did it in college all the time. How hard could it be? Janna was in the driver's seat and I got into the middle between the two front seats. I was straddling the gear shift (in fact Janna had to keep her had on it as my rear kept knocking the car into neutral). Then Jaime sat in the passenger seat on top of me. So basically my top half was squished in between the two seats with my head practically the backseat. Take a look at the pictures.






Amanda is happy to be out of that car!

Oquirrh Mountain Temple Tour

On Wednesday May 27th, my mom and I had the opportunity to tour the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. This was a tour in advance of the public open house. Invites were sent to all the physicians and managers in my office. Of course I jumped at this opportunity!

The temple is so beautiful! They couldn't have picked a better setting, perched right up on a hill. It was pretty windy but no complaints otherwise. The temple has beautiful chandeliers in many of the rooms (some tear drop shaped & some star shaped). Another favorite of mine are the stars carved into all the windows. They look like the Star of Bethlehem. I also loved the color scheme (lots of wood and gold). A special moment for me was sitting in one of the sealing rooms and looking into the mirror and seeing my image go on forever and ever.

We first watched a video about the temple and then took the tour. After that we were shown into the reception tent. They went all out on this, believe me! This tent had draped ceilings complete with chandeliers and carpet. There was a beautiful buffet, tables, & couches everywhere. In the back of the tent were several large pictures of the Savior. Then as we left we were given a cd packet embossed with the Oquirrh Mtn temple picture. Inside the packet was the new Tabernacle Choir cd. All in all it was a very special day and I'm so glad I was able to share it with my mom. I've posted some pictures of our day.

(Mom eating an eclair - I was so jealous)
(Centerpieces on all the tables)




(Me sitting on one of the couches)














(Mom & I by the fountain in the front. Check out the view, isn't it gorgeous?)





Amanda is grateful for the Gospel in her life.

Eating plan update

I have finished my 6 weeks on the eating plan and am now free to eat whatever I want. The funny thing is that what I want to eat is basically what I've been eating this whole time. I did start introducing carbs - a granola bar and some whole wheat pasta on Sunday. Also I lost another 2 pounds since last week. I keep discovering clothes in my closet that I can now fit in to. In fact, I actually found a dress in the back of the closet that I had completely forgotten about.

Amanda is happy.