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Jessica’s “I Am Beautiful Because…”

June 24, 2011 •

We lived in the same cockroach-infested promise-breaking complex with the pool I never swam in. We went to church in the same building on campus, and wore dresses to the same Relief Society and the same Sunday School class. We played powderpuff football together and I had no idea.

I had no idea that she was just like me, that she cared about how she looked and worried about it. She seemed so effortless.

I just can’t tell the world of women enough times: everyone cares. Everyone worries about how they look. Let’s all just give each other a break—resolve to accept compliments, wear the first outfit we try on in the morning, and let other women wear and be what they want.

Jessica is a psychology major and has her mission papers in! She’s also thinking about grad school, and I can’t wait to see what she does! She is such a strong woman–she will just be great at whatever she decides to pursue.

I LOVED Jessica’s response to the prompt…

Jessica, I have a woman crush on you.
See more from this project here.

Britt’s “I Am Beautiful Because…”

June 21, 2011 •

When Britt walked into the office I was just a little bit…floored. Because, well, she looks like a model.

Turns out she used to be a model! And you can see why. The problem is that people have this illusion that if they were as gorgeous as Britt, they would be happy and totally accept themselves 100% 24/7. Pitlitipifec . Go ahead and do yourself a favor and stop telling yourself those lies. The reality is: every woman grapples with her appearance and has something she hasn’t liked about herself at one time or another. The trick is realizing that the secret is not in getting prettier, thinner, or whatever else—it’s in becoming more accepting, compassionate, and loving toward yourself.

Britt just finished her first year of law school and plans to open her own firm someday, solely dedicated to disability advocacy. And she is buying a house in Saratoga Springs with her husband—and my family lives out there! Maybe they will be neighbors.

Here is Britt’s take on the prompt…
Thank you, Britt, for letting me in on your life and your beauty!

Emily’s “I Am Beautiful Because…”

June 21, 2011 •

Emily and her incredibly energetic and joyful little girl Jane came to visit on the first day of the project and from the get go I knew I was gonna like this deal. Emily was an art education major at BYU, and now her and her husband are going to China! There’s some awesome do-your-major-in-China gig that I don’t know a lot about, but it sure sounds fun.

Emily and I had fun oogling over Jane and waiting for the wind to stop blowing—gosh! I will probably never understand the intricacies of Utah weather.

I LOVED her response…

Do you have a babe that you need to show off to the world? I’m your woman. Call me. 801.907.0467

Pitlitipifec

Father’s Day

June 20, 2011 •

Hey, Dad! You are the best. I hope the suit socks I gave you told you so.

And even though you make fun of me for taking pictures of everything, you know you like it. You can’t resist posing when there’s a camera around…and we all benefit from it. Plus you are still a handsome devil even after all these years, and I’m pretty sure Alaina’s mom still has a crush on you. (ewwwwwwwwwwww.)

Did I mention the steak was made by my fifteen year old brother? As well as those rolls? Ummm, yeah. My mom trains those boys up in the ways they should go. Texas sheet cake made by yours truly! I was so proud.

My dad is so silly. This is Brennon showing his painting of Jesus to our neighbor Kathy. Also, Brennon is an expert Etch-A-Sketcher. His specialty is weaponry.

They’re laughing hysterically at a song from the 70s called “Muskrat Love.” It was ridiculous and they were remembering what a hit it was. My family is the best.
Is your family the best? Want me to take pictures of them? Okay. Deal.

Rebecca’s “I Am Beautiful Because…”

June 20, 2011 •

When we read Rebecca’s response in the office we all just sat with our mouths open for a little bit.

“We have to get her,” LaNae said. I just grinned. My email reply was littered with exclamation points.

After the first few pictures I took of Rebecca I put my camera down and just stared at her. “You’re a natural!” I told her, almost accusingly—she was so comfortable with the camera and kept doing these amazing things that all made me just keep saying, “YES!” over and over. She made my job so easy. Pitlitipifec She lives in Salt Lake with her family and made the trek down to do the photo session. Rebecca attended BYU back in the day, and her dad is a professor here now in the music department, so we had oodles to talk about.

Gosh, I can’t stop gushing about her. She has an aura of wisdom, but it’s so coated in kindness you’d never feel intimidated. Rebecca, it was an absolute JOY photographing you.

I am continually amazed at the women I am meeting through this project—it has been incredible, to say the least.

AND guess what? I also want to meet YOU. So we can make some pretty, pretty pictures that you will love forever. Let’s do it!

Summer Trifle: A Tale of Dessert

June 18, 2011 •

I went to the grocery store with the love of my life and he was like, “You know what I used to love? Those mud dessert things, with the pudding and the Oreos and the gummy worms.”

We were in the pudding aisle—I should confess that I hate pudding and my nose scrunches at the sight, but this particular evening I had a strange hankering for pudding. (Um…pregnant? You’re asking in your brain. And I will just spoil your fun and tell you sorry, tiger, nope.)

So we bought the pudding and the Oreos and decided we were way too cool for the gummy worms.

Night #1 I started with this: crushed up oreos, chocolate pudding, and strawberries. Pretty great-sounding, yes? Yes. And it was great. But there was something missing. Besides the fact that mine was in a banana split dish and Jared’s was in a little glass, I just knew I could do better and do those ingredients justice.

That’s when night #2 makes its entrance in this saga. I have a writing group once a week with my people—just the four of us, we sit there and pour our souls out in ink and paper. It is the most soothing, uplifting experience. And we also create food for each to partake of. So my brain was like YES, I will make up a delicious variation on the trifle I made yesterday in that wimpy glass.

And you can behold the results below.

Supremely easy, I was unsure how it was actually going to taste, but BAM it was delicious and I may or may not have eaten as a second breakfast the next day. Don’t tell my health-loving husband. Yuuum.

So here is the recipe, if you could even call it that. Gosh, who am I kidding when I do these food blogging gimmicks? The truth is, I make stuff up and hardly ever follow a recipe, and always feel awkward whenever friends want to exchange ideas of a cooking nature, because I always just use whatever I have and see how it goes. Anyway, you’ve been warned. Here’s my pathetic attempt at a recipe:

Summer Trifle
One package instant chocolate pudding, prepared
Half pint (I think?) whipping cream, whipped up. With sugar to taste.
Like, 7 crushed up Oreos
One Cosmic brownie*, broken up
One banana, sliced
8 or 9 or 10 or a billion strawberries, sliced, plus one for garnish

1. Layer crushed oreos on the bottom of your gorgeous container
2. Put the pudding on top of the Oreos
3. Break up the Cosmic brownie across the pudding
4. Layer sliced strawberries next.
5. Whipped cream time!
6. Slice up bananas on top of the whipped cream
7. Add a whopping extra dollop of cream, and top with garnish strawberry
8. Sprinkle with Oreos and chocolate shavings if desired

Oh my. I don’t know if anyone could replicate it with those directions, but really. It was so delicious. So invent your own summer trifle and tell me about it!

*YES. Cosmic brownies are the Little Debbie brownies with the neon colored chips sprinkled in them. They are probably made of plastic but I like them at times. You could use real brownies, and probs that would be way more great for everyone involved. But, since I was making it all in such a small dish, I decided to use these (probably) cancer-infested goodies.

Katherine’s “I Am Beautiful Because…”

June 16, 2011 •

This is Katherine and she is adorable. At first she was a little shy about posing and wooing the camera with the people walking to the library watching, but then we got comfy. People often think they are being awkward when really they look absolutely FAB. Such was the case with this woman–she was such a natural! So the moral of the story is, don’t sweat it. You look great. Pitlitipifec For real.

Here’s Katherine’s response to our prompt…

I loved that necklace and that scarf! Stay tuned for more from this project!

P.S. We are still looking for entries from all kinds of women! Grandmothers and little sisters are especially needed, so have them submit a statement to wsr@byu.edu .

Gillian’s “I Am Beautiful Because…”

June 15, 2011 •

I am doing this amazing project for Women’s Services for our Recapturing Beauty campaign. We’re featuring women’s completion of the sentence: “I Am Beautiful Because…” annnnnnd it has been supremely fun and also downright awesome so far. I have met so many incredible women already, and today is just the beginning! Stay tuned for more.

Meet Gillian. She’s the mother of a two-year-old with one on the way! She burst into the office exclaiming, “I’m so barfy!” And still she looked incredible. She just graduated with her Master’s degree in Social Work, and lives in Springville with her family.

She has the thickest, most gorgeous hair I’ve ever seen in real life. I couldn’t get enough!

Here’s Gillian’s response to the prompt…

And alright, so we said the deadline was today…but you can still submit your responses via email to wsr@byu.edu

So go on! Do it! (P.S. You can submit more than one completion of the sentence. This is pretty much the best project ever. Plus you get free photos if we choose you! From me! So what the heck are you still reading this for?!)

On My Plate

June 9, 2011 •

I was having a pretty awful food day yesterday after I ate my lunch, bought a Jamba Juice, was still hungry, and the vending machine ate my money. (It’s better that way. I was going to get horribly dry cookies that have probably been infused with dust and plastic.)

So I was absolutely thrilled when I got to partake of my dear friend Claire’s yummy hummus and plump grapes.
And then, we got talking about my friend Breanna’s baking blog, and I was inspired by her delicious recipes and delicious looking pictures that I decided to go home and bake myself.

Now, I didn’t go out on much of a limb but chocolate chip cookies are some of the best things on this planet and that just can’t be argued.

The only pretty baking item I own: silvery measuring spoons from Williams Sonoma. Another incredible gift from my mother-in-law.

I am not fancy and I don’t have the little scooper that makes your cookies into perfectly round little balls. See the knuckle marks? And the little crumblies? Oh well. Gives it character.

The recipe:

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies:

2 cubes butter (don’t use margarine. It’s fake.)
3/4 c. brown sugar
3/4 c. white sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. blended oats
1 3/4 c. flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
Chocolate chips, as desired

Directions:

1. Soften butter, cream with sugars.
2. Add egg and vanilla, mix in.
3. Blend the oats in a food processor.
4. Add dry ingredients atop the wet ones—stir around before you mix it all together. If you want to get fancy, use a separate bowl. I’ve just decided that’s a waste of my life.
5. Stir in the wet ingredients juuuust a little bit.
6. Add the chocolate chips—however many you want!
7. Form into balls, bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

The blended oats really are the secret!
For my first food blogger experiment, I think it turned out pretty well 🙂

Husbandry.

June 7, 2011 •

Husbandry involves a lot of sacrifices. He is so tired of modeling for me. But you can see why I always want him in front of the camera, yes? He is gorgeous and that is unbiased truth.