I wish I could be a California girl....

Blogger takes forever to load photos. So go to my facebook to see some of our pictures from our Cali trip.

www.facebook.com/sarandall

p.s. you have to be my friend to see them....its a private profile. :-)

To let all of you know...

To those of you that know us extremely well, you will know of the trials we have faced in the past seven years. For those of you that don't, it was just a long hard road that we would like to forget and move on from.

Brick and I want to let you know of the miracle that has taken placed in our lives and that our trial is finally over. We look forward to starting our brand new lives together.

We are so grateful for this blessing in our lives and are thankful for all of you that have helped us through it. Thank you for the many prayers and fasting.

We are so grateful for the Lord and the blessings of the temple. We know it was through our decision and effort to go through for the first time, just months ago, that has brought us this wonderful miracle in our lives.

To celebrate the end of this struggle, Brick and I hit the road for four days in Cali. Pictures to come soon!

Thank you all again for all you do!

When Life Gives You Lemons...Make Salsa

Have you ever had something happen to you that made you so mad that you just had to laugh?

Last week sometime, what I knew is that I wanted to have some chips and salsa for a late night snack. What I didn't know is that last time I had had my favorite snack...I had neglected to screw on the lid the entire way.



When I grabbed the salsa, I shook it so it wouldn't be all watery when it came out. This is what happened. I shook it so hard it opened and splattered all over me, all over the floor, and all over our dogs. I was so mad that I just wanted to scream but all I could do was just laugh. I tried to blame Brick for it, since he was standing near by, even though I knew I was the last one to use the salsa. And I tried to blame the fridge, the salsa, the dogs. My husband was nice enough to clean up the mess for me. But only after Lily, our chihuahua, ate most of the salsa on the floor. I was glad I was wearing Brick's pajama shirt instead of any of my clothes though.




I learned a lesson though. Sometimes you just get so angry but you just have to let it go. It makes you feel a lot better if you just laugh instead and get a great couple of pictures to blog about as well.

Awesomely Wicked

We finally made it! We got tickets to Wicked last night and it was absolutely amazing!

We didn't orginally have tickets, but we heard about the Wicked lottery they have at Gammage before every performance. If you show up in the evening before each performance you can enter your name into the drawing. About 200 people show up and they draw 10 names who get 2 tickets each. The odds of winning aren't very good but we decided to go anyways.

After 4 days of trying I was about ready to give up. Brick's grandparents were even so wonderful as to come so we could take their tickets if they got drawn. Anyways, I finally got drawn yesterday and we got 2 first row tickets to that night's performance. You still have to pay $25 per ticket, but for $150 per ticket seats it was well worth it.



This picture is from my favorite part of the whole musical. The lead character was actually played by the understudy this time which was totally ok. She was absolutely wonderful. She had a beautiful voice. It was well worth the wait in the Arizona heat for the tickets. It was such a fun night. We did take a quick picture of us outside Gammage but it didn't turn out so well. So you will just have to imagine how happy we were to go!

Miracles

"Has the day of miracles ceased?
“Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved?” (Moro. 7:35–36.)
“Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased, wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain.
“For no man can be saved, according to the words of Christ, save they shall have faith in his name; wherefore, if these things have ceased, then faith has ceased also; and awful is the state of man, for they are as though there had been no redemption made.” (Moro. 7:37–38.)

For those of you that know me and my husband well, you know that we have had years of struggles and trials, some due to our own actions and some by chance. We are at a point in our lives where we are hoping that the hardest trial we have met with will soon be over. I am grateful today for the small miracles that God gives his children. I see miracles happen in my daily life. Other times miracles occur and I don't know that they are miracles until much later on. I am so grateful for our Temples and the blessings that we gain because of them. I have such a strong testimony of their power and gifts. Thank you to all who have supported us during this trial and for never judging. We love and thank you all for the many prayers and fasts on our behalf. We pray that this will all be over soon.

Banana Sour Cream Bread

My sister Jenna made this banana bread for me and it was sooo good. It's a little different cause it has sour cream in it, but it is amazing!


INGREDIENTS (Nutrition)
1/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup butter
3 cups white sugar
3 eggs
6 very ripe bananas, mashed
1 (16 ounce) container sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Grease four 7x3 inch loaf pans. In a small bowl, stir together 1/4 cup white sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Dust pans lightly with cinnamon and sugar mixture.
In a large bowl, cream butter and 3 cups sugar. Mix in eggs, mashed bananas, sour cream, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix in salt, baking soda and flour. Stir in nuts. Divide into prepared pans.
Bake for 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

The Value of Work

On Sunday we had a great lesson in Young Womens about the value of work. As a handout we got the following quote:

"We are here on earth to work-to work long, hard, arduous hours, to work until our backs ache and our tired muscles knot, to work all our days. This mortal probation is one in which we are to eat our bread in the sweat of our faces until we return to the dust from whence we came. Work is the law of life; it is the ruling principle in the lives of the Saints."

----Bruce R. McConkie-----

I fell completely in love with this quote..so much that I taped it to my bathroom mirror so I can read it every morning. It is a wonderful reminder of what we are supposed to be doing here on earth. It made me realize how often it is that I complain about working at my job too much or how much I dread house work. It gave me a new outlook on the value I put on the work that I do. If a man of God tells us to work until our backs ache and our muscles knot, then I know that that is what God wants. It makes me want to try everyday to work harder in everything I do and to not settle for second best or to get by doing the bare minimum.

Thank you Michelle Dalton for such a great lesson!

Cute Aprons

I just got back from Utah yesterday and while I was there I had a chance to do some shopping. I found this way cute kiosk at the University Mall in Orem that sells adorable aprons. So naturally, I just had to buy one. Here it is!


If you are interested..their website is flirtyaprons.com

All About Me

I am a crazy and scatterbrained 23 year old who has been married to her wonderful husband for a little over three years. We dated for two years prior to getting married and I can barely remember what it was like before we met. I am a hairstylist and work out of my own studio in Gilbert. I love my job...probably mostly because it's so flexible and I can work as little as possible to make the money I need to. My husband, Brick, is a web designer and also specializes in small business marketing. We are very privileged to work right next door to each other and get to enjoy each other's company probably a little more than what is healthy. We don't have any kids as of yet, but are hoping to start trying soon, as circumstances in our lives change in the next few months. We have many furry friends that fill our house and are our "replacement children". We live in Gilbert and just moved here from Queen Creek at the end of last year. We love our ward and our neighborhood and hope to buy a house here when we are in the market to do so. Brick is our ward's choir pianist and I am serving in the beehive class in young womens. It is the best calling I have ever had. I learn so much from my girls and they teach me so much more than they could learn from me. Both of our families are also in the Gilbert area and we appreciate them being so close. If you know me, you will know that I tend to be a little dramatic, a little persistent, need to have organization in my life or nothing will get done, but most of all just want to experience the wonderful things in life with my family and friends.

An Incomplete Recap of the Last 2 Months

It's been forever since I have posted...and since my wonderful husband is working on a facelift for my blog I thought I better get crackin.

It's been a fun filled summer so far with tons of stuff to do and see. My summer started out with taking our long awaited trip to Higley Stake Girls Camp. We went to Taylor Ranch which is a spot up near Pinedale, where the owners have so graciously let us use their land. It was definately a far cry from what I was used to having be girls camp. We really were roughing it. The port-a-potties were a welcomed commodity considering we had to haul our own water, there was an absence of electricity, we slept in tents, and no showers.

Despite the dirt (that took me hours to get out from under my nails), we had a blast. We had wonderful experiences and so much fun getting to know each other. My beehives are the greatest! And I was grateful to get to know the other girls in our ward better as well.

I was so lucky to come home to a wonderful surprise. The Wonderful Mr. Randall had cleaned our house spotless for my arrival. Closets and pantries were organized, litter box was cleaned out, and even our most priorly uninhabited areas had been organized so that I could walk into them without tripping over boxes and furniture. And whats more... I had a shining clean bathroom ready for me to bathe the five days of accumulated dirt off of me. My sanctuary was fully equipped with background music, candles, and chocolate surrounding the bath tub. I really am a lucky wife. I only wish I had taken pictures of the wonderfully undeserved event.

With all the chaos of Girls Camp, I neglected to take any pictures. So here are a few that I lovingly stole from some of my young womens' facebook accounts!

Riley and Challis sucking down lemons

Madi, Quincie, and Hailey with the spirit stick our ward won!

Yay for YCLs! Anika, Lisa, and Hailey

Rachel and Scarlett strutting their stuff...

Alicia and Quincie posing for the camera