Holiday Fun

This year I decided to part from my usual oreo truffles and try some new treat recipes. The first treats are peppermint chocolate cookies from the Martha Stewart magazine (thanks for the recipe, Karlee!) I just altered it by dipping the cookies halfway in the chocolate instead of completely.

The second treats are little squares of cute pink and white joy called Coconut Ice. They are my favorite Australian treats that you buy in the candy store-- but I was determined to make them at home. Yum!

Merry merry Christmas, everyone!

Lifeblood

I LOVE writing. It is my lifeblood. I've filled at least 20 journals since age five. I'm grateful for the opportunity I have to write book blurbs like this one for LDS books sold in Deseret and Seagull Book, I've written for the New Era (click on the article: "A Plan for Adam") and I also write for the Square Magazine and now for Utah Valley Magazine, but even that isn't enough to satiate my desire! I am going to take a writing class in January which I am SO excited about. Click here to see a little article I wrote just for fun about fun things you can do with hot chocolate.

Letter to Santa

My mom found this letter that I wrote to Santa when I was eight years old so she typed it up as is. It's pretty funny! I think I'm pretty persuasive, don't you? Not much has changed--except that my desire for a wiener dog is definitely gone. Merry Christmas!

Dear Santa,

Hi Santa! Im sorry if your buzy. But I need to talk to you. You know my dad John Cone talked to me about getting the thing I've always wanted, always will, and its the thing I've wanted most in the world. More than $100! Serious. A wiener dog, or a cat. I'd really love one you know. So can you really try to get me one? Anyhow, my dad said you said youd be happy to get me one, but Mom and Craig don't want one, and my mom said you'd be happy to get me one at dad's house. I think the one Mom said sounds better. And by the way, if you can't get me a wiener dog, or a cat (hope you can get one,)I'd be happy to have a chameleon, lizard, or a cool animal like that won't bite me! Merry Chrismas!

Love, Kim Cone

P.S I will help you this year with what you've asked me to do. Heres some ideas: Go door to door and ask if they can donate somethings to the homeless and hungry. Or I can make some jars, and put a sign on them wich sais: Please help the hungry and homeless. I'll put it in my school, and other places.

P.P.S. Write back if possible!

P.S.S. Do you like the ideas?

Yes

No

Maybe

Australia

I’d like to bust a couple of myths about Australians: 1. They do not ride kangaroos. 2. They don’t ever say “let’s put another shrimp on the barbie” except to make fun of Americans for thinking they say that. 3. Koalas are not kind and cuddly creatures (maybe at a zoo, but definitely not in the wild!)

I hope your vision of Australia isn’t dashed to pieces. The truth is that Australians are extremely friendly and helpful, the beaches are picturesque, and vegemite is found in the a lot of Australians’ cupboards. Clay and I just got back from our trip to Australia— it was exhilarating. Some highlights:

• Seeing friends I hadn’t seen for five years

• Going back to my old high school and seeing teachers & having a little reunion

• Going to the beautiful beaches in perfect weather

• Playing Rugby (I was pretty excited when I scored a try)

• Eating my favorite Australian foods: natural lollies (candy), coconut ice, Thai Orchid, salad sandwiches, Arnott’s cookies (including Tim Tams), pavlova, New Zealand Natural ice cream, & lamingtons

• Going to Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo and hanging out with the kangaroos and koalas

• Seeing the movie "Australia" in Australia--not far from where part of it was filmed!
  

• And going to Fiji on the way home.

  

Australia, Here We Come!

Clay and I are off to Australia tomorrow!!! Jess and Arthur are coming too and we are so excited for the adventures we will have there. As most of you probably know, Jess and I spent all of our high school years there and came to be completely attached to that blessed country and the wonderful people that live there! Clay and I have been planning this trip for years so it is pretty surreal that it’s actually time to go.

It’ll take 24 hours of traveling … we stop in LA and Fiji … but it will all be worth it! Some things I’m looking forward to: Seeing old friends, eating aussie food like meat pies, NZ ice cream, lamingtons, Pavlova, Thai Orchid, salad sandwiches, natural lollies, going to see “Australia” at the Gold Class Cinemas—the theatre has comfy recliner chairs & people bring us food and drinks. Don’t worry—they are coming to America! Going to see kangaroos and koalas at Steve Irwin’s Australia Zoo, the beautiful beach, showing Clay my high school and house, etc.

Aussie, aussie, aussie, oi oi oi!

My First Tag (aww, special!)

8 Things I'm passionate about...

1. Clay
2. My whole family
3. Vacationing
4. My beliefs
5. Exercising
6. My friends
7. Writing & acting

8. Change & variety in life

5 Favorite TV Shows...(I narrowed it from 8 to 5 because I don't watch much TV)

1. Take Home Chef
2. Ace of Cakes
3. Whose Wedding is it Anyway
4. King of Queens
5. Gilmore Girls

8 Favorite Restaurants...
1. Thai Orchid (Australia)
2. Paradise Bakery
3. The Cheesecake Factory
4. Harvest Restaurant
5. Mimi's Cafe
6. Trio
7. Red Mango (dessert places count, right?)
8. Magleby's Grill

8 Things I Look Forward To...
1. Seeing Clay when I get home from work
2. Getting done with work everyday :)
3. Birthdays
4. Having babies (one at a time!)
5. Summertime
6. Vacations and weekend getaways
7. Writing a book
8. Going on a mission with Clay

8 Things I've learned from my past...
1. To find positive things about everyone I meet
2. To live in the present and not only dwell in the past or hope for the future
3. Work to live, don't live to work!
4. Moms are really great and I wish I always appreciated mine--especially when I was a teenager!
5. Change is good
6. Boys are really different from girls
7. Life gets better as time goes by

8 Places I'd love to visit...
1. Ireland
2. France (more of the country this time)
3. Boston
4. Washington D.C.
5. Rhode Island
6. The Greek Isles
7. Italy
8. Tonga
and Iceland and space!

8 people I tag...
1. Karlee
2. Buffy
3. Jason (Hass)--this will be funny!!
4. Tara
5. Holly
6. Casey & Jeff
7. Emily
8. Haley

ODE TO LAUGHING GAS

I had been dreading my dentist appointment for awhile. The thought of those long silver needles going into my mouth, the unsympathetic dentist drilling away at my teeth, the drool-causing numbness, and the metallic, bloody taste in my mouth was not my idea of a good day.

Resigned to my fate, I walked into the dentist's office, signed in, sat down, and waited for the dreaded cavity-filling to begin. The dental assistant called my name and sat me down in the chair. And then she asked the golden question: "Would you like your laughing gas to smell like vanilla or mint?" she placed the elephant-like nozzle over my nose and I started breathing in the vanilla magic. Once the nitrous oxide started working--I was taken to a euphoric la la land and all thoughts of dreading the dentist vanished and it turned into the best day of my whole year! (that is, until the laughing gas and numbness wore off.)

Okay I'm not a psycho druggie wannabe or anything, but MAN that stuff is good! Did you know laughing gas comes from the bacteria in soils and oceans? Crazy!

Bloom Where You’re Planted

I have always been a huge advocate of this phrase. When I was fifteen years old and moved with my family to Australia, it just seemed like a fun vacation. But once reality set in, it was actually quite a challenge. We were in a new country, culture, school, and we were surrounded by strangers. I almost moved back home to Utah to live with my dad. But once I decided to put both feet where I was and enjoy the experience, I came to love Australia more than I ever imagined I could. I had the most amazing experiences there and my time there had a huge part in making me who I am today. I can’t imagine what life would be like and what I would be like if I had decided to give up that wonderful opportunity Heavenly Father offered to me!

That was not the only time I’ve had a chance to bloom where I was planted. I told myself years ago that once I was done with college, I would get the heck outta Provo. Well, I’ve been living here for six years and although it’s not what I expected or wanted, it has also offered me such wonderful experiences and friendships that I wouldn’t trade for the world, and now I can actually swallow my pride and say I love Provo!

I think we all have times in our lives where things aren’t going exactly how we planned or wanted, but I know that Heavenly Father is acutely aware of us and puts us in the places and circumstances that will be of the most benefit to us and our happiness. Amazing things can happen when we decide to embrace our circumstances and surroundings and make the most out of them!

I really like this quote from Elder Tom Perry's talk last conference: "One of the challenges of this mortal experience is to not allow the stresses and strains of life to get the better of us--to endure the varied seasons of life while remaining positive, even optimistic."

Halloween Spooktacular

We love HALLOWEEN! This year we combined with our good friends Ben and Mollie to throw a Halloween Spooktacular at our house. It was so much fun to see everyone who came--thanks so much for coming. (Especially the people who drove down from Salt Lake!)


As you can see, Clay dressed up as Indiana Jones, complete with the theme music on a recorder in his pocket that he liked to turn on sporadically throughout the evening. I was Dr. Irina Spalko, the villain from the newest Indiana Jones movie. Between our closets, Savers, my mom's closet, and Partyland, we pieced the costumes together.

Going Private

Hello! I have decided to make my blog private to avoid the crazies so please email your email address to me! My email is: kimchristenson@gmail.com.

Thanks

-Kim

Cheeseburger in Paradise

Clay’s 25^th birthday was on Tuesday and the little party we had for him on Monday was his dream come true—a cheeseburger party! He bought double cheeseburgers from McDonald’s for everyone, and Jessica and Mollie each made some cupcakes that looked like cheeseburgers! We also had a couples tournament involving an egg race, musical chairs to Jimmy Buffet’s “Cheeseburger in Paradise,” a coin toss, darts, and Burger Bingo. We had prizes for everyone and it was SO much fun!

This is just a little shout out for the birthday boy—Clay is the most selfless, fun, and funny guy I know and I love being married to him! Here are some fun facts about Clay:

-He had a sweet mullet as a child.

-In high school, he and a friend ate at McDonald’s EVERY day for a year! No wonder he’s obsessed with cheeseburgers. Luckily soccer was keeping his metabolism up at the time!

-He is colorblind (he thought my eyes were brown until a few months ago).

-Jordan High School retired his soccer jersey—it’s hanging on the wall there with a picture of him. I substitute taught there one day when I just started dating him and was pretty excited when I saw it.

-He is a golf fanatic

-If he could go pro in any sport, it would be basketball

Happy birthday week, Clay! Love ya

Spontaneous trip to ST. GEORGE

Last week I had a huge urge to get away and go on a little trip. So Clay and I and our friends Ben and Mollie took off to one of my favorite vacation spots--St George! We stayed at my aunt's house in Ivins and had a lot of fun eating out, being in the sun, playing games, and just relaxing. One last hurrah before the cold sets in ...

Kicking off Halloween at Cornbelly's

Our first Halloween together, Clay and I went to Cornbelly's at Thanksgiving Point. It was just us--and we got frustrated trying to find our way out of the corn maze for two hours. But we both love Halloween and now going to Cornbelly's every year is a tradition for us! This year we went with all of the young men and young women (Clay and I both have callings with them). I was like a little kid when I got there--seeing all the jack-o-lanterns and Halloween festivities was so much FUN!

Free Handbags

I couldn't resist entering this drawing for a free purse. Go to this link to check it out: www.handbagplanet.com

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

Here's the weekly recipe, which my cute friend from work, Jessica Peterson, gets credit for--she discovered it on allrecipes.com and says it is wonderful! Her tip: save some cash by buying frozen blueberries instead of fresh ones. Thanks, Jess!

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup butter, cubed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2. Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3. To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Delta

This past weekend was wonderful because of conference, but also because I got to go to a concert I was really excited about! It was with Delta Goodrem—an Australian vocalist who has outsold the Beatles! You've probably heard her new song "In This Life". She has an incredible voice and talent for songwriting. I fell in love with her music when I was living Australia.

I brought her a little bag of American goodies: some candy, lip gloss, and a Book of Mormon. After listening to her lyrics and thinking about it I just felt like it would be a good move. When I handed her the bag, she saw the Book of Mormon and said, “I’d like to read that!” When I was talking with her, she was so down to earth and genuine. It was definitely a night to remember & made me even more excited to go on my trip to Australia next month!

Tornado!

Last night I was taking a walk with my mom outside by her house in Draper and it started getting really windy. We spotted a couple of budding tornadoes in the distance, and Clay ran out of the house and led us to safety—he had us all grab on to some wooden beams in the basement and we held on for dear life while all the tornadoes passed us.

Okay so by now you’ve probably realized that was a dream. It got me wide awake this morning at 5:30 a.m. and I couldn’t fall back asleep—I couldn’t stop thinking of my family and how important it is to me. I got up and happened upon an article in the most recent Ensign Magazine called Protecting Our Families in the Last Days by Elder Richard J. Maynes of the Seventy (click on the title of the article to go to it).

Sometimes it's easy to forget that my family and the gospel are the most important things in life and I need to show more love to my family and always make time for studying the gospel--even when it's so hard to find time to do that. Luckily my crazy dream and that inspiring article helped me put things back into perspective. Wait, I think I see a tornado forming in the distance!

The Best Pumpkin Bread Ever

Happy October! In honor of the pumpkins poppin' up everywhere, this week's recipe is a layered pumpkin loaf. It's pretty simple to make, and since I didn't have pumpkin pie spice (which you can buy at any grocery store)I just threw in some cinnamon and nutmeg. You can also add chocolate chips if you want. It is delicious! Get excited for some awesome Halloween treats I'll be posting throughout the month.

Layered Pumpkin Loaf recipe:

Prep Time:
20 min

Total Time:
1 hr 25 min

Makes:
1 loaf or 16 servings, one slice each

What You Need

1 cup canned pumpkin

1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar, divided

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

4 egg whites, divided

1/2 cup fat-free milk

1/4 cup canola oil

2 cups flour

2-1/2 tsp. CALUMET Baking Powder

2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp. salt

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Neufchatel Cheese, softened

Make It

PREHEAT oven to 350ºF. Grease a nonstick 9x5-inch loaf pan; set aside. Mix pumpkin, 1 cup granulated sugar, the brown sugar, 3 of the egg whites, milk and oil in large bowl. Add flour, baking powder, pie spice and salt; stir just until moistened. Set aside. Beat Neufchatel cheese, remaining 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar and the remaining egg white with wire whisk until well blended.

SPOON half of the pumpkin batter into prepared pan; spoon Neufchatel cheese mixture evenly over the batter. Cover with remaining pumpkin batter.

BAKE 1 hour to 1 hour 5 min. or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Run knife or thin spatula around edges of pan to loosen bread; cool in pan on wire rack 10 min. Remove bread from pan to wire rack; cool completely.

How to Store the Bread

Wrap cooled bread in foil or plastic wrap. Store in refrigerator up to 4 days.

Make this Dessert & Make Instant Friends

I love eating desserts, so I love making them! I've decided to share weekly recipes and help you and your family put on a few extra pounds. This week's recipe: Mini Oreo Surprise Cupcakes! Just click on the link. They were a huge hit. You can also do some variations like adding York peppermint patties or Nutter Butters in the middle or using brownie mix instead of cake mix. Enjoy ...

Just Blogging to Say I’m Not Blogging …

My home computer is broken so my blog is being neglected. Wow—I never thought I’d say that! Here’s an update in a nutshell: we moved upstairs in Jen and Mike’s house since they are in Arizona now. We love the extra room and especially the sunshine that didn’t used to reach us in the basement abyss! Clay started assistant coaching for the BYU men’s soccer team and he loves it, although it’s hard for him to not play. I am absolutely loving my job at Utah Valley Magazine. And we are going to Australia in less than two months! I can’t wait to take Clay there and show him where I used to live and have him meet my friends there. Happy first day of fall!

Re-living my Wedding Day

Isn’t it every married woman’s dream to re-live her wedding day?
… or at least parts of it?

Well that’s exactly what I got to do the other day with my friends and sisters. Angela, a MAC makeup artist, two hairstylists from Taylor Andrews Academy, and Jessie from Jessie Alexis Photography got us all ready for a bridal photo shoot. Fun times, intense makeup! It was fun to be in my dress again and have bridals taken with my sisters (including Rachel, who wore Jeni’s wedding dress).

My Dream Job

Well, I haven't started working there yet, but I already know that my new job at Utah Valley Magazine is going to be my dream job.

My last day at Covenant Communications was last Wednesday. The girls of the company took me out to lunch to say goodbye (the photo below is of them.)


I start my new full-time job at UV Magazine on Aug. 4th. The staff is made up of twelve women and four men--and they all seem SO fun to work with. My title will be External Relations and I'll do things including magazine circulation, improving our website, manning our booth at events, and eventually writing.

My soon-to-be bosses and the company founders, Matt and Jeanette Bennett, are a cute young couple who have already made me feel so welcome and excited to work there. If you know of anyone looking for a job, let me know and I can give you the info about the job I just left.

I'm still going to do books on CD and backliners (the summaries on the backs of books) for Covenant. I also just started writing for the Square Magazine, so watch out for my articles that'll range from excessive sweating remedies to new restaurant reviews.

Till next time!

Bye Bye, BYU Soccer

Clay just played his last game for BYU Men's Soccer tonight.

It was a bittersweet night! The game against the Abbotsford Rangers was intense and ended in a 1-1 tie. Clay even had a couple of shots on goal. My whole family and lots of friends were there--that made it SO awesome (and loud)--thank you for coming to Clay's games, friends and family!

At the end of the game, some fans picked Clay up and ran him around the field on their shoulders. That was pretty fun. Don't tell, but Clay admits to tearing up when he said the prayer after the game with the team. I teared up when they scored a goal--I know, cheesy. Soccer has just been such a huge part of Clay's life since he was a kid.

There will now be a bit of a void in our lives, but I'm sure we will find a way to fill it :)

First blog

Okay.

I finally swallowed my anti-personal-blog pride and made one. Now what do I do? Just kidding. I guess I'll post my most recent photo (down below). It's from Clay's soccer game in Ogden last night. The game was 0-0 until Aaron Gabbart scored a goal in the final minute and won the game for the Cougs. Yay! As you can see, I am sporting Clay's jersey just to create some extra rivalry with the devoted Ogden Outlaws fans. It worked.

This is Clay's last season playing soccer for BYU, and he has three games left--they are all at home. Here's a little schedule so you can come if you want :)

PS--Click the link below to see the article and picture of Clay that was on the front page of the Deseret News sports section yesterday:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,700242628,00.html

Friday, July 18th & Saturday July 19th against Canadian teams, both at 7:30pm. If you're going to go to one or the other, I would recommend Saturday night because they'll recognize all the seniors who will be ending their BYU Soccer career with that game.