Let's Not Make It Harder Than It Has To Be

I want to break something down for you all today. Something that is very simple........or at least it should be simple.

You want to catch a boy's eye, so...

• Look your best. A little mascara and lip gloss never hurt anyone. And try wearing a color that flatters your skin tone. Looking your best will do wonders for your confidence, and confidence is VERY attractive.
• Be friendly and warm - not just to him, but to everyone
• Offer genuine compliments and praise
• Attend functions that he is likely to be at, i.e. a certain party, church, etc., and make it a point to NOT stay in a cluster of your girlfriends.

Do not...

• Dress like a skank. It's okay to be a little mysterious and coy by covering up appropriately.
• Follow him around like a puppy
• Be mean to other girls or ignore others - he will see this and wonder when you'll start to treat him this way
• Be phony or fake. When you are yourself, you will attract someone who will be a better fit for you.

The end. No really. It really could be this easy. Right?

This post's title came from this song:
Girls Chase Boys by Ingrid Michaelson

What Time Is It? Summertime!

I wanted to share one of my favorite pasta salad recipes with you today. The good thing about pasta salad, is that you can easily adjust it to yield fewer servings, and as with any pasta salad, it's all about what YOU like, so add more cheese if you're a cheese person, or fewer (or no) tomatoes if you're not crazy about tomatoes, etc. My mom adds olives, but I hate them, so I took them out of my recipe. I also adjusted this recipe to include more garbanzo beans and I then included cauliflower (which it didn't originally call for), because I love those things! Don't be afraid to mess with the amounts, because with salads like this, it's not so much about the exact proportions as it is about having lots of what you like in the salad. So without further ado:


Favorite Summertime Pasta Salad

• 2 boxes (12 oz) of tri-color rotini pasta, cooked, rinsed and drained
• 2 cans (12 oz) of garbanzo beans, drained
• 1 jar (14 oz) of marinated artichoke hearts, drained - but save the marinade (I cut the hearts into smaller pieces)
• 1 lb of colby jack cheese, cut into small cubes
• 1 package (6 oz) of sliced pepperoni, cut into quarters
• 1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese (I use more sometimes, depending on the mood I'm in)
• 1 package (16 oz at least) of grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• 2 cups of broccoli florets, broken into smaller pieces
• 2 cups of cauliflower florets, broken into smaller pieces
• 1 container (16 oz) of Italian salad dressing 
• 2 tsp salt

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add one or two teaspoons of salt to the water so that your pasta won't be too bland. Once the water is boiling, add pasta, stirring occasionally to keep it from sticking to the pan. Test pasta after about six or seven minutes; we want the pasta to be al dente (visit this link to learn more about cooking pasta al dente). Once the pasta is al dente, remove it from the stove, place in a colander, and rinse to cool it off. Let it drain.

While your pasta is cooking, it's time to cut up your other ingredients and combine them all into a large mixing bowl. Break up or cut your broccoli and cauliflower into small florets. You don't want one piece of broccoli to take up the entire fork! Cut cheese into small cubes - about a 1/2 square inch should do it. Take your slices of pepperoni and quarter them. Grape tomatoes should be sliced in half. Take the artichoke hearts out of the marinade and chop into smaller pieces. Drain the garbanzo beans and add them in. Add the Parmesan cheese as well. Place all of these items in the large mixing bowl and use a large spoon or spatula to mix them all together. Add the drained pasta to the bowl and mix it in. Pour the Italian dressing and the marinade from the artichoke hearts into the bowl and mix it one last time.

Place the salad in the refrigerator so you can serve it cold and so all the flavors can marry. A couple of hours should be perfect, although this time around, I just couldn't wait any longer than 30 minutes. And guess what? It was wonderful. :)

This post's title came from this song:
What Time is It? from High School Musical 2

Starting Over Is the Hardest Thing to Do

Let's talk about my trip to Idaho. I know I grazed over the trip in my last post, but it was such an experience for me and I kind of want to dissect that now. Brace yourselves: it's a lengthy post.

I took the trip so that I could get away from the city and spend time with my best friend. I could kind of sense that she needed someone and some extra emotional support, so I offered to come up. When I made the offer, I never imagined that I would need the trip as much for my emotional support as for hers. I mean, when I was up there, driving through the rolling hills, fields touched with the new green of spring, and the majestic snow capped mountains, I got a refill on something that I didn't even recognize was missing from my life: peace and total contentment.

The view as I drove through Idaho. Kind of breathtaking, right?

How could I have been so caught up in my life to not even realize that I wasn't happy and content with the life I am living? I know how........I let work rule my life, I turn a blind eye to the pollution and crowds of the city, and I immerse myself in Netflix...all so that I can numb the discontentment I feel. I work to pay my bills. I stay in the city so that I can have a job to pay my bills. I hate the city. I hate the crowds. I hate the heat. I hate the superficial quality of the majority of the people here. But I've learned to tune it out. But tuning it out doesn't mean that I like it and it doesn't give me peace. All of which I came to realize while I was listening to "Take Me Home, Country Roads" by John Denver while I drove through the rural northern country. I know now that I've got to get out of this hellish heat trap that I once affectionately called "the Valley." But where to go? There are so many options. Ideally, I just want to hide myself away in a log cabin next to a lake in the middle of a pine tree forest where no one can bother me. Have a quiet existence. Here's something else that my trip taught me: I feel close to God when I am in nature. Specifically mountains, lakes, rivers, forests - these bring me to my knees, and make me feel like singing "When through the woods, and forest glades I wander, and hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees, when I look down, from lofty mountain grandeur and see the brook, and feel the gentle breeze, then sings my soul, "My Saviour, God, to Thee, How great Thou art!"

Look at this amazing little gem of a place: Beaver Dick Park. Gosh, it was so perfect. It was drizzling a little when we were there, and I think that made it even more perfect and hushed. We were the only ones there enjoying this, and that was fine with me. The silence was soothing. The river was calming. And the fresh air was invigorating. And although the name made me giggle like a 13 year-old boy....I couldn't get enough of the place.

My friend, Cass, was a wonderful tour guide. She showed me all over town and took me to places that she knew I would enjoy. I know she put some thought into it, and it really made my trip amazing.

The TV Museum in Rigby

Beaver Dick Park

Sammy's in Rexburg

And of course, we had to have a night out, an excuse to get all dressed up and look incredible, because that's kind of what we DO when we get together........ So we went to Sammy's where there was a dance party and a great deal on shakes and fries. No one was mad about this. Look at how fierce I look!

 

We went to church on Sunday but skipped out of Sunday school early to traipse through the Gardens on the BYU-I campus. It was well worth it, just let me tell you. The air was crisp. The sun was shining. The tulips were blooming. The wildlife was abundant. The conversation was thought-provoking. I felt joyful! For the first time in a very long time I was truly happy. We left church early because I had to get ready to go back home, but.......a quick 45 minute tour of the gardens had to fit its way into our schedule! It just had to! I'm so glad that we took time for it. I loved the gardens, touched with the first signs of spring.

The trip was incredible. Being with my best friend was revitalizing and empowering. The quiet time I had to myself as I drove from Salt Lake up to Rexburg and then back down again...well that was invaluable to me. I needed that time for myself so badly, and I was able to think about my life, my dreams, my goals and my hopes. The scary thing is that I have to start all over again if I want to have the life of my dreams. I have to move, which is huge. I have to be all on my own again, which is kind of hard sometimes. I have to figure out a place that suits me and that I feel peaceful about - a place that God intends me to be. There are so many places to consider, it's a little overwhelming, but I have faith that my path will be made clear eventually. I struggle now for the peace and contentment I will feel later. And so I take the first step on the road to happiness, peace, and a life filled with true joy and total satisfaction.

This post's title came from this song:
Beginning of a Bad Idea by Tyler Ward

Wish I'd Forget You, But You're Here to Stay

I just took a wonderful trip to Idaho. Yes. I know - Idaho. But it was such a perfect weekend! I saw my best friend, I was able to relax, and I was able to be out in nature, rather than confined to the busy city with its endless asphalt and concrete. It was the perfect change of pace. It was such a peaceful trip. I mean, just look at this serene place:

I started thinking about The Extrovert though, towards the end. He crept into my thoughts like fog - almost unnoticeable at first, but quickly obscuring any other thought that I might have had until he was the only thing I could think of.

He had the gall to text me the other day. I still cannot understand it. I had deleted his number from my phone, blocked him on Facebook, and had moved on. I really felt like he was far behind me and that I was finally over him and the damage he did to me. But then I got the text. I didn't know that it was from him at first, because I'd deleted his number, but of course, my phone had saved our text history, so when I opened the text in the message center, I was able to deduce that it was him. And my heart stopped. And my mind raced. And I shrunk away from it with apprehension and alarm. Why was he texting me? Why? He had made it so clear to me that he would never want to date me. I had made it so clear to him that I would never want to be "just friends" with him. We burned the bridges and I honestly have ZERO interest in rebuilding them. I don't want him in my life. Ever.

But he texted me a link to an Arrested Development meme.  This one, to be exact:

Seems innocent enough, right? But here's the deal: Arrested Development used to be a thing for us, back when we were dating. We'd flirt through AD quotes, we'd watch it together frequently, and honestly, AD showed me that we had similar senses of humor - which is SO nice! - and that we found the same types of things to be funny. That's something that's important to me. The fact that he shared this with me NOW, after all that has transpired between us...well...it seems kind of like a slap in the face. I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it, but it's reopening all of the wounds that had just healed. It's like, "hey, I know this used to be something that connected us, and I saw this, and thought of you, and I just wanted to remind you that I haven't forgotten about you or about us and what used to connect us." And obviously I'm over-thinking it, but what would YOU do when your ex texts you, showing that he took the time to think about you? Yes, it's a very VERY small thought about me, but he paused long enough to think, "she'll enjoy this," and took the time to type my name in and hit send. Small, so small, but like a small pebble cast into a lake, the waves that are caused by it are so large in comparison.

I didn't text back, I didn't respond, I didn't dignify it with an answer. He knows where I stand and him trying to be friendly to me is a lost cause. I know he has a girlfriend, and I know it's not me. I know it will never be me. And since that is true, then this, also, must be true: We cannot be friends. I cannot function on a friend level with him, nor on a romantic level anymore. He mistreated me, used me, cheapened me, and is trying to be cavalier about it all. I can't stand for that. And I won't allow him to mistreat me again. Silence is my defense, my prison, and my downfall, but I'd rather be silent than engage in a conversation that would only give me more things to freak out about. There's been enough drama between us; I'm finished.


This post's title came from this song:
Good Morning Heartache by Billie Holiday