New Years Resolution's

so this year I have come up with some major new years resolutions. since last year kind of fell apart after april i am going to pick up where I left off with a few things.

the first thing I plan on doing is finding a new job. at the end of last year I applied for three different jobs, and I am still waiting to hear back from each one of them. I sure hope I hear back from them soon, because then that gets me closer to getting out of the whole lovely retail world.

secondly, last year at the beginning of the year I started weight watchers and it was going great, then I started a new seizure medicstion, my grandma came down here, and well you get the point......things fell apaprt, I ended up losing 40 pounds on my own without weight watchers help because of other reasons, and other issues I was having. so this year I am going to continue to lose the rest of the weight I was in the process of losing last year. I only want to lose about 70 more pounds, so by next christmas I should be where I want to be.

this year I decided I am going to start working out with this season of the biggest loser group and see what happens and how far I get by the end of the show. who knows, maybe even before then I will have reached my goal weight! we will see.

this year, I also want to try to start saving up for school, so I can continue my studies, and I may even change my area of study. instead of being a teacher I may get my CNA. we will see what 2011 brings.

also I plan on hosting a few AVON parties this year too, and I am hoping that will boost my sales in that area. I love selling AVON. it sure has been nice knowing I have that when I need it. but most of the time I forget I even have that little bit of extra money there to spend, so them my balance in my account keeps going up, and I am able to set aside a little more every few weeks. I LOVE IT!!

so much I want to do, and I sure hope this year is better than last year. I would love to see this year turn out great!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!

Christmas/ december/november/thanksgiving and more

WARNING: VERY LONG POST, WITH A PICTURE OVERLOAD

so I didn't realize that it had been so long since I had last updates my blog. and I have not really given and update on me. things have been pretty busy around here, as you can see I have been slacking on my blogging. this year has not been the greatest year, in fact it has been one of the most difficult years I think my mom and I have had so far. starting in April.

APRIL: I went on a leave of Absence from Wal-mart and was working on switching from tegretol to topamax.

MAY: I was still on my leave of absence and still in the transition process from one medication to the other, and then my mom and I went and saw my grandma on mothers day on May 9th, and my grandma was in a nursing home and not doing well. when we went to visit her she was sitting in a wheelchair all slumped over and her hands cluched in a fist, and she didn't even know what my moms name was, she said her name was pete. she looked aweful. then at the end of may my grandma made the move to a Utah nursing home closer to my mom, me, my aunt, and my uncle and I and we visited her every day.

JUNE: I was still on a leave of absence from wal-mart and my grandma was still in a nursing home down here in Utah, we were getting her settled in, and working on getting all the paperwork and such worked out so she could stay down here. in the meantime, 8 days after being in the nursing home my grandma ended up in the hospital and stayed there for 7 days. and they figured out that she was starting to get pneumonia, so she was being treated for that for a week, and during that week she fought for her life and tried to stay strong. after seven days she was released and sent back to the nursing home, then they had to readmit her to the nursing home and do more paperwork for readmission and go through a bunch more stuff. in the mean time, my grandma was having her good days and her bad days.

JULY: I was still on a Leave of Absence from wal-mart, and I was not scheduled to go back to work until the 19th of July. well during this month, my grandma had declined a little more each day, and as I got closer to having to go back to work, my grandma kept getting worse.about a few weeks before she passed away everything just always hurt her. about four days before I had to go back to work, all my grandma would do was sleep, and we could hardly get her to even open her eyes. starting on July 14th she would just sleep, and just constantly move her arms and legs. and this wnt on for three days. and on the evening of the 17th my mom and I wnt to go see her, and she slept the whole time, and I played skip-bo with her roommate helen. and my grandma just slept for the few hours that we were there, before we left that night my mom got my grandma to open her eyes for a minute one last time and my mom said to her, do you know how much I love you, and my grandma nodded her head very slightly and looked up at her and my mom was justt sobbing and she gave her a kiss on the forhead and I gave my grandma a kiss on the forhead and we left for the night. well on sunday the 18th of July my cellphone rang at 7:30 AM and it was my aunt calling, and the first time I missed the call, but she called back instantly, and I knew the news wasn't good. so I picked my phone up and answered it, she said buddy the nursing home just called and grandma isn't doing very well, and then I got my mom out of bed and gave the phone to my mom and her and my aunt talked for a little bit, well in the mean time after that my mom called the nursing home and talked to the nurse Alma, and she said to my mom that her breathing is very shallow, and that she does not seem to be doing very well. then my mom got a call from the head doctor of the nursing home, doctor warren, and they had a long talk, and then in the mean time my mom had gotten in the shower, gotten ready, thrown an ice chest together, and then we were out the door, only to get a text from my aunt saying that my grandmas arms were turning blue, so then we raced there as fast as we could, and then my uncle walked in the room, and my grandma passed away at about 9:45 AM. then the next day on July 19th, I had to go to work and put on a happy face, after losing my only grandparent, and dealing with the stress of that place. and that week was the toughest week of my life. then I was off for almost a week after that with the trip to montana and my grandma's funeral. after my grandmas funeral, my mom and I and Joanne took a little tour of Montana. here are a few pictures from the trip.



this is my Grandma's house that she grew up in as a child. what a humble, cute little house her parents had.

then after that we went to the old jail and took a tour of it, here is Joanne and I in a photo op.



Me and my mom in the photo op



then my mom and I went and took a drive around the beautiful flathead lake, and it was BEAUTIFUL! you can hardly see him, but in the bottom right hand corner, there is a dog sitting on the lake by a dock.



here are some other pictures of the lake that day that were just breath taking and beautiful!







here are some of my mom and I on the lake, and then some of Joanne and I on the lake



Above picture is my mom and I at flathead lake in July



Above is Joanne and I at flathead lake in July

then after my grandmas funeral I started to get sick, and was having some swallowing issues during the drive home from montana.

AUGUST: I started having swallowing issues this month and was losing weight like crazy. I had lost almost 40 pounds! all I could eat was baby food and pudding, no regular foods. and I could hardly swallow liquids. I was starting to get very dehydrated. I had one scope on August 6th and the doctor found out that I had ulcers on my esophagus, and he put me on a medication for them. in the meantime, I was still having a difficult time swallowing and was still losing weight like crazy! and so then we went to go see my Aunts GI doctor and he suggested that I get this one test done to see if I have the H-pylori in fection, well I couldn't complete the test because I couldn't swallow, but he also did a scope on me, and suggested that we stretch my esophagus, and that procedure was done on August 19th, two days before my 23rd birthday! so for my 23rd birthday I was able to eat everything we had at the party, and I enjoyed every minute of it, this was the best day ever! I enjoyed this day so much, after all that had happened in the previous month. I was so looking forward to my birthday, my birthday this year was the best. we had a small party with my mom, my aunt joanne, my uncle john and I and it was so much fun, we went up to heber, utah and rode on the heber creeper, it was such a blast!



above is a picture taken with my phone from the train on the heber creeper. it was the most funnest day ever! my mom and I and my Aunt and Uncle will have to go up there again next year. I would love to make that a birthday tradition every year, pus it was so beautiful, and the perfect temperature up there! I got some beautiful watches which I love! and some other neat stuff too.

SEPTEMBER: in september I was still not feeling well, and then I started having a pain in my right side, and the second GI doctor I went to in August had suggested that I should get my gallbladder checked because it may be bed, so I went in for testing, and sure enough I had a huge Gallstone in my gallbladder! but before I had my surgery my mom and I and Joanne and John and Johns son Matthew took a trip to Hurricane, Utah and went to go see Zions National Park, which was also fun and a BLAST! my mom and I enjoyed it very much! eventhough my pain was getting worse by the time we got back, and the car ride up, and the car ride back from hurricane for me was not comfortable by any means, but I sure did enjoy the trip, and the pool, and the beautiful weather in hurricane, Utah I didn't want to come home, because we were in tripple digits up there and double digits down here. it was so much fun! here are some pictures from that trip......









then after we got back from this fun trip, I had to have my gallbladder taken out. I had my surgery on September 16, 2010. this day I was so happy for, because then that meant no more pain in my right side, and a comfortable car ride or trip! the doctor was an hour behind that day, so I was in pain waiting and uncumfortable sitting on the chair in the picture below, so they had to move me to a bed on wheels so I could stretch out and be more comfortable.



then three days after that on September 19, 2010 I deceided to go outside for some fresh air while I was recovering at home, but I looked out the window and saw this out the back bedroom window......



a huge cloud of smoke! so I went to a TV and turned it on, and I found out that there was an out of control fire at camp williams just behind our house. this started at about 1:00 in the afternoon, so I texted my mom a picture similar to this one because she was out eating with jeff and she was soon on her way home. if she would have waited any longer she would not have been able to get up our street. on this day our neighborhood was totally chaotic! and something I so did not need, especially being three days out of having my gallbladder removed. here are more pictures of the fire....



in the picture below you can see our silver car in the driveway, and then you can see how close the fire came to our house. later the next day we found out that the fire came all the way down that mountina after 2:00 AM





then after that on the 24th of september 2010 my Aunt Joanne and My uncle John got sealed in the Joardan River Temple! on that day I had already had my gallbladder out, and been through an evacuation, so needless to say I was kind of just releived to be able to sit there and enjoy visiting with people. here are a few pictures from that day.....









Below is a throw that my mom and I had made of my Aunt Joanne and her Husband John for their special day.





OCTOBER: finally this moth things started to settle down for my mom and I and we could relax quite a bit, and no major things were happenng and we could breath, and go on with our daily lives, getting ready for the coming months. work was starting to pick up for me. although wal-mart decided to cut my hours, and I am not loooking for a new job. this year for halloween my mom and I both dressed up, my mom dressed up as a witch, and I dressed up as cruella devil. here are the pictures of us from halloween......



the above picture is My mom as a witch



the above picture is me as cruella we had a fun halloween, the trick-or-treaters thought my mom was a scary witch, and would just stare at her when she came to the door to give them candy, it was so funny to see the looks on the little kids faces. but they were so cute!

NOVEMBER: I don't really have any pictures from november, but thanksgiving was great, we had all the good stuff, candied yams, pumpkin chssescake, turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, etc. the food was so yummy, and it was so great to be able to be with my family. I only had to work a 4 hour shift at work that day which was great!

DECEMBER: this month was a busy one and I am glad to say it is almost over, for anyone who works in retail, you know that October, November, and December are the most busiest months out of the year and the craziest! the past week has been so crazy, and I was so glad when friday got here. but this month was also a fun one. my mom and I did some fu things, we went to the jon schmidt concert with John Joanne, Jason and his sister Erickah and my mom of course! it was a blast! this show was different from recent years, and very special. here is a picture of jason and I from that night

here is Jason and I and Jon Schmidt



and here is Jason and I and his sister Erickah and Jon Schmidt



finally also al the beginning of december, Jason and his sister and I and his sisters boyfriend went to the NFB christmas party, and then to temple square afterwords, and here are a few pictures from that day.



below is a picture of my blind friend Jason and I, he is such a kind man and I have to say he often melts my heart.



a guy dressed as santa, playing the bagpipes, AMAZING!



christmas was so wonderful this year, I couldn't have asked for a better christmas. it was one of the best ones I have had! and I will always remember it. this year has been such a hmbling year, for us as well as so many just because of the economy, I have had to realize what I can live with out, an what I can't, and what I can live without is so much more than I can't live without. I have had to start selling AVON though to make extra money, because wal-mart is cutting my hours, and just recently, I found out that one week thay are giving me a 9 hour week, how am I supposed to make a living off of those kind of hours? I can,t so that just gives me the drive to find a better job by the beginning of next year!

I hope you all have had a great year, and I hope you had a great christmas! have a Happy new year, and I will blog again soon.....

Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

last but not least, here is the vanilla buttercream frosting recipe. I will get the other cupcake recipe on here a little later today.

VANILLA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING

8 Tbsp. (1 stick) butter, room temperature

3 ¾ cups powdered sugar, sifted

3-4 Tbsp. milk or cream

2 tsp. vanilla extract

INSTRUCTIONS: place butter in a large mixing bowl. Beat until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Stop beating before adding sugar to avoid a large mess.

Add sugar, 3 tablespoons milk or cream, and vanilla extract. Beat frosting starting on slow; increasing your speed until frosting is nice and creamy. Add up to 1 more tablespoon milk or cream if frosting is too thick.

NOTE: I had to add 4 tablespoons of heavy whipping plus an additional 5 tablespoons of heavy whipping cream. I did not use milk in the frosting.

Cream cheese Frosting

my only note to you on this one is that if you frost the cupcakes with this one, the cupcakes will have to be refrigerated. I have made this frosting and it is very good! all of the frosting recipes I have typed on here make a little over two cups.

CREAM CHEESE FROSTING

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

½ cup butter, softened

3 ¾ cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla extract


INSTRUCTIONS: beat cream cheese and butter until smooth and light.

STOP mixer and add sugar and vanilla

START mixer on low and gradually increase the speed until frosting is fluffy

Frost and refrigerate

also even for the buttercream frostings I still put them in the fridge after I have made them, but once I have frosted my cupcakes with them I leave the frosted cupcakes out of the refriderator for the frosting to harden.

Chocolate Ganache

I have never actually made this frosting myself yet, so I have no experiences to tell you yet. so you will have to experiment with this one and leave me a comment on here and let me know what happens, or if I make this first I will post on here and let you know how it turns out. enjoy!

Chocolate Ganache

1 cup heavy whipping cream

12 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chunks or chips

Instructions: heat cream in a saucepan until it comes to a boil.

Remove from heat and pour over chocolate in a mixing bowl. Stir to mix together. You can pour it over your cakes warm, or allow it to cool slightly and be spread like frosting.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

at the bottom of this recipe there is a note, that note will be from the next recipe that I will put on here a little bit later, but you still have to apply those instructions to this recipe as well or this recipe will not turn out. I have learned from frosting recipes that you never go by the book, you always have to add more than what it says.

Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

8 Tbsp. (1 stick) butter, room temperature

1/3 cup cocoa

3 ¾ cups powdered sugar, sifted

3-4 Tbsp. milk or cream

2 tsp. vanilla extract

Instrucions: beat butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Stop mixer before adding cocoa to avoid a large mess.

Add cocoa, sugar, 3 tablespoons milk or cream, and vanilla extract. Beat frosting starting on slow speed and add up to 1 more tablespoon milk or cream if frosting is too thick.

Note: as in the last recipe of vanilla buttercream frosting plan on adding about 4 tablespoons of milk or heavy whipping cream plus an additional 5 tablespoons of milk or heavy whipping cream. Never follow the recipe on this frosting or the vanilla buttercream frosting recipe, as I have had many experiences with this frosting and the vanilla butter cream frosting.

good luck, and have fun!

Harvest Pumpkin Cupcakes

so lately I have been making cupcakes, and by far this is one of my most favorite cupcakes to make. these cupcakes are mouthwatering and delicuous! I have made them several times, and the first time I made them it was hard to control myself. they are the best cupcakes in the world! I have the frosting recipes to go with them to follow this post.

Harvest Pumpkin Cupcakes

1 box spice cake mix
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 eggs
½ cup milk
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup butterscotch chips

Instructions: mix together all ingredients. Pour batter into paper liners and fill ¾ full.

Bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until cakes are light golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool completely on a wire rack.

Frosting suggestions: chocolate ganache, chocolate buttercream, cream cheese, vanilla buttercream

Enjoy, and stay tuned for the frosting recipes.....

Post for my mom and Joanne

yesterday my mom and I were having a conversation in the car by the mailbox, and we talked for a little while, and we were talking about my aunt Joanne who has been a diabetic for 36 years, and how it is starting to take its toll on her body. I realized yesterday that my aunt Joanne is the next closest relative to me, besides my mom (who is also a diabetic) and this song came to my mind about my aunt. often times she cares what she loks like and she thinks that other people care what she looks like, but in the end no one cares what she looks like, because it is not what is on the outside that matters. it is what is on the inside that matters most.

It is really difficult when you know that the two closest people to you have the deadliest disease of all, besides the number one disease in amearica being heart disease and a CHD. I often have to not think about their diseases that they have and think of them as people and that they are gifts from above, and that they time I have with them here is very special, while my aunt is a type one diabetic and that is more serious and my mom is a type two diabetic and that is a little less serious and her body still makes some insulin she still has a disease and anything could happen. diabetic retnopathy has already started to happen for both my mom and Joanne, and they have both lived a lon time with a deadly disease. I am just going to cherish all the time I have with them everyday because I love them both so much! they are true blessings in my life!

this song is dedicated to both Joanne and my mom for being the wonderful people you have been to take care of me. and like the wods say there is nothing I wouldn't change about the way you are... I love you!



JUST THE WAY YOU ARE LYRICS:

Oh her eyes, her eyes
Make the stars look like they're not shining
Her hair, her hair
Falls perfectly without her trying

She's so beautiful
And I tell her every day

Yeah I know, I know
When I compliment her
She wont believe me
And its so, its so
Sad to think she don't see what I see

But every time she asks me do I look okay
I say

When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile,
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
Cause girl you're amazing
Just the way you are

Her nails, her nails
I could kiss them all day if she'd let me
Her laugh, her laugh
She hates but I think its so sexy

She's so beautiful
And I tell her every day

Oh you know, you know, you know
Id never ask you to change
If perfect is what you're searching for
Then just stay the same

So don't even bother asking
If you look okay
You know I say

When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile,
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
Cause girl you're amazing
Just the way you are

The way you are
The way you are
Girl you're amazing
Just the way you are

When I see your face
There's not a thing that I would change
Cause you're amazing
Just the way you are
And when you smile,
The whole world stops and stares for awhile
Cause girl you're amazing
Just the way you are

Mom know that I am greatful to have you in my life, you are a true blessing, to have lived with what you are living with and know that I love you and appreciate you so much in all that you have done for me through all of my life! you are truely amazing! I love you!!



My mom and I



Joanne "Buddy" and I

nothing too much new

I know I haven't actually given a long update on everything, but not a lot has been happening. since I changed my availability a while ago at wal-mart they cut my hours way back and so I have only been getting 16 to 20 hours a week sometimes 24 hours a week acasionally, but that is it.

as you have noticed I have been trying to put some of my AVON stuff on here, because I am trying to sell AVON, and so far I have made about 110.00 with just two campaigns that I have done, which is pretty good, but I would like to be making more.

this past campaign magazine they had some cool things on sale for breats cancer awareness, including a three dollare pin, and a five dollar bracelet. and I purchased both the pin and the bracelet! they are so beautuful!

I have also been building up my sample suply with every campaign order so that I can give out samples of things to my customers, and I am getting there on getting things stocked up, it is pretty exciting! if you want to sing up to be an AVON representative let me know and I will let you know what you need to do to sign up. it is easy, and you can work in the comfrts of your own home!

in the mean time, I am going to look for a better job, and a full-time job where I will be able to work 8 to 5 or 7 to 4 and have the weekends off! I so deserve that. I have been working in retail fr way too long to not have the weekends off!

to visit my online store for avon go to http://www.youravon.com/kmorrison and check out all of the latest sales!

have a great evening!!!

Campaign 22/ Breast cancer awareness month

so for this next campaign starting on September 28th, campaign 22 we are selling stuff for breast cancer awareness. the month of October is breast cancer awareness month. they have some cool little pins, bracelets, and more.

I do not have a picture of the bracelets, or the necklaces, but they do have lanyerds, and waterbottles up on the eRepresentative website right now that are $5.00 each to help raise money towards breast cancer awareness.



this is the cool little waterbottle that is only $5.00, if you know someone who has had breast cancer, or who has breast cancer please go to http://kmorrison.avonrepresentative,com/ and checkout the stuff for this cause under the shop now link and then the fundraising link.

you can buy any of these items until October 11th to help support this great cause!