End of November Playlist

every stage of your life is wonderful

-grandma helen 

Happiness is based off three things

service 

thanksfullness 

love

Pumpkin Chocolate Cookies

3 cups Gold Medal all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
2 cups chocolate chips

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with a Silpat baking mat or parchment paper and set aside.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Set aside.

3. Using a mixer, cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy, about 3-4 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, and pumpkin and mix until combined, about 3 minutes. Slowly add in the dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Stir in the chocolate chips.

4. Drop by large, rounded tablespoons onto prepared baking sheet. Bake for 10 minutes or until cookies are just beginning to brown around the edges. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet for two minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Happy Thanks Giving From The Thatcher Family

gosh i love the holidays. they are amazing and today just flew by and it was perfect. this morning i woke up cleaned my house and watched a few episodes of my favorite tv show then i made the trek down to salt lake to be with my family on this special day. it was great because not only did i get to spend the holiday with my immediate family but i also got to see my grandpa, cousins, aunts and uncles. i always look forward to seeing my family and catching up with all of them. its crazy to see how much the little ones grow up each year. this was the first thanks giving without my sweet grandmother who died just a few days ago. it was weird not having her there and very sad. i am just so use to having her in my life and losing her just testifies to me that you can't slow down time it just keeps moving and moving whether or not you are ready for it to go by. 

after dinner tonight, my dad called all of us kids down for scriptures, something we haven't done in a long time. it has been a while since we have all been together as a family. we read a few verses, my mom read a talk from elder holland and then we reminisced about memories spent with grandma thatcher. we were laughing so hard as we all told of our favorite memories of her when we were kids. she was a second mom to all of us and played a significant role in our lives growing up. i am so grateful that she was able to be in my life as long as she was. how great for her that she was able to live for ninty years and enjoy that time living and watching her family grow. before my grandma passed i remeber saying, "enjoy life, it goes by so fast and don't worry too much just enjoy it." wise words from a lady who lived to be nearly 100. i think it just goes to show that nothing is worth getting too worked up about, in the end it really won't matter. that's why i think it is so important to be happy, take risks and push yourself to your own limits. 

if i had to say the one thing i am the most grateful for this year i would have to say it is the gift of life. life is so precious and it becomes even more apparhent to me as i watch those close to me pass. even though life is challenging at times, it really is so wonderful. i mean life initself, good our bad is the biggest blessing from god and then on top of that i have the most amazing family and friends. truly i have so much to be thankful for. so far, i have lived such a happy life. i mean i have had plenty of challenges, disappoints, doubts, saddness, heartache but what i remember most are the times when i have been the happiest. 

Day 1 of Thanks Giving Break

Dessert at The Bluebird 

Brunch at Herms Inn with my Ladies

The Biggest Pancake in the Whole World

Taco Tuesday

i think i love blogging way too much. i enjoy documententing my day to day life. its the best combination of scrap booking and keeping a journal. i highly recommend keeping a blog! i just regret not starting one sooner. so this thanks giving i am so thankful for so many things. first and foremost i am the most thankful for my family and friends. they are absolutely the best things in my life. i can't imagine my life without good people. i read this quote that said "you can not hang out with negative people and expect to live a positive life." my life is filled with the most wonderful people. people that make me happy, feel good and support me. 

this thanks giving break has already been a blast. i have yet to make the trip home to salt lake and i have been kickin it in logan for as long as i can. its weird when everyone goes home for breaks here at utah state, it becomes kind of a ghost town but i sort of love it. the town becomes even smaller and more intimate than it was before. yesterday i spent all day with my friend haddie. she is my temporary boyfriend for who knows how long. we did what girls do on their day off. we went out to lunch, did a little shopping, went tanning, watched chick flicks and just ate until our stomachs hurt. we really did eat a ton! i guess we coudn't think of anything else to do. our  biggest excuse was that we were stretching our stomachs to prepare for thanksgiving dinner. 

one of my favorite parts of the night was when haddie and i went to the bluebird for milk shakes. we were pretty much the only ones at the resturaunt besides the employees. we were just laughing at the most random things and tweeting each other as we were sitting side by side. we were on one and i don't even know why both of us were in such a funny mood. haddie even made me message a boy i thought was cute which i totally freaked out about but i am glad i did it. those are the kind of things you have to do. little things that make you scared that force you outside of your comfort zone. a life without risks is no life at all. and then of course, you look back on those embarassing moments, sad moemnts and moments that made you feel dumb at the time and you laugh! you laugh because life is funny, there is no reason to take it too seriously. 

Thanks Giving Break Kick Off

Friends Giving

turkey first timer

seasoning the turkey

in the oven she goes

happy thanks giving 

so friends giving.... piligrim and indian style, this is one of my favorite holiday traditions. yes this is actually a tradtion, three years runnin. it started a couple of years ago with my roommates julie and whitney. we had an idea to invite a bunch of people over for thanks giving, everybody bring a dish and dress up as a pilgrim or an indian. the first year was a blast and i don't think we can ever do it quite like we did it the first time. it was insanely fun but also a lot of work. we invited 30 of our friends and set up tables, banquet style. it was so crowded! my friend drew and brady recited a verse from the bible yeah... we got pretty into it. since then we have still kept the tradition alive, cause hello it's the best! but since then we have kept it a little more low key. 

this year we had about 20 people and the perfect amount of food. i decided what the heck i will make the turkey. i mean i might as well right? i have to learn how to make it sometime! i was nervous at first because i didn't want to disappoint my guests and the turkey is the most important dish but it is actually not that hard. i wasn't worried so much that it wouldn't cook as much as i was worried it was going to be dry and gross. i called my mom and she walked me through the turkey and gravy step by step. i rubbed it with butter and seasoning, stuffed the turkey with onions and cinnamon flavored apples (for flavor). then, this is the key, you turn the turkey upside down to let the juices run down. my mom says it makes a huge difference! maybe it does maybe it doesn't but it worked like a charm for me! now i can officially say i know how to cook a turkey! wahooooo

aren't traiditons great? all my childhood i have had family traditions, ones that my parents have decided for me. now that i am getting older it is fun creating my own. i have made so many traditions since i have been in college! my crepe parties, cocktail christmas parties, game nights, the list goes on. it is going to be hard for me when i graduate and i have to see these events come to an end. well i guess they don't totally have to come to an end,  i can still do them but they will be with a whole new group of people. aghhhh makes me a little sick to think about it. time goes by so fast. i can remember last year at this time like it was yesterday. man a lot changes in a year. my life is nothing like it was a year ago. i guess in a good way though. 

the holidays are my absolute FAVORITE time of the year. i am the happiest during the months of october, novemeber and decemeber. maybe it is the changing of the seasons or the christmas music that begins to play but there is something about fall and winter that just gives me this giddy feeling. i am going to be planing holiday festivities all month long so get ready for losts of posts! 

Beautiful Day for a Beautiful Bride

Brigham City Temple

congrats to the new mr. and mrs. claflin. the day finally came and one of my very best friends is now married with a husband. yes it is true, i brought these two love birds together. this is not the first time this has happened. i have actually introduced at least 3 of my friends to their husbands. i am that girl. always a bridesmaid but never the bride..... someday, right? i am just waiting for a friend of mine to introduce me to my future hubbie. haha in the meantime i really do enjoy seeing my best friends fall in love. i am the bigggest hopeless romantic you will ever meet. i just love love and carli and daniel are defintely so in love. 

carli was such a beautiful bride. her dress was gorgeous!! the white gown looked incrediable on her tan and perfect skin. something i have always been jealous of. carli and daniel were married in the brigham city temple. i loved that she didn't follow the norm. the slc temple is beautiful but all my friends have been married there. it's about time someone switched it up. watching carli and daniel come out those temple doors was such a happy moment. it is amazing seeing two people after they have just made eternal convenants to be sealed for time and all eternity. carli and daniel were all smiles, a little tears but you could tell they were filled with so much joy and excitement. that is how it should be right? i imagine that on my wedding day i want to feel confident and excited about the person i have choosen to marry.  

 The Brides Maids

one of my favorite things about weddings it that it reunites old friends. it is an oppurutnity to see people i only get to see a couple of times a year. weddings are like a mini high school reunion. its crazy to see where people go after high school. its like we all have the same basic goals, go to college, get married, have a career and start a family but all of us have a different time and way we accomplish those goals. some meet their husbands at 19 while others meet them at 30 but regardless everyone's course of life is different. we cannot compare our life to anothers. life is full of oppurtunities, but they don't come to us all at once or all at the same time. to each is their own and there is definte joy in the journey. 

"be happy for what you have while working for what you want"

 Bride and Groom