Count Your Many Blessings 2013

Name them one by one...

Homeowners 

Members of the Wildomar Ward

YM 2nd Counselor (Greg)

Sunbeams Teacher (Ana)

Lake Powell

The Doghouse

Being with our family and friends making great memories

Awesome jobs

YW 2nd Counselor (Ana)

Welcoming Champion & Cypress into the World

Receiving my Endowments at the Temple

and of course...

Being Sealed for Time and all Eternity to my bestfriend, my love, and now my Forever Companion Gregory R. Dowden.

There are so many other blessings I'm grateful for. I'm grateful for my testimony that I know has grown immensely within these past 2 years. I am so glad to know and testify that I am a daughter of God. He loves me and knows my heart. I'm grateful to know that Christ is my Savior and Redeemer, that when I am weak and disheartened he is there to carry me and give me strength to carry on. I know the Holy Ghost is with me always to help me discern good from evil. I know the scriptures are true and as I read them and apply it to my own life it brings about joy and true understanding of my purpose here on Earth. The power of prayer is real. God hears me and answers my prayers. With Faith, Miracles happen. So with a open heart I look forward to 2014.

 

We are Official Home Owners

So it's been a while since I've last blogged! Married life is the best! I love my husband so much and our journey so far has been wonderful. This past February we got the keys to our very first house :) even though it been a couple months we are still settling in :) I look forward to all the events we will hold in our home. My life is truly blessed. 

Date Nights

Ok so one of the many perks of being married is having a companion to enjoy date night with! I have so much fun with Greg when we go out together. It helps that we have a lot in common with our interests. But last night I did something out of character for me because I love my husband and wanted him to be happy. Last night at the Naia Kete concert there were quite a few "The Voice" contestants there, supporting her. Gregory's favorite artist of season 2 was there. He actually wanted to go up and meet the artist. Now I never go up to celebrities for autographs or photos, not because I'm a snob, more because I'm really shy and I wouldn't want to bother them. Greg is the same way, but was very conflicted because he really wanted to meet one of the artist. I could see how much my husband really wanted this meeting. So I see "the group" move towards the exit, I tell my honey to follow me and I cut through the crowd so they walk into us. That is when Greg does his intro and I like a dork say hello and gush about how awesome of singers they all are. Which is true! But I'm sure they hear it all the time. They were all gracious and genuinely nice to us. I'm definitely a fan of them all. When we left Greg was so happy we went for a drive and ended up at Diddy Riese for dessert! Yay for me! Followed by catching a movie at the Westwood Theater which is beautiful and reminds me of the theater in Catalina. Last night was definitely a great date night.

Flourishing

So my Best Friend of four years, Greg Dowden,

officially became my Boyfriend on October 9, 2011.

November 19, 2011 he asked me to marry him, making him my Fiancé.

And on March 24, 2012 in front of our close family and friends we were married.

For me, best part of marrying my best friend is that he's taken the time to know the real Ana and all my imperfections and yet still wanted to be with me.

Now that's what I call Love.

Instagram

My favorite app at this moment is Instagram. It's like Twitter for Pictures and I love it! Pic Stitch is another great app to download and add coolness to pics you can upload on Instagram. The best part of it all is both apps are FREE!!!

The following are some of my favorite pics:

Rainbow Bridge @ Lake Powell


Fan-atics <3


Fair @ Bishop


Family Classic


Created by Hagoth :)


- Posted using BlogPress from my Kick ass iPhone!!!!

Veggies & Spices

Kale Gratin


Sweet & Sour (Harvard) Beets




I found both of these recipes from "The Joy of Cooking". I've learned that tarragon is the king of spices and that spices definitely enhance a dish, when used correctly. Both dishes were a hit with the family. I find cooking and following a recipe to be very fulfilling and even relaxing! :)

- Posted using BlogPress from my Kick ass iPhone!!!!

Countdown to 30

No countdown would be complete without a challenge. So my personal challenge for 30 days is to cook a new vegetarian/vegan dish and blog about it. Why? Why not? :)

Yesterday was the beginning of my 30 days to 30 and I made the following:

Dinner:
Crispy Chickpea Patties
Moroccan Couscous Salad
Broccoli


Dessert:
Peach Crumble






All my recipes were found in this months latest PETA magazine. The food was very tasty. The recipes call for a lot of different spices and seasoning which really makes the meal filling. I used spices I've never heard of. While shopping for ingredients I had to google what I was looking for. Thank goodness for my awesome iPhone! Overall the meal was a success and now I must look for my next recipe.


- Posted using BlogPress from my Kick ass iPhone!!!!

Location:Home