okay fine.

While I've genuinely appreciated all my friends' Thankful-Blogging, as is of course apropos this time of year (my appreciation/their sentiments), I was NOT going to follow suit-- I actually was planning to Complain-blog instead, about the fact that my Rapid Aging Disease seems to have come back with a vengeance.

And I'm still going to.

BUT-- probably not today. Because today, my beloved friend and fellow Rising Star volunteer Kristin Goodell sent me a bunch of photos from our time in India, and they sent me over the edge.

And so I just have to share a few of them, in gratitude.

Because-- not only am I sooo grateful that she sent these photos-- they brought back feelings and memories that have become buried in the day-to-day, and awakened memories I'd forgotten I had, as some are images I haven't seen before-- but they're also a pretty good indicator of just a few of the most important things, of a gazillion things, that I AM thankful for.

(these photos are all of me, which is weird to post I know, but that's what Kristin sent, sorry!)

love and trust and family

 

shelter and home

(we could barely fit into the one room that was the entire house of this dear woman)

 

adventure and memories, and great friends

 

good health (Rapid Aging Disease notwithstanding, of course)

 

the beauty of this glorious earth

and

 

Sheer Joy.

I'm generally happy, but India... in India, I was REEEALLY happy. You can't not be!

Oh, and I'm also really glad that none of these feisty monkeys followed through on their attack plans. Probably my very awkward reactionary posing weirded them out.

 

 

(And I'm super-grateful that I get to go back to India, for Christmas! Hurry Christmas hurry fast!) (I would happily age faster if it brings me one step closer to India)

and THANK YOU, Kristin!!

robsessed

If there is ANY justice in this world, and/or all those cliche journalists and copywriters turn out to be right and Dreams (really) DO Come True, then you are all about to be preeeetty jealous.

Robert Pattinson and I are dating.

Yep, pretty much woke up from the best dream EVER this morning. Correction: tried to wake up. Or, tried NOT to wake up, kept hitting snooze and falling back asleep so the dream could continue.

Sigh.

It was all very clear and rational, not my normal sugar-consumption-right-before-bed-prompted crazy-vivid type of dream, so I'm thinking it just might be a prophetic inkling of things-to-come.

I won't bore you (make you jealous) with all the details, but I WILL let you know that the dream began with us attending the premiere of New Moon together. I don't recall getting to walk the Red Carpet with him, so I felt a little cheated by that, and the premiere happened to take place inside an old and sparsely decorated room attached to someone's house, where we all sat on bleachers and watched the movie on a 1980's-style 15-inch television ... BUT-- most of the cast was there, and no one seemed surprised (or "acted" not surprised, they're so talented) that Edward (oops I mean Robert) and I were snuggling up and holding hands and eventually doing a little canoodling. Sigh. He had eyes for only me, but I myself was at times distracted by the film playing out in front of us, which was pretty crappy and appeared to not be following the book AT ALL. (That part was weird, and hopefully not prophetic.) I remember being concerned about my breath, which usually is an issue for me in early-morning dreams, but Robert/Edward assured me that I smelled good, "like California lotions". Later he presented me with a gift, a shirt he had screen-printed himself with his name and mine and some little drawings and which he said took him five hours to make, that's how much he loves me. Okay, I might have added that last part, but really? Five hours? That's love. And I saw the proof in my screen printing classroom, later in my dream. We also went to a family reunion, but since there was no canoodling possible when his sisters were in the room, no need to go over that part of the story.

But this was the real deal, it was VERY clearly Robert Pattinson, not Edward; real man, not vampire. I felt bad, though, because I kept calling him Edward. Sorry, Edward! -I mean Rob. My Love.

 (I think he was just as upset as me that the dream came to an end)

Not that I would have complained about it being Edward, and me playing the part of Bella, I would have LOVED to have gone to a prom with such pretty twinkle-lights.

(remember when I dyed my hair dark? I specifically said "make it like Bella's." Foreshadowing!)

Sooo.. yeah. It was a great start to the day, and I'm very excited for the future. We already have a history, after all-- he has already proclaimed his love for me. Kisses not hugs.

Yippee-kai-YAY, can't wait for this weekend!!! 

(oh and by the WAY, the coincidence of all this is almost eerie. I mean, Stephenie Meyer was a freshman at BYU in 1991, I was a freshman at BYU in 1991. Stephenie Meyer had a dream about a vampire and a girl that turned into (reality as) a book, I had a dream about a guy who plays a vampire in a movie and a (super-cool) girl. FREAKY.)

Does Not Disappoint.

ohhh, it most CERTAINLY doesn't.

I had such high hopes for this recipe.

Happily, those hopes were REALIZED. "Skillet Lasagna" is the name by which its creator identifies this delicious concoction (the WS, what else?), but really it should be called "Why Would You Eat Anything Else-Lasagna".  If you like pasta layered with Italian sausage, a white sauce of parmesan, sage and parsley, and LOADS AND LOADS of thinly sliced butternut squash, you will LOVE this. Or, hate it. Who am I to say if you have a refined palate or not...

For the recipe, click here

I, by the way, did not do the whole thing in a skillet... I prepped it in a skillet, but layered it in a large roaster pan to bake. You'd have to have a really big skillet to fit all that squash in there.  Enjoy!