We love you Austin!

Dearest Friends and Family,

As I sit and write this, I find myself somewhat at a loss for words.  This past Saturday I was awakened to some tragic news.  A very special young man, who I consider a younger brother, was taken from this life by a horrific car accident while he was studying abroad in New Zealand.  His name is Austin Brashears, and I am hoping that you can help me to help his family bring him home to California and lay him to rest.  While the total cost is unknown, we do know that it will be very expensive and very emotional.  There are currently several different ways to donate and I'm hoping that each of you can find it in your heart to help this amazing family bring their son home.

Even if you aren't able to donate monetarily, please add the Brashears Family (and the families of the other two students killed) to your prayers, because every little bit helps...

Several Articles about Austin and the accident:

http://www.ocregister.com/articles/brashears-353921-family-zealand.html
http://www.bu.edu/buniverse/view/?v=IGyYt11J
http://dailyfreepress.com/2012/05/14/eng-junior-austin-brashears-had-passion-for-alternative-energy-adventure/
http://www.hbindependent.com/news/tn-hbi-0517-brashears-20120514,0,6950206.story

How to Donate (some are located in the Huntington Beach, CA area):

• Cash or Checks (made out to "McFadden Ward") can be sent to Jim & Chrysa Holdaway, 6832 Red Coach Dr, Huntington Beach, CA 92647
• Paypal - https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=96J5GWBDT57Y6
• T-Shirts (still in progress, if you want to be updated just let me know, or join the Facebook Event linked below)
• Roman Cucina Restaurant, 1773 Newport Blvd, Costa Mesa, 92627. (949) 645-5550. Mon 5/21 5pm-Close, mention Austin and they will donate 15% of your bill.
• Hot Off The Grill, Bolsa Chica & Heil, Wed 5/16 2pm-11pm, bring a piece of paper that says "We love you Austin!" and they will donate 100% of the proceeds to the Brashears.
• FCC vs Goldenwest Improv Show, Stages Theater in Fullerton, Thurs 5/17 10pm, 100% of profits will be donated to the family.
• Get your haircut with Ashley Rydbeck, friend of Austin, message her at (714) 249-8119, she will donate 100% to the cause.
• Buy Velata: https://chocelata.velata.us/Velata/Buy?partyId=86483374, I'm donating 100% of my commission to the family.
  
• Buy Scentsy: https://tiffanydawn.scentsy.us/Scentsy/Buy?partyId=86483080, again, 100% of my commission from these sales will be donated to the family.
• More fundraising efforts are starting up every day, if you want to keep up please join the Facebook Event: https://www.facebook.com/events/395270007184306/
  

 

A Note from the Brashears:

We’d like to thank all of you for your love and support during this difficult time. We are truly grateful for everything that you have done. Austin always had a way of bringing people together; banding together like you all have is truly a fitting tribute. Your generosity has been touching.

The process of bringing Austin home from half way across the world has been confusing and complicated, and it’s still unclear exactly what the costs will be. We’ve received such a great outpouring of support from so many sources, and, while the expenses are still uncertain, we’d like you all to know that we plan to use any funds received in addition to the costs of bringing Austin home and laying him to rest to setup a scholarship in his honor to support other motivated students who share Austin’s love for club sports.

Thank you again for all your support, your love and your prayers.

Memorial Info:

In the tradition of the surf culture, a paddle-out will be held in Austin’s honor at 7:00pm on Friday, May 25th at Tower 2 at Huntington City Beach. All are welcome to bring a board, swim out, or participate from the shore.

Austin’s memorial service will be held on Saturday, May 26th at 11:00am at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 5402 Heil Avenue, in Huntington Beach, California. A luncheon will be held immediately afterward, and all are encouraged to stay a while, enjoy some good food and share memories of Austin. We will also be putting together a memory book, and we invite each of you to bring your favorite picture of yourself with Austin and to come prepared to share your thoughts and memories of him.

Thank you so much in advance for all your love, prayers, and support!  Austin was an amazing young man and will truly be missed.


Warmest Wishes,
Tiffany

Oh, the Twists and Turns of Life...

So, it has been a VERY long time since I've posted.  And I feel really bad, but honestly... there has been a TON of stuff going on.  I'm going to take just a moment from the crazy and let you in on part of it...


We're moving.

That's right.  At the end of the month.  It was completely unexpected, and we were very torn, but we know in our hearts that this is what our Father in Heaven has planned for us.

TJ was offered a job out of the blue by his old boss and, after praying about it, we decided to accept.  He needs TJ as soon as possible, which means we will be packing up over the next couple weeks, saying our "See ya later"s, and making the trek back to Idaho.  Our families are very excited to have us close by again, and we are excited to be close to them too.

We know it will be hard to leave all of the new friends we have made here in Williston, because we love them all SO much.  But we also know that our relationships don't have to end after the move, which is what keeps us going.  We have been so thankful for all the things that we've learned while living here, and all the wonderful people who have come into our lives.  But now it's time to move on to the next chapter, learn new things, and meet more wonderful people.

Until next post... (who knows when that will be, hopefully soon, haha)

Warmest Wishes,
Tiffany

Baby Boy!

Ok, so we all know I'm a horrible blogger.  Some day I will be better, and the fact that I've been writing in this thing so "often" the last while or so has given me hope that I can eventually get to at least a post a week, ultimate goal: a post a DAY !!  Whew...  Aren't you just super excited!  Haha

Anyway, here are the long awaited ultrasound pics of the fetal survey... confirmation: it is most definitely a BOY!

We have a few others, including some more 3D shots (which TJ says make him look really weird), which I won't bore you with.

But I will let you know what we have decided to name the little guy:

Thomas Jeremy Thornton

 

We plan on calling him Tommy, and actually have already started.  It is so much more fun using his name than calling him "baby".

I have a bunch of recently tried recipes to review and projects that I plan on sharing (I've been a busy momma... can you say nesting early?), so stay tuned!  I am hoping that by letting you guys know what to look for it will help me get on here to post, we'll see how it goes.

Until next time... 

Warmest Wishes,
Tiffany

A Little Catching Up

Alright, so Dru is currently napping.  And I am currently boiling some chicken to make this recipe that I found via Pinterest.  (I'll let you know how it goes!!)  Anyway, I thought I should take a moment of the quiet to fill in some of the gaps that have happened in my blogging.  I've been pretty busy lately, and the following are some of the things (there's a lot!) that I've wanted to blog about but just haven't gotten around to...

First - My Primary Kids!!  I had so much fun with them over the Holidays!  Because the Program was over we were able to have a little bit of extra fun during Singing Time rather than working on our Program songs.  One of my favorite activities we did was make up our own song.  I had taught the kids my "Merry, Merry Christmas" version of the "Happy, Happy Birthday" song and Junior Primary wanted to make their own, so we came up with a "Once There Was a Reindeer" version of "Once There Was a Snowman".  It was pretty cute, but I LOVED the song the Senior Primary wrote to the music of "Popcorn Popping":

I looked out the window and what did I see?
Snowflakes falling right upon my tree.
Winter brought me such a nice surprise,
Snowflakes falling right before my eyes!
I can take an armful and make a ball,
Stack them up, it's a snowman tall.
It wasn't really so, but it seemed to be,
the snowman winked and then he smiled at me!

Second, I've been doing a lot of cooking and baking of Pinterest-found recipes.  I call them my Cooking Adventures.  Haha, what a dork.  Anyway, here are links to the original recipes of a couple that we liked, as well as pictures of my finished products and reviews.

Home-made Corn Dogs

I simplified the recipe which made these super easy!  We spent probably half an hour trying to find the plug to my deep fryer, SO sad that it is currently lost (though it's probably a good thing for my waistline), and just ended up frying them in a pot of oil.  I used a box of Jiffy Corn Muffin mix (instead of measuring out all the ingredients in the original recipe) and put it in a tall drinking glass.  I cut 3 wooden skewers in half (they were super long!), and stuck them into the Jalapeno-Cheddar Beef Dogs that TJ had picked out at the store.  I then rolled them in a little cornmeal (flour would work too, it was just to help the batter stick better) and dunked them in the glass.  They then went for a swim in hot oil until golden brown.  The batter was still a little gooey right next to the dogs when we ate them, so I probably should have let them get more than just "golden" brown.  But TJ said they came out just fine and LOVED the kick and extra flavor of the jalapeno and cheddar dogs.  One tip if you decide to simplify like I did, on your last few dogs you will need to tilt the glass and twist the dog around to get complete coverage with the batter.  I was tempted to make another box, but knew that I really did have enough, and I would end up just throwing away all the excess batter if I made more.  All in all, a quick and yummy dinner (or lunch).  Next time I might follow the recipe linked above and make a big batch to store for quick meals out of the freezer.  With another kid on the way, I just KNOW that this cooking "real" food kick will die down, and it will be nice to have some home-made go-to meals stocked up.

Home-made Crunch Wraps

Ok, THESE were SOOO good!!  We will definitely be making them again!  I followed the recipe (for the most part, haha).  I guess when it comes to cooking I have a hard time not tweaking a bit to make it my own.  Anyway, I heated up a big skillet that I had sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.  I then layered into the middle of a burrito sized tortilla the following: refried beans, taco meat, tortilla chips (make sure you get the round corn chips, we only had the white flour tortilla chips and they were crunchy at first, but got soggy near the end of the meal), shredded cheddar cheese, shredded lettuce, diced tomato and sour cream.  The folding part was SO much fun, but I had to place a piece of tortilla over the top of my layers because the burrito-sized tortilla wasn't big enough to fold all the way to the middle.  Or maybe I just put too much stuff inside, either way I had to adjust.  Anywhooo, they went folded side down into the heated skillet until brown and crispy, then flipped to crisp the other side.  They were warm and delicious, and probably just as good as the ones you get from Taco Bell.  We don't have a Taco Bell here though, so we will be making these.  If you make one and live near a Taco Bell, let me know how they compare.


There are a lot more "Cooking Adventures" that I have yet to go on, and a couple of flops that we will never make again.  I might make a special post about the flops, who knows?


Well, Dru is now awake and begging (screaming rather) for attention, so I better go.  I've got an ultrasound appointment tomorrow morning, the 20-week fetal survey.  We will officially find out that we are having a boy (the tech on my last one checked for me, so we'll see how accurate she was), and I will post pictures and stuff (hopefully) tomorrow after I get home and put Dru down for her nap.


Until then...

Warmest Wishes,
Tiffany

I'm so excited, I can't contain myself!!!

Ok, so I've got a list of blog posts that really should be posted before this one (news on the baby, cooking adventures, etc.), but I'm just so giddy about this that I couldn't hold it in and wait...

If you're reading this blog it is probably because you know me.  And if you know me, then you most likely know that I am an Independent Scentsy Consultant.  (If you don't know that either I haven't done my job very well, or you really don't know me...)

Anyway!


Yesterday was a big day for Scentsy as they announced TWO new line extensions and a whole NEW BRAND!!!  I had a hard time falling asleep last night thinking about all the new products and the new experiences that I will have and can share with all my wonderful customers!  And now, to share what Scentsy shared with consultants yesterday...



First,

Sincerely Scent!!   

On March 1, Scentsy will launch an innovative product line extension: an online greeting card store featuring over 150 original, customizable, SCENTED greeting cards!!  You will be able to order cards online and have them delivered to the recipients' addresses without buying stamps or going to the post office. You can personalize cards with a customized message, your favorite photo, a digital signature, AND a scent sample from the Scentsy Favorites collection.  That's right--each card will be mailed with a sample infused with Scentsy fragrance, allowing the recipient to experience Scentsy as soon as they open the envelope!!  There are cards for every occasion, from birthdays and anniversaries to holidays.  This is the perfect thing to help me with my goal of actually sending birthday cards!  Scentsy you take care of me in so many ways... Haha!



Speaking of taking care of me... the next new line of products by Scentsy...

Layers by Scentsy!! 

Personal AND laundry care products infused with your favorite Scentsy fragrances and custom-designed for Scentsy!!  Scentsy worked with the best suppliers in the industry to bring you personal care products you will LOVE. With Layers by Scentsy you can create a fragrance experience that is uniquely yours, and layer your life with fragrance. There will be nine Layers by Scentsy products--eight new ones, plus Scentsy Solid Perfume.  New personal care products include: Shower Gel, Shower Cream, Body Lotion, Body Butter, Hand Cream, and Body Spray.  In addition to world-class personal care products, two new laundry care products allow you to extend your Scentsy experience to your clothes. Washer Whiffs is a perfume for your laundry. Simply add it to the wash cycle with your detergent to scent your clothes. Then, toss your laundry into the dryer and add a Dryer Disk. The Dryer Disk is made of plastic infused with fragrance that has anti-static properties. It will scent up to 15 loads of laundry.  No more grabbing the Room Spray and spritzing the dryer before the cycle!  Yea, I'm weird and like my clothes to smell like Eskimo Kiss.  Or whichever scent is currently my favorite... They just keep coming out with more that I LOVE!!



And now for what I'm REALLY in love with... last but certainly not least... the NEW BRAND!!! 

Velata!! 

It's CHOCOLATE FONDUE!!  How can you resist???  On May 1, Scentsy will launch Velata, a fun, easy-to-use, and absolutely DELICIOUS fondue experience.  You already know that warmers + wax = a simple system. Well, with Velata, warmers + CHOCOLATE = a simple, incredible, EDIBLE party experience.  Scentsy flew to Belgium and met with the oldest and most prestigious chocolate manufacturers. They selected the highest quality, purest chocolate that would melt perfectly and taste divine. We will launch with velvety milk chocolate, creamy white chocolate, decadent dark chocolate, and indulgent caramel milk chocolate. Velata chocolate will come in convenient 6-ounce pouches with pour spouts. Simply microwave, pour into the Velata dish, dip your favorite foods, and enjoy.   There will be 14 Velata fondue warmers to choose from that range from contemporary to traditional design. Velata fondue warmers use the same technology as other Scentsy warmers. Simply plug them in and their 25-watt bulbs will keep Velata chocolate at the perfect temperature.  The difference between Velata fondue warmers and Scentsy warmers lies in the silicone dish. It's a simple dish that has a patent-pending technology to keep the chocolate at exactly the right temperature. A metal plate wrapped in silicone absorbs the heat from the 25-watt bulb. The silicone keeps the heat from escaping, prevents the chocolate from scorching, and can go from the refrigerator to the microwave to the dishwasher with ease. You can't do that with a fondue tower, or a traditional fondue pot!   Picture a quick, delicious, family-fun night. Or a romantic date night with decadent treats. Or the "grab some chocolate and a warmer" addition to a potluck. Just imagine the possibilities!  I am SO excited for May 1st!!  I can't wait to have my first Velata party!!  Do you want to come??  Do you want to Host??  Do you want to join me and sell it yourself??  I'll be getting more details as May 1st draws closer, let me know if you want in on all the fun!!

Also, I promise that I will get to the posts about the baby and the food... I just REALLY had to get this out before I exploded, hahaha!!

Warmest Wishes,
Tiffany