CuteKittyPunk

Zeppe's Ice 1812 W. Sunset Blvd #2 St. George, Utah 435-773-7140 www.zeppesice.com When I was a kid, my Mom used to have this laminated ice cream cone (flat paper) on the closet door in the kitchen. Each cone had our name on it. And every time we read a Friend  magazine article we would earn a paper laminated scoop of ice cream for our cone. And at the end of the month she would take us out for ice cream. But actually, we usually went for Frozen Yogurt which has always been the in-thing here in St. George as long as I can remember. The trendy hot spot back then was Dixie Frozen Yogurt. It was in the old shopping center on Bluff where K-mart is still located. It was always a welcome treat. I loved getting gummy bears on my frozen yogurt.  Now all the frozen yogurt places are self serve and you always spend too much money! Okay, there are several yummy frozen yogurt and ice cream places around here now, and I will review each of them another day, but today, I wa...

moving on  This link above takes you to my Pinterest board... all about moving on with less. We have decided to move back to the United States. We are in the process now of applying for a work visa for Mark. The only way we know how to do this affordably, is to sell almost all of our belongings and do it on a budget. It really is something else learning to live with less. I have already given away half of all my cookbooks and will need to eventually give them all away.  Thank goodness for blogs. I will be posting my favorite recipes from my favorite cookbooks as a way to catalog them, find them quickly - it will truly become my online recipe box. Thank goodness I finally received my own very first iPad. It makes looking up recipes so much quicker. I used to have to print everything out or at least, write down the list of ingredients on a pad of paper so I could prepare my meals without having to walk back and forth to my computer while preparing a meal in the kitchen....

In my repertoire for 2013 I challenged myself to make something from the amigurumi style of crochet.  And I finally did! Wednesday night I started it, Thursday afternoon I spent about an hour on it, and then Friday I finished it up. I was so surprised about how quickly you can make things... (normally I made afghans and they take forever). I don't know why but I thought it would be difficult, but it's not - it's easy peasy! I got this book: Amigurumi Two  but I found it at a book store in the Netherlands so it was in Dutch like this: Superschattige figuurtjes haken. So, it took me a little bit of figuring out just what the heck they were saying... reading a recipe in Dutch is no problem for me, but reading a crochet pattern in Dutch - difficult. I think I got it though. I made the "hot air balloon with teddy" and I know just who to give it to :) I must say, I'm impressed with myself for completing one of my New Year's goals - it feels pret...

Mark just showed me this book he got. It wasn't familiar to me. Then he had to run an errand, and while he was gone I picked up the book and started reading it. He got home and he was like you stole my book... and I thought, I am an artist. The book is called Steal like an Artist by Austin Kleon - and it's a little book, I read it in about 30 minutes and it sparked a good many ideas for me.  One idea was to write down ideas... and I already write down ideas as I get them, but maybe I need to put them in a little book where they can remain all together so that I can access them easily again. Also, I do journal on a regular basis so I got that going for me... but I could do more. There is some advice in this little book that I've already figured out myself - that I wish I would have known when I was younger. For example, educational and financial stuff that Mark and I talk about all the time, now. We are like - we should tell our kids this when they get to be that ...

I painted Temple Day Dream last year 2012 - really it captures the essence of how I like to paint, very whimsical - inspired by 1960's cartoons and children's illustrations - colorful and simple... it's the Washington D.C. Temple from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints... it's one of their more magical looking temples, in my opinion. The original sold quickly after is completion... I need to order myself a duplicate on canvas because I really, really like it. Last night or rather this morning, I had a very poignant dream. I woke up thinking, gosh, if I could go back in time I wouldn't have changed what I studied in college or where I went to college, I would have changed what I had done in high school which would have changed what I studied in college and where! I had a dream that I was in Paris. And I had this feeling like I should have pursued art. As a child I had the gift. I loved art. I loved drawing.  You know, I'm pretty disappoint...

We talk about moving back to the United States... often. We have a lot of good reasons to go there. I have family there. I want my kids to spend more time with their cousins. I want them to experience American high school and all it has to offer. You know - not just the classroom stuff but all the extra-curricular activities that make high school fun. And many more reasons that are faith based. But then there is the other hand. On the other hand, what I really like about living in the Netherlands and Eindhoven specifically: Eindhoven is a good size city but not too big. I don't really like city living. You know when you think of city life - you think of big cities like Paris, New York, Amsterdam and London. I don't like Amsterdam that much. It's too congested feeling. Although Paris is amazing. But anyway, Eindhoven is actually many smaller villages that grew together and just became Eindhoven. I live in Woensel which is North Eindhoven. I can find everything I need t...

owl cake for my 34th birthday! The last couple of years I have done my annual New Year's Resolutions... I have looked back over some of them and found that some times I did well, but mostly not. This year I wanted to go back and do a Repertoire . It's something that my friend KP started. She put together a poster of all kinds of fun things to do in the year. Some challenges - but mostly just trying out something new and fun.  I've decided to do this in 2013. 1. I got a really cool "cook book" for my birthday this year - one that had been on my wish list for some time... the Juice Master's Funky Fresh Juice Book... in 2013 - try every recipe in the book - even the ones with garlic, tomato, and asparagus - this is my Funky Challenge! 2. Paint my toe nails once a month in a fun, glittery - colorful way. Paint Kailea's, Ella's and Siembra's toe nails the same way - it will be our girls thing once a month! This is my Cool Mom Challenge!...

So, I just updated my about me page because it needed updating. I started out at the beginning of the year with this goal to go 100% Primal Blueprint and change my diet and lifestyle food good... and then... there was bread! I did go Primal for about 15 days and lost weight effortlessly and  then, I slipped. And then I did manage to maintain my weight for the last 6 months or so. And all the while, I've been eating loads of butter, more meat than I ever have before - a bit more vegetables and still some sugar and bread products now and again. But I've been eating full fat yogurt and kwark, full fat milk and mostly honey in place of sugar. And I have had not much energy. I've been sleeping a lot. And every morning, despite have 9 hours sleep, I'm still not ready to get up. I've been watching a few documentaries in the meantime which have helped me redirect my diet for the better. The first one I watched was Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead . Pretty good, a little slow i...

So, this book <--- yeah, that one... I ordered it and it finally arrived. I don't blame the company I bought it from, I blame the way they do things over here. If TNT Post wins the bid to deliver it - it comes really fast, but if some other carrier wins the bid... then it takes F-O-R-E-V-E-R! So, it finally came. I read the whole thing in about two days. It reads really easy... it also happens to be really funny. Funny in a serious kind of way. Not funny like it sucks... just that there are some really funny parts that had me laughing out loud! So, I really like that Jason Vale threw some humor in there - it's part of his personality . What with having once been an overweight man with breasts, and psoriasis all over his body, he wasn't exactly a catch... so he had to get a personality... and since he juiced himself slim - he's also in incredibly great shape... and sharing his enthusiasm for juicing with as much of the world as he can. So, until I had gotten ...

Maxine, November 1 1996 - May 25, 2011   I'm adjusting to life without Maxine . I have so many regrets. I wish I could have been a better Mom to her. If I could do things over again, I would. I did the best I could given the information I had. But hindsight is 20/20. I feel like she is at rest and peaceful with Heavenly Father. It's just too bad that dogs don't live forever in happiness and health... well, they do - just on the other side... hopefully, when I return to Heavenly Father, I can see Maxine again and maybe dogs and humans can communicate is some special way, I'd like her to know that I loved her the best that I could... I know a dog is not a person, but she sure was a good friend to me for so many years. If... or when I ever get a dog again, I will treat my dog a lot better. I wanted to take her to the vet for yearly check ups but when she was 10 years old we were advised not to do that. To just let her be and then she can get sick sooner and die so...

Tonight I say goodbye to my dog Maxine. She was a really great dog. I had her for 10 years. She would be 15 this year. She was old - she was sick - a lot. I had to take her to the vet, I watched them put her to sleep. It was really hard to do. I was holding her and crying and just petting her and again and again I wanted to say, you know what? I'll just take her home and wait for her to wake up, I can't do this... I don't wanna do this. On one hand, I knew it was the right thing to do, on the other hand, I just wanted to let her live forever and just go on another walk. One more day with her. I think I wasn't really ready, even though, I was tired of seeing her suffer - I wasn't really ready to say good bye. I just feel really, really sad. I feel like I don't ever want another dog again because sure, they are lots of fun when they are young, but then they get old so fast and then they have problem after problem and then you gotta make tough decisions like ...

Just returned from our vacation to America. It was great. I loved seeing family and friends and I loved eating out in America :) My favorite new place to eat: Village Inn - free pie Wednesdays. I was never really a pie kind of person, until now. They've got this European Truffle pie - it's good - not too chocolatey - just right. The Oreo cream pie is also very good. I really liked the strawberry rhubarb as well. I also enjoyed many good donuts in America. I didn't get to have two particular favorites though: (1) the Krispy Kreme donut with the chocolate glaze and marshmallow-creme type filling and (2) that chocolate cake donut with chocolate glaze from 7-11... perhaps next time.  Another thing I discovered - Cache Valley is totally beautiful this time of year. A very late Spring, but so pretty. I think I could consider living in Logan, Utah - on Temple boulevard - what a view, the temple to the rear and this out the front: photo credit: justsnooping.com And...

So, there is this blog that I follow, you can find the link in bloggy love - listed in the side column - "Lady in the skirt" and in Tara's most recent post she writes what she is thankful for and I was thinking, I should do that, too. So... Dear Heavenly Father, I'm so thankful for you (thee, thou) you know what I mean! I'm thankful for my husband who provides for our family so I can be a stay at home mom to our three beautiful daughters. Mark is my very best friend and I love him so much. And yes, I'm so thankful for the girls. They really keep me on my toes - they can be very demanding at times, but I love them dearly. I'm grateful for my calling to teach the youth in Sunday School. It's very scary that the Bishop wants me to teach in Dutch. I think I can do it but my stubborn pride keeps getting in the way and I my natural laziness just wants to teach in English... please help me to understand the Bible words in Dutch! I'm very grateful fo...

Just got back from watching Joseph Smith: Prophet of the Restoration . It was really good. Even though I already knew the story from watching different versions over the years and reading the story and studied church history, did seminary, all that stuff... it was still really good and I cried. I don't really enjoy movies that make ya cry too much. But this one is different because even though Joseph is martyred, we know that God lives, that Jesus lives and that He has overcome death. Jesus is resurrected and all that believe on him will live again. Jesus is our Savior. This is the very truth that Joseph prophesied on over and over again. The thing that was new to me, or at least a reminder was just seeing how many trials Joseph lived through - and what he died for - makes me want to try a lot harder... Now for my favorite scripture quoted in the movie: And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to ...

This is my blog - so I can talk about me. :) Cute Kitty Punk is a mini phrase I started using many years ago. I just like it because it's kind of hip and catchy... but it doesn't totally describe me. I'm really sweet - not punkish. I don't even really like punk music. I do like the Cure. They aren't really punk though - more like alternative. I love Daft Punk. Does that make me punk? Probably not. I feel like an average American girl. Except that I don't live in America. I have been living here in Europe for almost 7 years. When I first got here I missed Mexican food like crazy. One time I made a special dinner with enchiladas, refried beans, Spanish rice, and guacamole. I served it to my sister-in-law. She looked at the beans like - "what is that?" A look of disgust on her face. I was like, "what? You've never seen refried beans? They are delicious." She didn't think so. Well, fast forward 7 years - and I don't even m...