January // Jolley Family Update

January has been a super great month so far! We've done a lot of really fun things and accomplished a lot too. New Years Eve we spent with friends. Going out to eat and then hanging out until midnight. I don't understand the lure of staying awake til midnight though, I was so tired and cranky by 11. HA!

I had a really cool family history experience that you can read about HERE. But basically, I love doing family names and the spirit of Elijah is real! We love taking family names to the temple. We know that Satan works really hard to keep us from the temple, but I'm happy to report we've already been twice this month. Mission accomplished!

We took my family to a really neat blogger event put on by Gorgoza Park. I only went down the baby hill once and that was enough for me. But everyone had a blast and I'm super glad we were able to go. We went to Winger's after with everyone which is always delicious! I'll try and write a blog post specifically about Gorgoza and the awesome time we had, but you can learn about it HERE.

Another one of my 2016 goals is to help get my Young Women more involved in Personal Progress. I found these really cute Lunchables S'more Dippers at Walmart and added a super cheesy label. I've been able to cross a few things off my own Personal Progress and am almost half way through the Book of Mormon.

We went to a car show with friends in Salt Lake and had a lot of fun looking at the different cars.

I've been doing the Dating Diva's 30 Day Love Challenge for just over a week and have been having so much fun with it. It is totally worth the $2.99 cost AND the $20 I paid for color ink. I've noticed a change in our marriage, and I like to think our marriage was pretty good to begin with ;) I get so excited to serve Colten and see his reactions to each day's challenge.

I started school! I'm just over 2 weeks in. The entire program is online which is super convenient and I really like being back in school. It's weird to have a commitment to homework again, but I'm excited to start digging in and learning some more about graphic design.

After 7 months of waiting, I FINALLY got my hair done again and I feel like a new woman.

We babysat my nephew overnight this last week and I gained a whole new respect for all you mommas. He'd only sleep for about 2 hours at a time and then wake up crying so hard. It only took 10-15 minutes to put him back to sleep but that makes for really restless sleep. He is so cute though, totally worth it. Plus, once his mom picked him up I took a 3.5 hour nap. Whoops.

Surprise! We are one step closer to my husband starting Jolley Bro's Sconeburgers with his brother again. We purchased a truck this last weekend. It's a 2000 F-150 with only 60,000 miles. Holy crap right? We got a super good deal and are really happy and excited. Of course the day we bought it there was a snowstorm so we really got to test it out. Colten will graduate in December with his BS in Accounting but within the next 6-8 months they are hoping to open business for some events.

We are now officially both working full time and attending school full time so we stay plenty busy. Plus some wonderful yet trying church callings.

End of this month we are taking an overnight trip to Logan to stay at the Anniversary Inn and I am so excited for a romantic getaway with my husband. Plus I'm getting really excited for Valentine's Day sooo... yeah. There's that!

I think that about covers it. I hope your January is rounding out to be a great month!

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P.S. One more thing: Shop My Sister's Closet Boutique is having an amazing clearance sale. An additional 50% off everything! Head on over to see all the cute stuff they have!

10X10 Capsule Wardrobe

Early in July I went remote for my job at work. That means I still do the same job, but I work from home. This has honestly been a huge blessing in my life. As a total introvert, I love having a quiet home but still being able to connect with my co-workers and those I assist at my job. 

I've loved how relaxed I can be at my job now. However, one thing I really miss is getting all dressed up and putting together an outfit that makes me feel stunning! So one of my goals for 2016 is to take more time getting ready each day and also documenting it more to share as a way to hold myself accountable.

So, for my first capsule wardrobe of 2016 I am doing a 10X10. Which means I only wear 10 items of clothing for 10 days straight. Here are my 10 items...

Red plaid: Kohls // Black & White Tunic: Old Navy // 

Black Leggings: Walmart // Peter Pan Shirt: Rooney & Renee //

Chambray Top: Old Navy via Thred Up // Black & White Top: Old Navy //

Jeans: Old Navy // Blue skirt: Lularoe //

Blue striped top: Gap via Thred Up // Lauren Conrad Grey Sweater: Kohls via Thred Up //

ThredUp gave me some credit to use for this capsule wardrobe! As a matter of fact, if you've never tried ThredUp, click THIS LINK to get $20 to try it out. No catch! And if you use my link I'll get $20 to shop as well, so thanks for the love ;) 

$200 Starbucks Giveaway !!

GIVEAWAY DETAILS

I’ve teamed up with some blogger friends to give you the chance to win a prize you’re going to love -- a $200 Starbucks Gift Card!

Are you a blogger who wants to participate in giveaways like these to grow your blog? Click here to join the VIP Email List for details on how to be included in the next giveaway opportunity!

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A Simple Recipe for the BIG GAME!! // using Mezzetta Peppers + a Giveaway!!

Anyone know knows me well knows that I try to keep events as simple as possible. Even though I love to bake, I'm known to pickup cupcakes from the grocery store for events so it's one less thing for me to stress about.



So if you're entertaining for the big game coming up in a few weeks, I've got the easiest recipe in the whole world. So all you have to worry about, it enjoying yourself.
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What you'll need ...

+ A microwave safe plate 

+ Tortilla chips 

+ Shredded cheese

+ Mezzetta peppers 

How to Make ...

+ Add tortilla chips to plate, as many you want

+ Add a layer of shredded cheese

+ Add Mezzetta peppers of choice

+ Add another layer of shredded cheese

+ Microwave for 45 seconds

+ENJOY!

So when you're preparing to celebrate the big game with your friends and family, pick up a few cans of Mezzetta peppers to create the nachos of everyone's dreams.

Oh! And don't forget to enter this awesome giveaway! You could win a 55" 4k LED TV and it's super easy to enter. Just click HERE.

Happy #MezzettaHomegating! & don't forget to enter to win $10 Paypal cash so you can go out and purchase your own Mezzetta peppers!

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Thank you to Mezzetta for sponsoring today's post and inspiring me to create a Homegating recipe with the #MostValuablePepper !!

Book Review // A Princess Story (The Real-Life Fairy Tale Found in the Gospel of Jesus Christ) by Jaci Wightman

As I'm writing this review, I'm only on page 67 out of 179. For some reason my book was delayed in the mail so I've had just about a week to read it, but I'll give you a part of the way through review!

The back of the book says this,

"Filled with hardship and happiness, a princess and her prince, an evil villain, and an epic battle, fairy tales draw us into the adventure. But these stories aren't far from reality. You are living your own personal princess story!

Discover how the Lord's plan of happiness is just like a fair tale with this inspiring book for women of all ages. Learn to see your divine potential and recognize your inner princess. This enchanting read will guide you to build a closer relationship with the Prince, return to the King, and find your own happily ever after."

I'll admit, the word princess got me hooked. As someone who grew up on Disney movies and went to Disneyland every year, anything princess related is a win for me. I've always been able to see the gospel comparisons in Disney movies, because I'm a freak like that.

I wanted to read this book because I love the "fluffiness" of the gospel and the title made it sound like there would be lots of fluffiness. To me, the fluffy parts of the gospel are the things like reading your scriptures, going to Relief Society, being grateful, keeping a journal etc. I've always struggled to be more excited about the deep ol doctrines of the gospel, although I'm trying to deepen my gospel studies.

Guess what? This book has both. From the get-go it's a lovely and easy read, but chock full of deep doctrine that makes me go, "Holy crap this gospel is AMAZING."

The author does a great job sharing fairy tale stories and comparing them to the plan of salvation. She also shares some stories from the Chronicles of Narnia and quotes by Elder Jeffrey R Holland who is the bomb.com & C.S. Lewis makes me all kinds of happy to be a Christian.

I'll be honest and say this book is not a page turner. I'm not staying up late every night desperate to read more. But when I do read it, I have to take my time and soak in all the greatness that is in this book. I would definitely recommend it for young adult women, and even young women age if they're up for a good gospel read. We are all just living in our own fairy tales! :)

WHERE TO BUY:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Books & Things

(I received this book free of charge from Cedar Fort Books in exchange for an honest review)

Monday In The Word: Why is Jesus Christ Important In My Life?

Yesterday I taught the Young Women in my ward a lesson that is very close to my heart. Why is Jesus Christ important in my life? It's such a broad and important topic that I spent countless hours pondering the material and wondering how I should approach it. I wanted these Young Women to leave my classes knowing EXACTLY why Christ is important in their own life, not just in my life, but in THEIR lives.

+ Mosiah 3:17 (HERE)

I mean, there's the obvious, he did die for our sins and all. We simply cannot get back to Heavenly Father without his atonement because no unclean thing can enter the kingdom of heaven, and we all sin. I'm so grateful for this! I sure wish I didn't sin, but whoops, I do it every day. I'm learning, I'm getting better, but I'm so happy that Jesus Christ atoned for my sins.

+ The Living Christ (HERE)

I'm going to end this post right here. Why? Because The Living Christ is so perfectly written, it is truly beautiful literature and I would even consider it scripture because it is the TESTIMONY of the Apostles. One way to study this is to print it off and use this as a marking guide.

Red: Names of Christ
Yellow: Characteristics of Christ
Green: Premortal Christ
Blue: Mortal Christ
Orange: During and After the Resurrection

I loved studying The Living Christ and looking for each of these topics and was surprised how much my testimony was strengthened by doing so. Christ is truly living! Today, right this minute. He has already been resurrected. He is there for us in our bad times and good times. He knows what our weaknesses are and He can help us overcome them. Because of Him, we can be with our families forever and we can become like our Heavenly Father.

My McDonald's Create Your Taste Experience

Back in December, Colten & I (along with my brother-in-law) attended a super fun event put on at the Granger McDonald's here in Utah. McDonald's wanted to introduce us to the latest and greatest in their restaurants: the Create Your Taste burgers!

The idea behind Create Your Taste is to have the guest create a burger that is as unique as them. You can use these awesome new screens to order the burger, along with anything else you'd like to come with your meal. You can also use these screens to order regular meals on their own.

My burger consisted of a Ciabatta Roll for the bun, lettuce, bacon (which was amazing quality!) as well as ketchup, mayo, cheese, and of course the burger patty. You guys, the burger patties are amazing. The meat is a higher quality than normal McDonald's burgers and trust me, you can tell.

When the 3 of us bit into our burgers our eyes got all wide and my brother-in-law (quite the food critic might I add) said, "I think this may be the best burger I have ever tasted." And he wasn't kidding. Our burgers were incredible!

There are so many other topping options, I'm so lame and keep mine pretty simple. But some others are: Guacamole, extra patties, different cheese types, tomato, Sriracha mayo, Mac sauce, grilled mushrooms, grilled onion, and the list goes on and on.

We were all super impressed by our burgers and the manager offered to give us bloggers a VIP tour of the kitchen. We watched the regular patties take less than 60 SECONDS to go from frozen to on a bun ready for us to eat. Whereas the Create Your Taste patties take a good 4 minutes to cook. With that being said, your McDonald's order may take longer than you're used to because HELLLLLLOOO! The best things in life often take patience.

So tell me... have you tried a Create Your Taste burger? Are you a McDonald's fan? What do you think of the new ordering system? 

(We received a free meal on McDonald's in order to try Create Your Taste. We were encouraged to share our experiences on social media as we saw fit. We've been back to try more Create Your Taste burgers multiple times since our experience in December and we still love it!)

Mary Atkins- A Family History Experience

When I was attending Utah State University, I also attended Institute. During my 4th semester there I was doing an elementary education practicum which meant I was at an elementary school from 7 am-4 pm Tues/Wed/Thurs. Most Institute classes are Mon/Wed or Tues/Thurs. I chose a Family History course that was Mon/Wed and attended on Mondays only for 3 weeks. The instructor encouraged me to attend the class at a later date when I could make it both Mon/Wed. (little did she know that was my last semester at USU!) I did not attend the class any more.

In those 3 weeks, I learned how to log in to FamilySearch.org and scroll through my Family Tree. I learned that little green temples meant there was temple work to be done and that I could request the ordinances so I could do them. And I was amazed to see that I had many more little green temples than I imagined I would!

Occasionally I still scroll through my Family Tree looking for little green temples. Over the years I've probably completed the temple work for around 20 individuals. It became much easier to assist once I was endowed and could take a deaceased individual all the way through all the ordinances. It is fun to take little blue & pink cards to the temple, and I have found an increased desire to go when I am doing names that come from my own family line. I am willing to say that I never feel the spirit as strongly as I do when I am doing ordinances for my own family in the temple. 

A few weeks ago, Colten and I attended to do Baptisms for some of my friend's family names as well as a few of my own. After the confirmation, one of the temple workers noticed a male card that said "Mary Atkins" on it. He said, "Are you sure that Mary is male? Or do you think Mary could be female?" I assured him that Mary did indeed have a wife on my Family Tree but I would look into it before continuing the work. 

Over 2 weeks later I had a prompting to open my family tree and learn more about Mary Atkins. When I logged on I noticed that Mary's spouse was indeed marked female, but the name was Thomas. Things were suspicious. I messaged with a Family Search volunteer who said I needed proof to change the sex of the individuals. She suggested I search Family Search records, which I had never done. 

I searched Mary's name, date of birth, and birthplace and came across a census record that aligned perfectly with the information on file, and clearly labeled her sex as female. I got so excited! I saved the Census record and let the volunteer know. She was able to update the system and we found that there were two records for Mary and her husband. The temple work had already been done for them! There was even a picture of Mary. I looked at that picture and was reminded that these names... they are real people. They are waiting for US to do the work for them, that they cannot do for themselves. 

The resources available on FamilySearch.org are incredible! I love taking my little pink & blue cards to the temple with my husband and relishing, in the SPIRIT OF ELIJAH! My contribution to Family History may not be as significant as another individual's, but it is still MY contribution. I dream of the day when I get to the other side and those individuals welcome me to heaven, and thank me for my work. Of course, I will thank them right back, because doing their work makes me more holy and brings me closer to my Heavenly Father than anything else in this world. 

Monday In The Word : Who am I? And Who Can I Become?

Have you ever wondered, "Who am I REALLY?" I know I have. Even today, I occasionally wonder who I am. Society and media can really impact us, leaving us wondering if we are who we think we are, and if we even have the possibility to become who we want to become.

+ Genesis 1:26-27 (HERE)

Isn't this an amazing gospel truth? We were created after the image of God!  We were designed for greatness, and we can accomplish that greatness because we were created in God's own personal image.


+ Latter-Day Saints Keep On Trying by Elder Dale G. Renlund

"God's desire that Latter-day Saints keep on trying also extends beyond overcoming sin. Whether we suffer because of troubled relationships, economic challenges, or illnesses or as a consequence of someone else's sins, the Savior's infinite Atonement can heal even-and perhaps especially- those who have innocently suffered."


+ Doctrine & Covenants 19:10-15 (HERE)

The worth of souls is GREAT. I love how this scripture reminds us that even if we only bring one soul to repentance, the happiness, and blessings for that will be immense, BECAUSE each of us is so dear and precious to our Heavenly Father.

Who are we? The Young Women recite it every week, "We are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who love us, and we love him." The knowledge that we are children of God should change everything. We have infinite potential. We can learn anything, we can do anything, we can become anything because we have the gift of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. His atonement can help us reach our goals and help us discover, who we truly are.


+ Latter-Day Saints Keep On Trying by Elder Dale G. Renlund

"My invitation to all of us is to evaluate our lives, repent, and keep on trying. If we don't try, we're just latter-day sinners; if we don't persevere, we're latter-day quitters; and if we don't allow others to try, we're just latter-day hypocrites. As we try, persevere, and help others to do the same, we are true Latter-day Saints. As we change, we will find that God indeed cares a lot more about who we are and about who we are becoming than about who we once were."