. . . pesto pasta salad . . .

. . . first things first . . .

. . . thanks for your kind emails 

and inquiries . . .

. . . yes, i'm fine . . .

. . . stuphfromsteph, 

however, has obviously 

been in a coma . . .

. . . it might be time to wake her up . . .

. . . gently . . .

(if you really want to know 

what i've been up to, 

follow me @stuphfromsteph 

on instagram. it's fun!)

. . . so . . .

. . . it was my turn to be the boss 

of our quilt group yesterday . . .

. . . and i made this yummy salad . . .

. . . you can make it, too, 

if you'd like . . .

what you need:

•1 pound rotini pasta

•1/2 costco-size jar of basil pesto

(or 1 grocery store-size tub)

•1/2 cup craisins

•1/2 cup pine nuts

•1/2 cup shredded parmesan 

(not the powdery kind)
•1 costco-size container spring greens/spinach mix 
(or 2 grocery store-size bags)
•girard's champagne dressing
•rotisserie chicken (optional)

what you need to do the day before:

•cook the pasta in boiling, salted water according to package directions 
•drain and rinse in cold water 
•stir in pesto 
•add craisins, pine nuts, and parmesan 
•refrigerate overnight

what you need to do to serve:

•in a large bowl, mix greens with a little champagne dressing 
•don't drown them
•arrange greens on a large platter
(really, you need a large platter for this!)
•top with chilled pesto pasta
•optional: top with a few nice slices of rotisserie chicken

pro: looks impressive; tastes fantastic; nothing (seriously, nothing, unless you use chicken) to chop
con: after the greens are dressed, you can't really save the leftovers
hint: serve a big crowd and there won't be leftovers!

. . . bloops! i did it again . . .

. . . one day i turned 

yards of cotton gauze . . .

. . . into lots of bloops! . . .

. . . generously sized 

swaddling blankets . . .

. . . with nary a kitty cat 

nor a dinosaur in sight . . .

#yayforprettybabystuff!

. . . variety is the spice of life . . .

. . . i made a deal 

with our relief society president . . .

. . . i'll make special blessing day oops!

 for all the babies born in our ward . . .

. . . and she'll never ask me 

to teach sunday lessons . . .

. . . score! . . .

. . . pink and grey ~ 

a classic combination . . . 

. . . these flew out the door 

as soon as i got them made . ..

. . . and for shlepping 

around disneyland 

with an infant . . .

. . . you'd be the envy 

of everyone in line 

at mr. toad's wild ride . . .

. . . see? there's an oops! 

for every circumstance . . .

. . . ric rac paddy whack . . .

. . . in the last couple of years . . . 

. . . ric rac has really come of age . . .

. . . i know it's been around forever . . .

. . . but now there are 

more sizes and colors than ever . . .

. . . i love to hoard collect it . . .

. . . and then the fun starts 

when i try to make 

ric rac/ribbon combos . . .

(we may have had an instagram discussion about this color's name)

. . . i have a fun "job" . . .

. . . ruffles have ridges . . .

. . . i've always loved it . . .

. . . there's just 

something about eyelet . . .

. . . the holes . . .

. . . the daisies . . .

. . . the scallops . . .

. . . so glad i finally had the bright idea

 to use it on oops! . . .

. . . it looks especially fresh and springy

combined with these trendy colors . . . 

. . . baby gifters 

can't seem to get enough 

of mint, coral, teal and melon . . .

. . . take me out to the ballgame . . .

. . . every time i go to the ribbon store, 

the pink polka dot section 

is like a magnet . . .

. . . i mean, really . . . 

. . . but i was on a mission . . .

. . . focus focus focus . . .

. . . ahhhhh . . . 

. . . there it is . . .

. . . for a special little sports fan . . .

. . . or probably, more specifically . . .

. . . for the offspring 

of a special sports fan . . .

. . . i'm always up 

for the challenge 

of a special oops! order 

or two . . .

. . . call me maybe . . .

. . . i love to see the temple . . .

. . . since i'm there 

every wednesday . . .

. . . and because 

it's such a beautiful place . . .

. . . i decided to snap a quick photo

 each week . . .

. . . the flowers are glorious . . .

. . . and the smell is intoxicating . . .

. . . at the mesa arizona temple . . .

. . . row row row eleven . . .

. . . since i was on a roll . . .

. . . maybe i should say 

i was on a "row"ll . . .

. . . nevermind . . .

. . . i shouldn't say that at all . . .

. . . anyway . . . 

. . . the next row looked like 

it'd be quick and easy . . .

. . . little spools of thread . . .

. . . fourteen of them . . .

. . . so i pulled some fabrics . . .

. . . and lined 'em up . . .

. . . they went together super fast . . .

. . . and i just couldn't resist . . .

. . . putting them in roygbiv order . . .
. . . i have a little ocd obsession 
with that . . .
{technically rpygb order ~ no o; p instead; no i or v either}

. . . another gratuitous yard shot . . .
. . . ivy today . . .
. . . springtime in arizona 
is the best . . .

{total number of pieces in row 11: 85}

{total number of pieces in rows 1-11: 1317}

. . . row row row ten . . .

. . . after i made it 

to the bottom of my ironing pile 

during general conference, 

i rewarded myself with 

a little "get to" sewing . . .

. . . maybe i should make myself 

a chore chart 

with stickers and prizes . . .

. . . time to work on

row ten: houses . . .

. . . earlier in the week, 

i had selected these fabrics 

for houses and roofs 

and residents . . .

. . . got 'em all cut out . . .

. . . and construction began . . .

. . . here're the first two houses 

on the block . . .

. . . and the whole subdivision . . .

. . . with crazy toddlers 

in the grey and aqua house . . .

. . . identical twins 

in the yellow and red house . . .

. . . visually challenged hat wearers 

in the red and pink house . . .

. . . a cute little top-knotted redhead 

and her sister 

in the pink and green house . . .

. . . and a ballet studio 

in the yellow and grey house . . .

. . . these are, of course, tract homes . . .

. . . everyone has the same floor plan,

 door and chimneys . . .

. . . how about 

a gratuitous geranium shot 

of the whole row? . . .

{note to self: blue painters tape 

definitely shows through white background fabric}

. . . this row was pretty quick 

to put together . . .

. . . ten rows down . . .

. . . three to go . . .

. . . plus a few other things 

that make this quilt 

over the top amazing . . .

{total number of pieces in row 10: 110}

{total number of pieces in rows 1-10: 1232}

. . . conference weekend . . .

. . . this was one of 

my favorite two weekends 

of the year . . .

. . . i love listening 

to the inspired words 

of our church leaders . . .

. . . and . . .

. . . i love to get 

to the bottom 

of my ironing pile . . .

. . . it's my general conference

tradition . . .

. . . and it keeps me awake! . . .

. . . especially if i arm myself 

with diet coke 

and leftover cadbury eggs . . .

. . . i'm always on the lookout 

for my hometown girl, 

tricia hyde swanson . . .

. . . we grew up in the same ward . . .

. . . she has a spectacular 

first soprano voice 

and has been in the choir 

for a long, long time . . .

{top row, center, dark hair ~ she and her voice are beautiful}

. . . tv screen photos 

in fluorescent lighting 

are awful . . .

. . . but let's take a vote . . .

. . . and i'm sure 

you'll all agree with me . . .

. . . periwinkle dresses 

are waaaaaaaay better 

than mauve . . .

. . . and it's good to see 

everyone in their assigned seats 

two days in a row . . .

. . . president uchtdorf 

makes all the foreign names 

of general authorities 

sound fantastic 

with his awesome german accent . . .

. . . and funny internet people 

make me laugh with 

{maybe slightly inappropriate ~ yet true} 

sayings like this . . .

. . . after the first hour 

of the morning session, 

and several white shirts . . .

. . . the congregation and choir 

stood to sing a rest hymn . . .

. . . "let us all press on" . . .

. . . and maybe it made me laugh . . .

. . . after the first two-hour session . . .

. . . halfway through 

the afternoon session . . .

. . . and i was finished 

after four hours . . . 

. . . i never claimed to be 

a super fast ironer . . .

. . . but i AM good! . . .

. . . my favorite 

{are we allowed to have a favorite?}

 speaker . . .

. . . if i had to choose one . . .

. . . is nearly always

elder jeffrey r. holland . . .

. . . it seems like every talk he gives 

is a masterpiece . . .

. . . another true funny . . . 

. . . after the final session ended . . .

. . . it was time 

to get my skewers on . . .

. . . and chris was a great sport 

and worked hard 

at grilling them up . . .

{sorry about all the smoke in your eyes, chris!}

. . . while tyler had his hands full

 keeping colby entertained . . .

. . . and yes, we did 

have an easter egg hunt . . .

. . . a week after easter . . . 

. . . bill filled them with candy . . .

. . . then addi and halleigh 

hid all the eggs . . .

. . . elliott didn't mind a bit 

that we were a little tardy . . .

. . . and tagg was happy 

to show me his treasures . . .

. . . while brent napped on the lawn . . .

. . . feeling the spirit, 

being productive, 

good food, 

and family time . . .

. . . that about sums up 

one of my favorite two weekends 

of the year . . .

. . . i'm already looking forward 

to october . . .