. . . a cool tool . . .

. . . i had only an hour

to make quick work

of eight pounds of strawberries . . .

{it was the "middle" hour of church. i bet you take a break sometimes, too!}

. . . good thing my gadget savvy friend

gifted me this little helper . . .

{thanks, gadget savvy friend!}

. . . this is the strawberry end . . .

{the other end is for scooping seeds out of jalapenos/other peppers.

in other words ~ it's for wimps. we eat the whole thing ~ seeds, veins and all!}

. . . anyway ~ you just pluck the leaves off . . .

. . . then using a twisting motion ~

make strawberry balls . . .

{which sounds like something you better not google}

. . . leaving cute little hollowed out berries . . .

. . . which, when paired with

•slices of costco pound cake,

•kirklands vanilla ice cream, and

•land o' lakes aerosol whipped cream

makes pretty darn good strawberry shortcake . . .

{also ~ one-stop shopping}

. . . good enough that after i served it

to a hungry bunch

of 16- and 17-year-olds last month ~

they requested it again this month . . .

. . . in unrelated culinary frustrations

from easter sunday . . .

. . . the photo on the front of this cookbook

is false advertising . . .

. . . my lion house rolls

look nothing like the picture . . .

. . . help! . . .

. . . why do the tops get all bubbly/wrinkly

when i butter them after baking? . . .

{also ~ why do i feel the need to cram in the extra bits of dough at odd angles?}

. . . all you bread makers ~ please chime in . . .

{re: bubbles/wrinkles ~ not the extra bits of dough}

. . . drew&jessalyn ~ the movie . . .

. . . want to see it uncut? . . .

. . . just ask me . . .

{i'll let you borrow the dvd}

. . . for now ~ here's the reader's digest version . . .

. . . aren't they cute? . . .

. . . and they really love each other . . .

{watch on youtube here}

. . . today in history . . .

. . . 1775: the shot heard 'round the world ~

signifying the beginning of the revolutionary war . . .

. . . 1993: the waco, texas seige ends

in fiery violence . . .

. . . 1995: oklahoma city bombing . . .

. . . 1999: columbine massacre . . .

{actually 20 april ~ close enough}

. . . sobering events ~ all of them . . .

. . . why the smiling faces, then? . . .

. . . wanna see the big picture

and amanda "raising the roof"

at the temple? . . .

. . . here you go . . .

. . . anyway ~ back to bill and steph . . .

. . . 1979: we got married . . .

. . . happy 32 years to us! . . .

. . . i believe in america . . .

. . . and i believe in mitt . . .

. . . run mitt, run!!! . . .

. . . it's a jungle out there . . .

. . . things had gotten a teensy bit out of control . . .

. . . flowering pear suckers sprouting

like nobody's business . . .

. . . ivy inching ever closer to the front door . . .

. . . the whole shebang begging for a good trim . . .

. . . and a broom, obviously . . .

. . . naturally ~ things got a whole lot

worse . . .

. . . before they got

better . . .

. . . where once there were suckers . . .

. . . now there's giant jordan almonds . . .

. . . and just like that . . .

. . . easter decorating . . .

. . . done . . .

{find free printable easter subway art here}

. . . parental pride . . .

. . . last night, two dads sat in the dark . . .

. . . eyes fixed on the NCAA championship game . . .

. . . congratulations to uconn . . .

{i actually just had to google who played/won the game}

. . . john, recently returned

from a last-minute trip to the big apple,

requested that i use my computer skills

{ha ha ha!}

and figure out a way to get this

and three other photos

printed for him at costco . . .

. . . that's his son, graham . . .

~ most outstanding player of the NIT tournament ~

{graham is also a returned missionary, newlywed, scholar athlete, and all-around great kid}

. . . john is one proud dad . . .

{as he should be!}

. . . i couldn't help thinking back

to last year's NCAA championship game . . .

. . . here's what my room looked like that night . . .

. . . i have no idea who played that game, either . . .

. . . but what i DO remember

about the 5th of april 2010 . . .

. . . and the reason so many basketball fans

were at our house in the first place . . .

. . . elder romney came home that afternoon! . . .

. . . and bill and i were very, very proud of him . . .

. . . tutti {grape}frutti . . .

. . . i wish i could remember where i got this recipe . . .

{which isn't really a recipe at all}

. . . it's just a very refreshing combination

i never would've come up with . . .

. . . it's delish! . . .

. . . first: segment a few grapefruit . . .

{i used six good-sized pink grapefruit}

. . . watch the video and don't be intimidated! . . .

. . . it's not hard to do . . .

. . . second: fold in a pint of fresh raspberries . . .

{gently! they fall apart really easily}

. . . third: add about three or four tablespoons sugar . . .

{taste after three ~ that was plenty for me today}

. . . fourth: serve in grandma's crystal bowl . . .

{because everything looks prettier that way}

. . . but ~ medical alert . . .

. . . husband informed me he can't eat grapefruit . . .

. . . something about drug interaction

with blood pressure medication . . .

. . . oopsies! . . .

. . . three years ago today . . .

. . . and i still get teary-eyed remembering it . . .

. . . but feel really grateful for this wonderful son . . .

{so glad i wrote about that day}