On Being VaNILLA

Okay, so I've been having a bit of a crisis... I'm fighting a losing battle... This time of year brings out all the goodies. Remember the lovely cookies I baked for the Relief Society cookie swap? Well, swap implies that I got some in return, right? So, I had a plate of cookies. Then my Visiting Teacher gave me a bag full of peanut butter cookies. And then Sunday, I got an appreciation gift from Primary (for being in the nursery) and that was big pretzels dipped in chocolate and covered in crushed up peppermints. Oh, and I still had leftover chocolate-covered pretzels from the NE trip. Also, remember, someone secretly dropped off a plate of goodies for Stefanie and me, and we still had those left. And remember that I kept some of the cookies that I made that didn't turn out as well. And then I bought eggnogg, because it's good. And then April and Courtney gave me a mug filled with chocolate candy. Well, in preparation for leaving today for Dothan, I have been making a concerted effort to eat up the things that will go bad or stale and therefore can't be left behind. Stefanie is already gone for the break, so I have been left to the task of eating everything by myself. Turns out this is an insurmountable task! I have not actually eaten real food for dinner this entire week! I have been eating Lay's kettle cooked chips (for something salty), drinking a glass of eggnog, and eating something loaded with sugar. Good grief. And I will have you know I still have eggnog in the fridge and the food keeps growing!!! For example, Jeni and I went Visiting Teaching last night. We made these:And what are they? They are Oreo Truffles. Oh my. They are sooooo good. And I will include the recipe right now, that way I don't have to actually describe to you how sweet they are. You will understand. And also this way, you can have a recipe:

Oreo Truffles:
1 pkg oreos, crushed up
1 pkg cream cheese
1.5 pounds white chocolate, melted
5 oz. dark or milk chocolate, melted

In a mixer, mix together the cream cheese and crushed up oreos until well blended. Form into small balls and place on cookie sheet. Freeze 10-15 minutes. Dunk balls in white chocolate until covered. Drizzle all of the truffles with dark/milk chocolate. Freeze or refrigerate until hard.

I described these to Julie last night and she said, "Oh my gosh... That could make your teeth fall out!" I concur. So you know Jeni and I had to have some for ourselves, so we split the ones in the picture above and kept them for us. No, I have not eaten them all. But now I have that to add to my sweets. And then, one of the sisters we visit, Debbie. Well, she's so sweet. She got us a present too! She gave us each a big snowman mug with hot chocolate and also she's made these little pecan muffins. And those were so good!!! I need to get the recipe from Jeni, since she wrote it down. But oh, they were fabulous. The one ingredient amount that I remember: 1 box of dark brown sugar. The entire box. I laughed when I heard that. I couldn't stop myself. The entire box of brown sugar. Whew... SWEET!!! But seriously, so good. So anyway, my crisis has not been averted. My stomach can no longer hold large volumes of food at any given time (which is a good thing). And so I have given up and am taking a lot of stuff with me to my dad's. Really... The sweets just seem to multiply at this time of year!!! And then, next week, when I'm at Julie's, we're doing an appetizer night with sweets and stuff too. So... But that's next week :).

Okay, so I really have such wonderful friends. I know that my friends are among my greatest blessings. Jeni was my first real friend here. And she really made me feel like I had a place here. I just know that she was placed in my life by a loving Heavenly Father who knew I needed a friend and who knew Jeni and I would 'hit it off'. Jeni says she feels like I'm a blessing to her too. I don't know how. I don't feel like I've really ever done anything for her. But I know that the way she helped me is something I can never repay. She's just an awesome friend. So, I got a picture of us last night.
Okay, so maybe I don't like Jeni so much... Haha. I'm totally kidding. But I will have you know that I put on make-up and stuff trying to look presentable for this picture. Then I tell Jeni that I brought my camera so we could have a picture of the two of us and she goes, "Oh great. I look a mess!" And then she pulls down her hair and we take this picture. Okay, so of the two of us, which one really looks a mess??? ME!!! Jeni is just one of those people who always looks great and put together. I don't even look good when I make an effort! Anyway, I still like this picture, even though I don't look that great. I don't like the picture of ME, but I like the picture in general. I like pictures with friends. Oh, and we got her husband David to take the picture. Jeni says, "Here, let's take it in front of the Christmas tree!" So David kept moving around to take the picture and then makes the comment, "I can't see the tree..." and then he moves to another spot and adds "...at all." Hahaha.... And Jeni says, "Are you trying to say something?" Yeah, my thoughts exactly. All those sweets aren't helping me any apparently.

And finally, let me explain what it is to be a Nilla. I am doing this for Julie's benefit, because she kind of requested it. But also because, it turns out, Jeni is a fru-fru friend too :). I told Jeni this last night, so she already knows that I'm calling her this. And Julie knows I call her it too. There's nothing wrong with this (their fru-fruness) because they are able to make their homes so nice and warm and inviting. I stink at that. And that is because I'm very functional. I have an eye for functionality. Okay, let me give a little background about how this came up: So Jeni and I exchanged Christmas presents last night. She got me some mint chocolate creme Andes mints (yes, I know, more sweets, but these, like the rest of the chocolates from April and Courtney, are not going to perish before the holidays, so they can wait for my return) and some Sweet Pea bubble bath from Bath & Body Works. Jeni says, "I don't know if you like bubble baths, but I do." Well, confession: since I've been a kid I haven't taken many bubble baths. I always picture it as being something that would be nice to do. Relaxing. But then I never do it. I think I might have taken a total of 4 as an adult. Only one in the last 2 years. So Jeni told me that, for her, there is nothing a good bubble bath won't cure. And so she was helping me with the art of pampering myself. Which is something Julie would say. So this is when I told Jeni that she is another one of my fru-fru friends. And then I had to explain about Julie. And then I had to explain about my toothbrush holder, for example's sake. And so now, I will share it with you:Julie made fun of me when I told her I bought this. I see nothing wrong with it. All I needed was a toothbrush holder. This fit the bill and it was cheap. What else do you need? Julie can't get over the fact that it's clear. When she was here visiting (she only told me this the other night), she said she saw "that stupid thing" and thought again, "I can't believe she got a clear one." And even Jeni said, last night when I told her this story, "Yeah, I'd have had to go with a colored one." So, there you go, that's lesson number 2 from Nilla Life 101. (Lesson 1 was the way you should make a s'more, in case you forgot). Okay Julie and Jeni... You can stop laughing now :).

And MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! I will be without Internet until at least next Wednesday. Maybe Julie will let me post from her house :).