When You Fail at Life...

Sometimes we make life harder than it is, than it should be.  While trying to accomplish tasks and dreams we may mess up.  Take the long way.  Go the wrong way.

Not realizing there was a short cut or a proper way.  An overlooked map or direction.  A clue somehow missed.

And in these moments we may feel like we failed.  We messed up.  Focusing on our stupidity in the process of doing, not realizing that there was still an accomplishment made.

We can fix our mess ups.  There's no mistake that cannot be overturned and made right.  And maybe, just maybe, what seemed like a foolish path may turn out to be the one you needed to go down after all.  That was your path.  Your mistake.  Your discovery.

 

Even if you feel like you failed, remember... you only fail if you believe you did, and don't get up and try again, or find a solution to fix what's gone wrong.  Maybe, just maybe a perceived failure isn't one at all, but a new solution, a new path, a new way of doing.  That's okay, too.

In the end there's still cookies.

Sarah

P.S. I really did feel stupid as I was struggling to open the bag, only to then notice the "peel here" arrow after the bag was opened!!

You Can Always Tell What Costco is Baking!

Yesterday I went to Costco to get my glasses adjusted.  Now, there's something interesting about Costco, or at least the one I shop at.  While in the parking lot, on the opposite end where the bakery is, it always smells on the outside what is baking on the inside.  It's torture, really.  Sometimes the parking lot smells like bread.  Sometimes it smells like pie.  Yesterday after getting out of the car I was hit by the lovely scent of... chocolate chip cookies!!  And honestly it was pretty heavenly.

So entering Costco what did I find? A whole bunch of chocolate chip cookies all stacked up in tempting fashion.  My nose didn't fail! Also, I resisted the urge to get them.  But then I got cake!  And that's another story altogether.  Trying to do the whole one treat a week thing, probably not a good thing to have cake on a Monday, but it happened, ah well, tasty.

In other news Costco is still all out of toilet paper.  A truck came in yesterday morning with toilet paper, and apparently it was sold out in about ten to twenty minutes.  And we don't even have a toilet paper drought in Utah County.  Other stores are fine.

It's just Costco. (Edit, 03/12/2020), Walmart, now, as well)

Ironically the hand soap, positioned within eyesight of where the toilet paper is sold, is still fully stocked.  These Italian style hand soap bottles, for only $10, going on sale tomorrow, are the cutest and smell really good.  There's English on one side and French on the other.

 This isn't the cake I got, but since I routinely write about holiday stuff, it's pretty funny this Happy St. Patricks Day cake has a sell by 03/10/20.  Is cake good a week?  Dried out cake is never good.  But if anyone wants to celebrate the love of the Irish early, go for it.  That's awesome. 

So, I was going to Costco to get my glasses adjusted.  After 6 years I finally got new frames!  I liked those old frames so much I bought a second pair 4 years ago, having two of the same in slightly different prescriptions.  Somehow I went 4 years without getting my eyes checked, but while at Disneyland last month I accidentally scratched my lens with a zipper.

Scratched glasses are annoying.  Forced me to get my eyes checked.  Didn't even know it had been four years!!  Thought it had only been two!!

But, I got two brand new glasses this time, one with a blue-light filter, thing.  Don't know what it's called. It's 7 am, time change, not quite ready to think clearly.  But over the weekend I was finishing up a personal family history book project. 15 hours on Saturday, 12 on Sunday, 27 hours in total starring at a computer screen.  No headaches!  No migraines!  This could be life changing.

What Is This Madness??!! Girl Scouts Cookie Cereal

 Girl Scouts Cookies!!

Sugary Cereal!!

In One!!!

I found these limited edition Girl Scouts cookie cereals at Walmart: Thin Mints and Caramel Crunch.  Thin mints are pretty iconic for Girl Scout cookies.  The caramel crunch is modeled after Samoas, yummy caramel/coconut cookies, which are my favorite G.S. cookies.  Man, I can down an entire box of Samoas without thinking, which makes them very dangerous.

 So, in the name of science I tried both cereals this morning, for research . . . and fun.  They weren't as sweet as I was thinking they would be, which is a good thing.  I don't like overly sweet cereals.  The flavors are mild, yet still good.  Really, I like these cereals simply for the novelty factor.

Girl Scouts Cookies! 

(And I'll practice great self-restraint this week . . . ;0)

In Which I Get A Very Slytherin Fortune Cookie . . .

Slytherin!

The Hogwarts house people love to hate in the Harry Potter books.  (It doesn't help that Slytherin was constantly being painted as the villains in the story.)

Known for being cunning, success seeking, loyal to a fault, but also ambitious.  

In truth there are a lot of really good people who are Slytherin, as they do have good traits.  Ambition is a good trait to have, but I've always felt ambition taken to the extreme is never good.  (Though most things taken to the extreme isn't good.)

This little fortune cookie highlights where I feel ambition can go wrong:

"Ambition knows no obstacles."

True, if one is truly ambitious they are ready and willing to weather any storm.  They are ready and willing to face and overcome any obstacle.  This is a good thing, but when these obstacles become people then it's good to pause and reflect.  I'm not talking about overcoming naysayers.  I'm talking about a persons willingness to hurt other people and/or stab others in the back to achieve what they wish.

No ambition is worth hurting another.

Attack of the Cookie Monster Brownie

"Cookie Monster Brownie: These brownies are studiously put together WITHOUT EGGS so that they can be handled without refrigeration.  These brownies are EXTREMELY RICH and have a tendency to cause cookie monster syndrome.  (WARNING: these brownies are so delicious that some people grow blue fir and begin saying "OMNOMNOM" whenever they eat them.)

This is my giggle for the week.

I found these at the BYU Creamery on 9th, on a trip with my Grandma to get yummy ice cream.  (Seriously the best.)  What's even more funny is that I haven't been to the BYU campus in well over a year, so I used Google Maps to help me find the store.  The program steered me wrong!  I kept getting lost.  It led me to a dead end.  At one point I suddenly found myself at the Provo temple.  They've built up the campus quite a bit, and Google Maps is currently out of the loop with these changes.

My Grandma kept laughing . . . at me!

But we found the Creamery, and I shall never get lost trying to find the store again.

 I'm sure Snoopy would approve of these Cookie Monster Brownies.

I didn't get one, instead opting for yummy chocolate brownies and a scoop of chocolate nut brownie ice-cream.  Super OMNOMNOM worthy.

Of course too much indulgence will lead to this:

But a little treat now and then isn't just warranted, but necessary :0)

(Images from the Hallmark book "Have Another Cookie (It'll Make You Feel Better".)

My Cookie Lament

(Written 5:58 PM December 8th, 2014)

I want a cookie.

A cookie!!

All chewie and chocolatey.

But I'm trying to abstain from sweets . . . (I totally failed last week, but this week I can do it.  I can resist.)

But there they are!  Looking all yummy and delicious in a Costco, or wherever they hail from, sort of way.

Does it matter?

Cookies are cookies.

And boy do I want to take one and devour the goodness.

But I won't!

I can't.

I didn't.

One victory down.  Many more to go.

Why does being good have to feel so bad?

Confessions of a Wheat Addict

(Photo source info)

I love sweets, cookies, and pretty much any delectable morsel that contains sugar.  And I love bread.  Really, really love bread.  I love the smell of freshly baked pastries and muffins.  Have I made you hungry?

Only problem is the fact that I'm hypoglycemic, and being hypoglycemic automatically makes you pre-diabetic.  It's a fact of life that's haunted me for years, and yet I couldn't stop eating sweets, even though they made me super sick.  But knowledge of the situation didn't seem to stop the cravings.  

I've tried on several occasions to give up sugar, soda, and chocolate.  A few times I even made it a month-and-a-half until I gave in.  Even with this gallant effort sugar still haunted me and everyday was torture. 

Then a couple weeks ago I realized I was approaching this from the wrong angle.  Even when I was not eating a lot of sugary treats, I was still eating a lot of bread and pasta, so I set out to study what being on a low-gluten diet was all about.  Through a couple of searching I found Wheat Belly by Dr. William Davis.  I haven't finished reading the book, but last week I decided to first focus on cutting out all wheat.

The withdrawal period was awful, getting a terrible migraine and dreaming about bread.  But this week I've noticed something interesting.  My cravings are completely under control.  

Yesterday I went to the mall with my family to the food court and I got a chicken salad from Chick-fil-a. Suddenly I remembered how amazing their cookies are.  The restaurant heats them up so that they are warm and the chocolate is melted.

Then the mind games started.

"I really want one!" I thought.  But did I?  Did I want one because I was craving one?  Or did I want one because I remembered how good they were and wanted to experience that again?  Did I really want one?  Really?  For a few minutes I stood there, thinking, playing angel and devil, and realized I didn't want one!  

So you know what I did afterwards?  I went to See's and got a chocolate lollipop, which I didn't even finish.  Even now, right next to me in a bag, is a dark chocolate almond candy bar.  I don't have to have it.  There's no desire.  It's sitting there just in case I have a breakdown, which hasn't happened yet, or a little indulgence, but I don't want to have an indulgence.

It's so weird!!  So I've realized, all this time, I was never a sugar addict.  I was a wheat addict.  When I thought I was craving sugar, I was really craving the wheat and flour.  

I'm on my second week, so we'll see.  The real test is how I am at the one-and-a-half week mark.  The point that always brings me down . . . and leads to unhealthy, sick inducing binging.   

So go have a cookie!! . . . or not:0)

Sarah

EDIT: May-06-2013, I must admit that I couldn't stay away from wheat.  Wish I could!  I really do like bread.  But, in reflection, what I experienced was quite real . . . I need to find a way to balance it all.