Simply Hil

My poor mom thought she was getting a sweet, beautiful baby girl when she had me. She didn't realize she would instead soon have a life size troll doll on her hands. ;) Well it's official. Today I am one year older than I was a year ago. The big TWO SEVEN. I have learned a lot in my short time here on this Earth (like how to down a bowl of chocolate chip cookie dough in no time flat), but one thing I have yet to even begin to grasp is the concept of time. How is it that during different experiences it seems to craaaawl and others it goes by way too fast? Why is it that it seems like just yesterday I graduated from high school and yet when I was in school it seemed as though that day would never come? Same goes for my oldest child starting kindergarten this fall when it seemed as though he would never grow out of the colicky phase as a newborn. I may not ever learn how time works, but one thing I have learned (this past year especially) is that life and it's experienc...

(image source) Whoa, hey! I am still alive! Just wanted to pop in and let you know what have been and will continue to be up to all weekend. It is our church's general conference and it has been AMAZING as usual. I encourage you to check it out, even if it's just for a talk or two, especially if you never have before. The messages that are given are for everyone and are guaranteed to enhance and enrich your life. The thing I love most about conference is that there is always that one talk or two that I feel was written specifically for me and the struggles I am going through at that moment. I am able to find peace and comfort and feel renewed and strengthened by the words and counsel that are given. If you have any questions at all after watching, please don't hesitate to shoot me a comment or an email! You can watch conference for free by going HERE . Enjoy! :) p.s. conference is best enjoyed with your favorite treat in hand. our treat of choice today...

Happy Valentine's Day! It's the day of love and I love making treats. (If you couldn't tell already by the nature of all the recipes on this blog . I'm pretty sure almost each one of them is some type of baked good or dessert!) I wanted to make something fun and somewhat special for Valentine's day and went scouring through my cook books. I found the winner in my favorite goodie book " The Cookie Dough Lover's Cookbook " that I got from my dear friend Marta . (She knows me all too well!) I love this book and find myself looking at it quite often because of the yummy treats and gorgeous pictures it contains. This time I landed on an "Inside Out Cookie Dough Truffle" and knew I had to make it.  As I searched my pantry for all the ingredients, my heart sunk as I realized I didn't have them all. I didn't want to have to pack both of my boys up and drive to the store just to get those specific items. So, I made due with what I had a...

Here's a little tid bit for ya'll: February is National Heart Month! Fitting isn't it? Seeing how it is also the month that holds Valentine's day. Both sides of my family (mom's mom and dad's dad) have had heart health issues and as a result I have always been somewhat paranoid about the health of my own heart. The desire to finally do something and be proactive with my heart health started when I lost my baby due to a very serious heart defect called Ebstein's Anomaly . During that time, amid all of the doctor's visits and echocardiograms, I learned more about the heart than I ever did in all my years of biology classes at school (no duh). It opened my eyes to what a miracle life is and made me never want to take my heart for granted again. It wasn't until last year that I really started to do something about it by signing up for my first 5k, knowing it would get me moving. Since that  5k last May I have been running every other day and some...

My mom first taught me how to make french bread when I was in high school. She had made it one time when a bunch of my friends were over, and it quickly became the most requested after school snack item when they were at our house. It was delicious warm and fresh out of the oven with my mom's homemade strawberry jam. I love that time I was able to spend with my mom in the kitchen during that high school age. She has always been one of my best friends and high school was no exception. I'm so glad she taught me to make this recipe as it is now a family favorite in my own home. Ever since I graduated and moved away from home, I have had to call my mom and ask her for this recipe. It is no where to be found via the internets and it seriously is the best tasting french bread out there. The other day I was taking dinner to a family in our neighborhood and once again found myself calling my mom for the recipe. I told her that I just needed to get the cookbook. She told me it might ...

We had a wonderful Christmas and a very happy New Year. Christmas was spent here at home, which was magical and cozy. After Christmas we headed south to escape the winter wonderland that our little town had become in just a matter of days. Our sweet boys somehow contracted croup and spent most of the time lethargic with fevers and awful coughs. We are still fighting that bug but my boys sure are troopers and never complain. I could learn a lot from them! As a result, I haven't had much time to think about resolutions. I did, however, read Meg's blog today and love what she has to say. I agree that sometimes we just need a break. In this day of Pinterest, blogs and social media I think we have even more reason to compare ourselves to others. To want to be that perfect somebody that doesn't exist but we think they do because we think we see them on the internet.  Instead, what we see is a little piece of perfect from hundreds of different people. We rarely see the flaws...

I'll be the first to admit that blogging has not been on my mind at all lately. I receive the same email every December telling me that my domain name is due for renewal. Every December I contemplate what the best thing to do is. I love the friends I have made through this blog and the people who have touched my life (and maybe I've somehow done the same for them). But my heart just isn't in to writing posts lately. I will be paying the renewal once again in case that desire comes back sometime down the road. But for now, Instagram and Path are my main forms of documenting my life. I couldn't go without mentioning how completely shaken and heartbroken I was after hearing about those sweet children in Connecticut. The day it happened, I cried tears of heartache, tears of frustation, and tears of utter and complete sympathy to those parents who had lost their little ones so close to Christmas time. The greif consumed me and I couldn't understand how such evil co...