Christmas Eve 2010

I thought I would post two Christmas video's for tonight. The first is in honor of what I was doing last year at Christmas time. As a family we went on a trip to "The Merriest Place on Earth"... Disneyland! They have a pretty cool Christmas firework spectacular.

And while the majority of the show sticks with Christmas music and songs that don't really have "religious" ties, but halfway through the show they have a few moments referencing the Star over Bethlehem, Joy to the World and the song Silent Night. It's pretty cool to see the effect those songs drenched with eternal truth have on a crowd filled with people from all different backgrounds and walks of life.

(This video will likely mean nothing to you if you haven't been there in person, but if you want to see the moments focused on the true meaning of Christmas speed ahead to 5:20... And the rest is good too.)

And one more video talking about the Light of the World, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Merry Christmas!
Much Love,
Eric D.

The past 5 months…

So I have been ever so slothful in keeping this blog up-to-date and for that I apologize. I have numerous “Lessons Learned”, thoughts, humorous stories, etc. all written out… But I always find myself being overly wordy and I really like to refine things before I post them. So every so often you will still be seeing one of those fatty posts pop up on my blog. But hopefully you will see many more little random thoughts here and there… Today’s little post will simply be an update on what I’ve been up to the past few months.

-I graduated from school (again) and this time got a “hood” with my diploma. That’s right I received a Masters Degree in “Instructional Technology and Learning Sciences”.

-Moved back to Bountiful.

-I began to check the internet daily for more than peoples status updates and sales on American Eagle… Yes I was searching for a job.

-I watched LOST come to an end. And LOVED it! (Yes it did take me some time to understand, but it was way good!)

-Began to attend a University ward in Salt Lake City.

-Went on a family trip to Disneyland.

-I applied at Southwest Research Institute (Swri), got a call for an interview, went to the interview, was offered a job, accepted the job, flew down to Texas for training, flew back to Utah to start working, currently working up at Hill Air Force Base and loving it.

And those are the “big” things that have happened over the past few months… I’ve been very blessed and things have turned out even better than I would have guessed as my time at USU was coming to a close. Makes me excited for what is still ahead!

Much Love,

Eric D.

Disneyland SnickerDoodles

So when I walked out the door this morning this is what I saw…

Yuck… After spending a week in California and having a decent week of weather in Logan I wasn’t prepared for the return of winter. So I thought today would be the perfect day to debut one of the new features on EricDStokes.com… That’s right every so often I will be sharing some of my favorite recipes. (You never know what you will get with my blog posts… random thoughts, entertainment news, some of my deeper thoughts, and now thoughts on food.)

This recipe comes courtesy of the bakery at Disneyland. Back in Critter Country they make some delicious Snicker Doodles.

Disneyland Snickerdoodles

Dough
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 1 cup butter (2 sticks)
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. For the dough: In a bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and cream of tartar. Set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the eggs, milk and vanilla. Mix well. Stir in the dry ingredients.
3. Form the dough into 1 inch balls. Place on a greased baking sheet and flatten.

For the topping:. Combine the sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle the top of the cookie before baking.

Bake 8 minutes or until cooked through. (8-9 minutes seems to work for me.)

I’ve made the recipe twice and both times they turned out great! One of the best things about this recipe is that it makes 60 cookies… So not only do you have enough to take them around to the neighbors but you have plenty to “test” as your making them and plenty more to have the next day or two.

So ya... Try this out sometime soon, you will be glad you did!

Spring Break 2010

Each of us interprets, predicts, identifies with, and likens our own lives to what we know. This doesn’t always mean our expectations will be correct, for example… Being the oldest child in my family, much of what I learned to expect from “The High School Experience” came from a little show that took place at Bayside High… Yes I’m referring to “Saved by the Bell”. Despite the brilliantly written episodes, the life like sets with real lockers and lots of neon, and the outstanding performances by Mark-Paul Gosselaar, Mario Lopez and Dennis Haskin (Oh Mr. Belding, your ability to be an authority figure one minute and a friend on first name basis with each student the next minute is still an example for current and future school administrators everywhere!) I really don’t feel I got a very true vision of what high school would really like. (Or perhaps it was Woods Cross High that had the problem and every other High School followed the “Saved by the Bell” format by having the breaks between classes last longer than the actual classes.)

Needless to say Hollywood is often not a very good standard to use when we are trying to understand what our lives are really going to be like… Even though there are plenty of instances we are grateful don’t play out like television shows or movies depict, there are some moments from movies that would be enjoyable to experience. Becoming the prettiest person in school by simply removing your glasses and losing your bangs, having all the hard work it takes to accomplish a giant goal only take a few minutes via a montage with an epic soundtrack playing in the background, ect. While I think those scenarios are fun, because of my past experiences with Hollywood not necessarily equaling real life, I’m not holding my breath waiting for them to happen…

Much of what the entertainment industry has produced depicting what “College Life is like” I have found to be suspect. Yet during my last year of formal schooling, after MANY years of college I experienced a very classic Hollywood stereotype actually taking place… The stereotype: A group of roommates coming together at the start of the year, each from a different background, each with various goals and aspirations, the friendships grow, then they hit the road for Spring Break, driving across several states, and coming back better friends then before.

Keep in mind it wasn’t totally like Hollywood depicts… I mean… I was involved and the destination was Disneyland, and while we are all from different backgrounds we are still white and LDS… But the trip still included all of the roommates having a great time. So without any further chatter… Enjoy a few photos from Spring Break 2010.

These little guy's get tired after a full day of fun in the Park.

Mickey dancing his heart out.
Belle loves Brett and Mark
I got to Level 7 on Buzz!

Yes Captain EO is back to save the world once again!

So yeah… While I know I will never experience a number of stereotypical situations that play out in movies… I’m glad I got to experience this one.
Much Love, Eric