tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30039560513897879812024-03-19T06:24:31.209-06:00The Adventures of Josh and Kaylajoshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15845674141168269010noreply@blogger.comBlogger29125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-84814053183082933452011-10-22T20:02:00.001-06:002011-10-22T20:06:53.283-06:00Comida Dominicana!!!I FINALLY DID IT!!!! I found a recipe that makes authentic Dominican food just like Josh remembers! POR FREAKING FIN, as we like to say around here...<br />
La Bandera, which literally translated is "the flag," is a dish served at lunch in the Dominican Republic. Josh has been raving about it since we started dating. It's basically tons of rice smothered in a red kidney bean soup (I don't know how else to describe it) and served with pollo frito (fried chicken). I've tried 2 other recipes, neither of which was close. A few weeks ago, Josh found the website dominicancooking.com and sent me a link. We spent one Saturday morning looking through all the recipes and he pointed out some that looked like things he'd liked on the mission. I now have a whole Word document's worth of "recetas dominicanas" to try out and if this was any indication, they should be good.<br />
Rather than write the recipes here, I'll send you to Aunt Clara herself. I made the rice authentic style instead of popping it in the rice cooker (and it was pretty darn good!). It's under arroz blanco, here: http://www.dominicancooking.com/516-arroz-blanco-white-rice.html<br />
The bean mixture is called Habichuelas Rojas Guisadas: http://www.dominicancooking.com/122-habichuelas-rojas-guisadas-stewed-red-beans.html<br />
And the chicken I made is pica pollo. It's different from the chicken usually served with the La Bandera, but I wanted to try it anyway: http://www.dominicancooking.com/626-pica-pollo-fried-chicken.html Like it says, you usually serve this with fried green plantains (just as good as french fries!) and ketchup.<br />
The result? Something akin to Zatarain's red beans and rice, just more nutritious and flavorful!!<br />
Here's some pictures:<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFhGCD2x-W13XcT0uDTL_wC5uM2Z1hSx8ezObuJaVwTZkzTdMzj3CuvwgIh4c6UCL8S5pLyM7ZeIxQYY9yn5KEU3vS9P9-7gxYB_lJkp35_6QfDeU6iOawXTV7F5Mx4iY5jtgNYeLByifg/s1600/102_0303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFhGCD2x-W13XcT0uDTL_wC5uM2Z1hSx8ezObuJaVwTZkzTdMzj3CuvwgIh4c6UCL8S5pLyM7ZeIxQYY9yn5KEU3vS9P9-7gxYB_lJkp35_6QfDeU6iOawXTV7F5Mx4iY5jtgNYeLByifg/s320/102_0303.JPG" /></a></div>The best looking fried chicken I've ever made!!!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir0jfX1JCRrs95SxQ0WUv3Lkg1AVhZ2i9zekTAlvno_ba9n9iyMhyphenhyphenKsNI_Ap_zCd_Msm7UeJvWRmywJ8EPdoEU8g2xRkNG9M4BAC_XJWPJzNdrwDkayJp-Adxe6DcQdTj1FXLACNsjSDr9/s1600/102_0304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style=""><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir0jfX1JCRrs95SxQ0WUv3Lkg1AVhZ2i9zekTAlvno_ba9n9iyMhyphenhyphenKsNI_Ap_zCd_Msm7UeJvWRmywJ8EPdoEU8g2xRkNG9M4BAC_XJWPJzNdrwDkayJp-Adxe6DcQdTj1FXLACNsjSDr9/s320/102_0304.JPG" /></a></div>Arroz Blanco + Habichuelas Rojas Guisadas=La Bandera= DELICIOSO!!! (do I sound like the Kahlua lady yet?)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-67160623136888752172011-07-29T11:33:00.003-06:002011-07-29T11:52:37.179-06:00Women who've made a difference in my life: Grandma HyattMy Grandma Hyatt has been my best friend since I was born. She's AMAZING!! She raised 5 boys (one was Dad), and is a Marriage and Family counselor. She remembers each and every special event with a card. AND... she's an EXCELLENT baker! Her desserts are to DIE for! Pudding cake, cookies, cakes, and, her specialty...CHOCOLATE BARS!!!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpRNLJaFccUIaUMIWCaBqoeq7dtiIEMNPMcmj3PQtWwafaIIrkxDYy_rwmcYXmOzPiARCR9EeRBZjqdH6BGChY1sgGHRo_-sWRnQ6pQFieScocNE-rQysyTJCrPJYGBzGrwARprlPDIq3/s1600/158_Kayla_and_Josh.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWpRNLJaFccUIaUMIWCaBqoeq7dtiIEMNPMcmj3PQtWwafaIIrkxDYy_rwmcYXmOzPiARCR9EeRBZjqdH6BGChY1sgGHRo_-sWRnQ6pQFieScocNE-rQysyTJCrPJYGBzGrwARprlPDIq3/s320/158_Kayla_and_Josh.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5634832056311154194" /></a><br />I made these for a meeting at church. They were gone so fast, I couldn't get any pictures. But here's the recipe, and make sure you make these for a lot of people, because these WILL make you gain 10 pounds per pan.<br /><br />Grandma Hyatt's Chocolate bars<br />2 cups brown sugar<br />1 cup margarine<br />2 eggs<br />1 tsp vanilla<br />1 tsp baking soda<br />1/2 tsp salt<br />2 1/2 cups flour<br />3 cups oatmeal<br />Mix together and press more than half into 9X13 pan.<br /><br />1 can Sweetened condensed milk<br />12-16 oz chocolate chips (2 1/2 cups)<br />2 tbsp margarine<br />Melt together and pour over first layer.<br />Put rest of batter in globs on top. Bake at 350 for 25 min.<br /><br />Enjoy!!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-17704168504752768892011-07-03T19:50:00.008-06:002011-07-03T21:25:24.605-06:00Women who've made a difference in my life: Aunt SarahWhen I was 12, my uncle Wade married a really cute lady: Aunt Sarah. She's closer to my age than she is to my parents and she lets them know it ALL THE TIME!!! All in good fun, of course. My junior year, their family moved in with us. All five of them!! It was awesome! For 6 months I had 2 little brothers and another little sister. I also got to know my awesome, petite, whirlwind of an aunt! Here's the family at our wedding last year:<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCl0_gfPNbpPksZN__xy2vemp5kuTFDv6VTOkswHnpq48PsIc-RKFyoZCCY0KSUHNQ4Y2YX7nuUQ0AT7bj3P5wU7MZktRR7Xx-gA7KIIMFkaLFODcixtmap0sJMw7AT-wwOSu1dP435rgE/s1600/_MG_0973a.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 256px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCl0_gfPNbpPksZN__xy2vemp5kuTFDv6VTOkswHnpq48PsIc-RKFyoZCCY0KSUHNQ4Y2YX7nuUQ0AT7bj3P5wU7MZktRR7Xx-gA7KIIMFkaLFODcixtmap0sJMw7AT-wwOSu1dP435rgE/s320/_MG_0973a.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625311024566069250" /></a><br />If you can't tell, she's the blonde in the back. It's hard to know which ones are the kids!! (I can only say that because she's only a little shorter than I am).<br />Sarah influenced my life in helping me learn to be more girly. She taught me how to do nice eyeshadow, how to style my hair and how to be more happy. She did mine and my friends makeup for senior prom. And she's still like an older sister to me!<br />When they lived with us, our families would take turns with cooking dinner. We introduced Swedish Hotcakes to them and she made things like Chicken Chile Enchiladas and Manicotti. I still don't get how she doesn't think she can cook! I took her manicotti recipe about 2 weeks ago and spiced it up a little. Here's her recipe:<br /><br />1 pkg manicotti noodles<br />1 lb ricotta cheese<br />1 lb mozzarella<br />3 tbs shredded parmesan cheese<br />2 tsp parsley flakes<br />1 egg<br />1 jar spaghetti sauce<br />salt and pepper<br /><br />I changed it a bit to include more "veggies" and because I didn't have some of the ingredients.<br />1 pkg manicotti noodles<br />1/2 lb low-fat ricotta<br />1 lb mozzarella<br />1 egg<br />1/2 lb sliced fresh mushrooms<br />garlic salt<br />Italian seasonings<br />3 cans tomato sauce<br /><br />Prepare noodles as directed on package. Rinse in cold water and set aside. Mix together all cheeses and seasonings to taste. Add egg and mushrooms. Mix. <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGabu8d9ujYydnSExE6q-1aZNkM9v76ogtPu_wcvuplLtOx0V3mxIhDjP4kL9Q0_DIzA6Uyv50YkTmNG7wEC_xeZFgr4gGnbituhsJryirOf9Jji7Cn_vRIoWdw8O0fDvWe6VWk5mCtG0/s1600/101_4452.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsGabu8d9ujYydnSExE6q-1aZNkM9v76ogtPu_wcvuplLtOx0V3mxIhDjP4kL9Q0_DIzA6Uyv50YkTmNG7wEC_xeZFgr4gGnbituhsJryirOf9Jji7Cn_vRIoWdw8O0fDvWe6VWk5mCtG0/s320/101_4452.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625329209494097186" /></a><br />so it doesn't look THAT appetizing, but trust me, it's YUMMY! Next, stuff the noodles and place in a pan.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSyRgT7ppRFfjr3JEfEMSAblTnpimfe3VkJGq95P2sitM8UvlRPbSliGmA9sgykomhaGGZeTci6kFJLjs944BkMli8YeWVn-YcJKP4vjVAzYyZiRRdMs9pczahGZKIbhO-oBLV1CX5pRX3/s1600/101_4453.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSyRgT7ppRFfjr3JEfEMSAblTnpimfe3VkJGq95P2sitM8UvlRPbSliGmA9sgykomhaGGZeTci6kFJLjs944BkMli8YeWVn-YcJKP4vjVAzYyZiRRdMs9pczahGZKIbhO-oBLV1CX5pRX3/s320/101_4453.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625329832062267682" /></a><br />Cover with tomato sauce.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggYzWyZ_6xPntav4cQQ7KqSOMbEtUYAJOdlUoy0Rh-Cwg7ANEgikL84Ra642Ynop7_zbQA46xpApv-TZ6Mz3Ml4llGwJlBC3UMlvT1URMJaa3rgGb61l-GpCfcZBjLNIegSWFtvYKBkAVE/s1600/101_4454.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEggYzWyZ_6xPntav4cQQ7KqSOMbEtUYAJOdlUoy0Rh-Cwg7ANEgikL84Ra642Ynop7_zbQA46xpApv-TZ6Mz3Ml4llGwJlBC3UMlvT1URMJaa3rgGb61l-GpCfcZBjLNIegSWFtvYKBkAVE/s320/101_4454.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625330465221875586" /></a><br />Top with Italian seasonings and mozzarella. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXSHq-ayy_watEnwPt3aA7oRhH1THeXkEmoB23uKhp7qXGVt1sMXGCXW5ay8xeg4mUlCXh_XBQrPQ4JppKPrZXEg9XxN0lQ2TiRutvTQ9WXPRmHHEr2fV4vk6uarb7T25KXfepOpXX4VEi/s1600/101_4455.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXSHq-ayy_watEnwPt3aA7oRhH1THeXkEmoB23uKhp7qXGVt1sMXGCXW5ay8xeg4mUlCXh_XBQrPQ4JppKPrZXEg9XxN0lQ2TiRutvTQ9WXPRmHHEr2fV4vk6uarb7T25KXfepOpXX4VEi/s320/101_4455.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5625331190158067554" /></a><br />Bake at 375 for 20 minutes and enjoy!<br />Thanks Sarah for being awesome!! Oh and for the awesome food!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-82997316971212222992011-06-19T21:38:00.010-06:002011-06-19T22:11:17.907-06:00Women who've made a difference in my life: MomI've decided that I'm going to do a mini-series on women who've inspired me or changed my life in some way and the foods they're famous for. Of course, I must start with my wonderful Mom. <br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJvai-GVhyphenhyphenMszMqP8vh43m10F3NSzygKx-nEu5_G5H-GV4X5jUoFSolY40HIm-GUSueeuXSKY34vnJozXN9hHTemiKY-4MbFpfI9bzsOxi9TWfSAhi6T7yQdp5SxdiQ9crIyr0OoQX9_9B/s1600/187_Kayla_and_Josh.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 267px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJvai-GVhyphenhyphenMszMqP8vh43m10F3NSzygKx-nEu5_G5H-GV4X5jUoFSolY40HIm-GUSueeuXSKY34vnJozXN9hHTemiKY-4MbFpfI9bzsOxi9TWfSAhi6T7yQdp5SxdiQ9crIyr0OoQX9_9B/s400/187_Kayla_and_Josh.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620142068010108530" /></a> What can you say about the woman who raised you except SHE'S AWESOME!! Sure, we butted heads a lot when I was younger, what mother and daughter don't? She taught me just about everything I know about housekeeping, cleaning, cooking, and raising kids. (ok, so I'm not to that point yet, but she's a very good example of what you do to have well-mannered children!) Mom's heritage is like most Americans: mixed. Great Grandpa Heller was Dutch, Great Grandma Heller was Norwegian, and Grandma Heller comes from English and Irish ancestry. However, when I think of Mom, the dish I associate most with her is something she learned from Great Grandma Heller: Swedish Hotcakes. Which come from Norway. Everyone I've ever cooked these for have raved about them. Here's the recipe<br /><br />Swedish Hotcakes (NOT pancakes!!)<br />3 eggs<br />2 1/2 cups milk<br />dash of salt<br />3/8 cup sugar<br />1 1/2 flour<br /><br />Beat eggs with a wire whip until frothy. Add milk, salt and sugar. Beat. SLowly add flour while whipping. Beat until smooth (so you don't have big flour clumps like I did in these pictures). Cook on a medium hot grill.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWXhULw8tXycyrJI8tCQPlVv731RJzrMIfOYwLu8byr9svbtJQmBpp3XCOXLxyiz1oOKlU2jMH80PLSanlhguVRP5UmejlMmP9SIeXo5d0efI1UopTS-O1BMqIXVNUMFrf0oMeg3vmRRe/s1600/101_4433.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXWXhULw8tXycyrJI8tCQPlVv731RJzrMIfOYwLu8byr9svbtJQmBpp3XCOXLxyiz1oOKlU2jMH80PLSanlhguVRP5UmejlMmP9SIeXo5d0efI1UopTS-O1BMqIXVNUMFrf0oMeg3vmRRe/s320/101_4433.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620146017319258114" /></a><br />The batter should look like this, with lots of bubbles and no flour clumps.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_Pri2GkPWlpat1fnpFquGev7pkTJhKk0x6RcVz8BFQgUXLwQK401jy8j3btryJAROPVTcbmyZytauprOGGEWXfI1uJK7v8TmUd__FKWVUmcR8-l8s65fKoyR66bCaDUN_KpTow-D1Tuk/s1600/101_4434.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8_Pri2GkPWlpat1fnpFquGev7pkTJhKk0x6RcVz8BFQgUXLwQK401jy8j3btryJAROPVTcbmyZytauprOGGEWXfI1uJK7v8TmUd__FKWVUmcR8-l8s65fKoyR66bCaDUN_KpTow-D1Tuk/s320/101_4434.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620146521938193330" /></a><br />Spray the pan with Pam every time or the hotcake won't come off the pan.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9sXx_gx-AoMcgJMXKHJ9Bw5_CMEwXGRhUv3M6_n-VpsDM0zl057AIwGAXtRNW6v3ZnTfOoEWa5PPoNRz9S7niQmadYk5YiCf9rGLo7lCE706ZSIESz6gu2PzEhi9Y-Nqc7KQhsJOw94u/s1600/101_4435.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge9sXx_gx-AoMcgJMXKHJ9Bw5_CMEwXGRhUv3M6_n-VpsDM0zl057AIwGAXtRNW6v3ZnTfOoEWa5PPoNRz9S7niQmadYk5YiCf9rGLo7lCE706ZSIESz6gu2PzEhi9Y-Nqc7KQhsJOw94u/s320/101_4435.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620147125241555890" /></a><br />Put a ladle-full of batter into a skillet...<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeXPL7VDJiKvWC2QEa1ACZTgcceZlS3cj5k6ZYortaiTU4p5VrqWHKeYgyI6nYvL3UBF0m_bcYq3AWa6oAS-31_TDahDmTYPd4IPgJiWWe11zCPbic6tmJmYHImdmlvyVceUUCR27zd3s/s1600/101_4436.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxeXPL7VDJiKvWC2QEa1ACZTgcceZlS3cj5k6ZYortaiTU4p5VrqWHKeYgyI6nYvL3UBF0m_bcYq3AWa6oAS-31_TDahDmTYPd4IPgJiWWe11zCPbic6tmJmYHImdmlvyVceUUCR27zd3s/s320/101_4436.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620147516200837730" /></a><br />and swirl it around a bit.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwQZnBmbdLed1-_uiNULO7yKSyrBiJbHe8NL0KeXAuhe_wU8maj4NmTPZfeSBdV-7yacvigJvsTfdJyZ7SHP9LKQXp-YrZ1Qx44CQPDoCSSPPfHFhEVNuUY-Fqzq0UKkswRyrUE64BBsu/s1600/101_4437.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiwQZnBmbdLed1-_uiNULO7yKSyrBiJbHe8NL0KeXAuhe_wU8maj4NmTPZfeSBdV-7yacvigJvsTfdJyZ7SHP9LKQXp-YrZ1Qx44CQPDoCSSPPfHFhEVNuUY-Fqzq0UKkswRyrUE64BBsu/s320/101_4437.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620147782772496130" /></a><br />wait until the hotcake is almost cooked through before flipping it.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBb84nWh49JKrRPchYz2-G5nYiwVU0y4t8USu6b9adXx6ceK1FsxjFV5Arh15EmsDN9RoaGPy1obFRYyo6tTlIbeVdxeIN2w-qEqGvEkAkaWUlaq0Bu4QzssbBpX5wZly9Dx2A2Ttg7vyt/s1600/101_4438.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBb84nWh49JKrRPchYz2-G5nYiwVU0y4t8USu6b9adXx6ceK1FsxjFV5Arh15EmsDN9RoaGPy1obFRYyo6tTlIbeVdxeIN2w-qEqGvEkAkaWUlaq0Bu4QzssbBpX5wZly9Dx2A2Ttg7vyt/s320/101_4438.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620148078526554258" /></a><br />should look like this<br />These are similar to crepes, so you put sweet things in them. The best things to put in them is pie filling and whipped cream. When you don't have those, spread them with peanut butter or jam, roll them up and drizzle syrup and powdered sugar. I prefer strawberry jam and that's what's inside mine here in this picture.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnTbKyWl1vg98w48OeACGdgssBkIQTlxH2rPRwfkqDhCCinZS-_kPRfmE3JzRCGPMaCo4KYyX3Oda8LP5heavsTFYsJxBOjTDBvD64uu-zCpa3I7k8RYBbjnCwU_M8ZE1A-8ISNuYYRbNb/s1600/101_4439.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnTbKyWl1vg98w48OeACGdgssBkIQTlxH2rPRwfkqDhCCinZS-_kPRfmE3JzRCGPMaCo4KYyX3Oda8LP5heavsTFYsJxBOjTDBvD64uu-zCpa3I7k8RYBbjnCwU_M8ZE1A-8ISNuYYRbNb/s320/101_4439.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5620149237614636930" /></a><br />I would say "Bon Appetit," but these aren't crepes. Too bad I don't know how to say it in Norwegian!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-13950898083248674992011-06-04T18:44:00.002-06:002011-06-04T19:04:24.464-06:00Spicy SpIcY SPICY Mexican Chicken SoupI have nothing but huge compliments for this dish. I wanted to try to make some healthier stuff for our dinners and Josh suggested that we find a spicy chicken soup, so I did. This is really spicy, but not so spicy as to cover up the flavor. The spiciness makes you really sit down, slow down and savor it. I had to take breaks between my bites so I could enjoy it without burning my mouth. The biggest compliment I have for it is that it has 2 of my most hated foods in it and I totally didn't even notice they were there. This might be a good way to make me eat my veggies :-D Josh just told me that this was a leftover he would actually eat (he NEVER eats leftovers). Here's the recipe:<br /><br />Spicy Mexican Chicken Soup<br />Serves 6<br />Olive Oil Cooking Spray<br />1 1/2 cups chopped white onion<br />3 small garlic cloves, minced or pressed<br />1 ear of corn-cut off cob, or 1/2 cup frozen sweet corn<br />1 teaspoon ground cumin<br />1 teaspoon Ancho Chili powder<br />1 teaspoon chili powder<br />Salt and Pepper to taste<br />1 15-0unce can reduced-sodium black beans-rinsed and drained<br />1 10-ounce can Rotel Diced tomatoes with lime juice and cilantro (if you do not want a spicy soup, then just switch the Rotel out with a can of diced tomatoes. You can even add a small can of mild diced green chilies for a little more flavor without the punch)<br />2 cans (14 oz. each) reduced sodium chicken broth<br />8-ounces tomato sauce<br />1 1/2 cups shredded chicken (I used a market roasted chicken~chicken breast only)<br />2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped<br /><br />Spray the bottom of a large saucepan liberally with the olive oil cooking spray. Once hot add the onions and garlic. Reduce heat to medium and cook onions for about 5 minutes (stir often). Add the corn and lightly season with salt and pepper. If there is not enough moisture in the pan then add a little bit of the chicken broth to the pan (stir often). Cook for another 5 minutes. Add the cumin, ancho chili powder and the chili powder to the vegetables. Saute and stir often for about 1 minute. Add the black beans, Rotel, shredded chicken, chicken broth and tomato sauce to the pan. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to low and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes. Stir in the cilantro and serve.<br /><br />To tone down the heat, top with sour cream or cheese. I actually would suggest that you NOT put any other garnishes on it, but make quesadillas to eat in between bites. In fact, I might just do that now!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-10748677620378852692011-05-16T08:32:00.003-06:002011-05-16T09:55:28.454-06:00A Chinese feastOn the way home from seeing Wicked in Boise, we stopped at our favorite Chinese restaurant in Idaho Falls. It's just a little hole-in-the-wall place right next to the theater. We decided that we'd order for each other. I got Josh the Hunan Chicken (a little bland) and he got me Mongolian Beef. It was so good, it inspired me to find a recipe for my "new recipe" dinner yesterday. So I found a Slower cooker Mongolian Beef and an Egg Drop soup recipe. Both of these recipes were restaurant quality and they were excellent!! Here they are:<br /> <br />Egg Drop Soup<br /><br />4 cups chicken broth, divided<br />1/8 teaspoon ground ginger<br />2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives (I didn't use any, it was fine)<br />1/4 teaspoon salt<br />1 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch<br />2 eggs<br />1 egg yolk<br /><br />Reserve 3/4 cup of chicken broth, and pour the rest into a large saucepan. Stir the salt, ginger and chives into the saucepan, and bring to a rolling boil. In a cup or small bowl, stir together the remaining broth and cornstarch until smooth. Stir in the cornstarch mixture gradually until the soup is the desired consistency.In a small bowl, whisk the eggs and egg yolk together using a fork. Drizzle egg a little at a time from the fork into the boiling broth mixture. Egg should cook immediately. <br /><br />Amount Per Serving Calories: 79 | Total Fat: 4.2g | Cholesterol: 163mg<br /><br />Slow Cooker Mongolian Beef<br /><br />1 pound flank steak, cut into bite-size pieces(I used Stew Meat)<br />1 onion, thinly sliced<br />1 tablespoon minced garlic<br />3 large green onions, sliced diagonally into 1/2 inch pieces<br />1/2 cup soy sauce<br />1/2 cup water<br />1/2 cup brown sugar<br />1/2 teaspoon minced fresh ginger root<br />1/2 cup hoisin sauce<br /><br />Place garlic, flank steak, soy sauce, water, brown sugar, ginger, and hoisin sauce in a slow cooker on Low. After 2 hours, add the onions and green onions. Cook on Low setting for additional 2 hours. Serve over steamed rice<br /><br />Amount Per Serving Calories: 450 | Total Fat: 13g | Cholesterol: 47mg<br /><br />Note: for this one, I omitted the sugar because the hoisin sauce is pretty sweet to begin with. To add some kick, I added about a tbsp of Sriracha sauce (hot chili sauce, you can find it and the hoisin sauce in the same section as the soy sauce). Next time, I would add a little more because there wasn't enough kick for my taste.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-15147165232168779362011-04-17T16:43:00.004-06:002011-04-18T10:21:56.018-06:00Digging at my Jewish roots...Chag Pesach Same'ach! That means Happy Passover in Hebrew. Tomorrow at sunset is the first official day of Passover and at this time of year, I've decided to learn a little more about my Jewish ancestors. These people came from Turkey, of all places. How'd they get there? Don't Jews come from Israel originally? Well, actually...<br />So picture this... a few years after King Solomon, the once strong country of Israel is split between the kingdoms of Judah and Israel. (this is all in the Bible, kids!) The citizens of the Kingdom of Judah are mostly from the tribe of Judah (hence the name Jew) and a little bit of Benjamin and Simeon. The Kingdom of Israel houses mostly the other tribes, who are more commonly known as the Lost Ten Tribes. Sometime after 600 BC, the Babylonians invaded Israel and Judah and carried off a lot of the people (this is where we get the stories of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednigo from). At that time, the Babylonian empire covered from half of what is now Saudi Arabia all the way up to the southern coast of Turkey. About 50 years later, the Persians took over this empire (this is Esther's time now) and stretched it out west to Macedonia, East to the Indus river, and south to Egypt. And AFTER THAT comes the Roman Empire, which stretched even farther west to Spain. <br />Enter my ancestors. They were Sephardic Jews and we're from the tribe of Ephraim, one of the Lost Ten Tribes. They probably were captured or ran for their lives to the edges of the Babylonian empire and then were pushed from place to place (probably scattering all over Europe) until my particular group of ancestors settled in Spain (those who settled elsewhere in Europe are called Ashkenazim). They were treated as second class citizens for about 1000 years, then were chased out by Queen Isabella and the Inquisition. They had two choices offered to them: convert to Christianity or die. They took the third option and headed to the Ottoman Empire where the Sultan promised they would have no persecution there. They lived there until the early 1900's. and that's a whole different story of how they got to America. I'll save for some other time.<br />Anyway, Passover is the celebration of the liberation of the Hebrew slaves from Egypt. You know, the plagues of Egypt came and went and Pharaoh still wouldn't set the Hebrews free. So God commanded the Hebrews to mark their door frames with lambs' blood so his final plague would pass them over (hence the feast of Passover). That night, all the firstborn children of the Egyptians died and the Hebrews were spared. It was then that Pharaoh finally decided to let the Hebrews go. <br />So, to kind of celebrate it, I decided to make Matzo Ball Soup and Charoset. I found these recipes on Jewish websites. The matzo ball soup was found <a href="http://www.jewfaq.org/food.htm">here</a> and the charoseth was found <a href="http://www.shalom-peace.com/passover.html#recipes">here</a> . As it says on the website, Matzo Ball soup is also known as Jewish penicillin. It's the equivalent of chicken noodle soup, but I think it tastes better!!<br /><br />1/2 cup matzah meal <br />2 eggs<br />2 tbsp. oil or schmaltz (melted chicken fat)<br />2 tbsp. water or chicken broth<br />2 tbsp. fresh chopped parsley (I used Italian seasonings instead)<br />a little black pepper<br />2 quarts thin chicken broth or consommé<br />A handful of baby carrots or regular carrots cut into large chunks (optional)<br />a few stalks of celery cut into large chunks (optional)<br />Beat the eggs, oil and water together thoroughly. Add the matzah meal, parsley and black pepper and mix until you achieve an even consistency. Let this sit for a few minutes, so the matzah meal absorbs the other ingredients, and stir again.<br />Bring the broth to a vigorous boil, then reduce the heat until the broth is just barely boiling. Add the vegetables to the broth (if used). Wet your hands and make balls of about 1-2 tbsp. of the batter. Drop the balls gently into the boiling water. They will be cooked enough to eat in about 15 minutes; however, you may want to leave it simmering longer to absorb more of the chicken broth flavor. They are done when they float on top of the broth and look bloated.<br />For lighter matzah balls, use a little less oil, a little more water, and cook at a lower temperature for a longer time. For heavier matzah balls, do the reverse. If you are using this to treat a cold, put extra black pepper into the broth (pepper clears the sinuses).<br /><br />I could not find matzah meal to save my life, so I crushed some saltines as a substitution (it's not kosher, but that's ok for me). Make sure if you do this that you crush it really fine or it won't make balls. Mine ended up being a kind of layer on the top, really tasty, but not exactly what I was hoping for. Still, I give it 2 thumbs up and 5 stars!<br />Charoseth is traditionally a mixture of apples, raisins, and wine. It symbolizes the mortar that the Hebrews made in slavery and also the sweetness of freedom. Since we're LDS and we con't have alcohol, this recipe was great!<br /><br />Charoseth<br />(makes 4 cups)<br />1 pound chopped apples<br />1 pound dried raisins<br />8 ounces pitted dates<br />2 cups water (or as needed)<br />1/4 cup sugar<br />1/4 cup chopped walnuts or pecans<br />Place the apples, raisins, and dates in a bowl with enough water to cover. Let stand for 1 hour.<br />Add the sugar and whirl the mixture in a blender, a few spoonfuls at a time. Or divide the mixture in thirds and place in a food processor.<br />Transfer the chopped fruits to a heavy saucepan and let simmer over low<br />heat until the fruits are cooked and the liquid absorbed. It should take about 20 minutes.<br />Remove from the heat and place in a jar. When cool, sprinkle with chopped nuts.<br />YIELD: 16 Servings<br /><br />Mine's currently cooling right now, but it smells amazing! I substituted golden raisins for dates because I don't like them very much. I also added cinnamon and ground cloves because I've noticed most charoseth recipes have spices in it. Anyway, that's all for today, enjoy!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-72244821819576995192011-04-12T09:26:00.002-06:002011-04-12T09:44:58.303-06:00Awesome breakfast shake or healthy dessert... you choose!One of the things that Josh raves about when he talks about his mission to the Dominican Republic is called a batida. It literally means "whipped" in Spanish, but it's the equivalent of a milkshake. It's really healthy, especially if you substitute Splenda for sugar. Here's the recipe:<br />~1 cup crushed ice<br />1 1/3 cup milk (fat-free for the healthy version)<br />2 tbsp sugar (or Splenda)<br />~1/2 tsp vanilla extract<br />1-2 cups fresh or frozen fruit<br />Throw all ingredients into a blender and blend until thick. The more ice, the thicker it will be. If you want to use frozen fruit, you don't necessarily need ice, unless you want it super thick.<br />Here's the "tour" that I would recommend. Try putting 2 bananas in for your first batida. ¡Es muy rico! Banana tends to make batidas more fluffy. Some other things I've tried are Banana-pineapple, berry banana, berry-grape, chocolate berry (instead of milk, I used a chocolate slim fast shake), Strawberry-pineapple-mango and today's is a Strawberry-peach-banana. In the near future, I'll be trying frozen cherries in my shake. It'll be good, I'm sure!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-65278555484560663692011-04-10T21:33:00.003-06:002011-04-10T21:56:02.813-06:00PBBW/CCF......XYZI'm making homemade brownies tonight because I felt like it. I was in a cooking mood today after I made dinner for us and our friends who just had a baby (Congrats Stefan and Tycy!). Seems like everyone is having babies! Makes me want to jump on the bandwagon! (Can you tell how baby hungry I am?)<br />Anyway, my nonsense title means Peanut Butter Brownies with Cream Cheese frosting... and you will need to x-amine your zipper after eating these!! They smell so good right now!<br />I had leftover cream cheese frosting from making cinnamon rolls last week, so i wanted to use it in the brownies, but Josh didn't want cream cheese in all his brownies (picky, PICKY!), so I switched to peanut butter. I'm rediscovering how good peanut butter is, especially with chocolate. After ODing on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in grade school, I took a few years' break from peanut butter. Then last Christmas, my then-soon-to-be Mom-in-law introduced me to Peanut Butter Balls, and my interest was again piqued. I've even started taking peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to school for lunch again!<br />Anyway, the cream cheese frosting is delicious, so here's the recipe, courtesy of Janni at allrecipes.com:<br />Ingredients<br /><br />2 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened<br />1/2 cup butter, softened<br />2 cups sifted confectioners' sugar<br />1 teaspoon vanilla extract<br />Directions<br /><br />In a medium bowl, cream together the cream cheese and butter until creamy. Mix in the vanilla, then gradually stir in the confectioners' sugar. Store in the refrigerator after use.<br />Nutritional Information <br /><br />24 Servings. Amount Per Serving Calories: 140 | Total Fat: 10.4g | Cholesterol: 31mg<br /><br />You gotta know it's good already with that many calories... time I started walking to school just to burn off all the yummy stuff I'm eating again! (my diet was a no-go)<br />I made a conglomerate of 2 different recipes I found online to make these... The brownies themselves were from Jolinda Hackett at About.com and the peanut butter filling was from busymom#4 at Food.com. Here are the ingredients:<br />Ingredients:<br /><br />1 1/4 cups margarine<br />4 eggs<br />2 cups sugar<br />1 1/2 cups flour<br />2 tsp vanilla<br />3/4 cup cocoa<br /><br />Peanut Butter filling<br />3/4 cup creamy peanut butter<br />1/3 cup margarine or 1/3 cup butter, softened<br />1/3 cup sugar<br />2 tablespoons all-purpose flour<br />2 eggs<br /><br />(Read more: http://www.food.com/recipe/peanut-butter-brownies-293020#ixzz1JBP3aZHZ)<br /><br />Preheat oven to 350 degrees.<br />Melt butter and add cocoa; mix. Stir in sugar and blend in the eggs, one at a time. Add vanilla. Stir in flour and nuts; mix well.<br />in small bowl, combine peanut butter and margarine; beat until smooth. add sugar and flour;mix well. add 2 eggs, blend well.<br />Dump the brownie batter into a 9x13 pan. Spoon the peanut butter filling over the top and spread. Marble, if desired. Cook for 30 minutes and let cool for 20-30 minutes...(The cooling part is going to kill me... THEY SMELL SO GOOOOOOOD!!!)<br /> Here's a picture hot out of the oven!<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPrLbeJ9C3iQzc-0wzeaOiXch05K3aMs0l25aJd_Oboj80bgeDW_okZJr9Frv-W7ObcJMbC_H90KW0cpxUXxw5ktkBOzg1tQvixYKt5tEIcOHeibGpQbaIN5BtFxrlB4veEQIOGQMaemWq/s1600/101_4388.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPrLbeJ9C3iQzc-0wzeaOiXch05K3aMs0l25aJd_Oboj80bgeDW_okZJr9Frv-W7ObcJMbC_H90KW0cpxUXxw5ktkBOzg1tQvixYKt5tEIcOHeibGpQbaIN5BtFxrlB4veEQIOGQMaemWq/s400/101_4388.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5594169317246384114" /></a><br />Once they cool, put cream cheese on your slice, if you want. Enjoy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-86803770994490809162011-02-22T19:29:00.002-07:002011-02-22T21:09:42.914-07:00Boneless Polynesian Ribs!I'm in the middle of cooking these for the first time and I'm already addicted to the sauce. Good indication? Well, if the meat comes out over cooked, at least I have something yummy to dip it into!!<br />There was an awesome sale on meat this week at Broulims (our local grocery store chain). 5 packages of meat for 20 bucks. Great deal! Among other things, they were selling sirloin tip steaks (got 2 packages), stew meat (usually about $4.00 a pound!), cod fillets, and boneless pork spare ribs ("country style," what ever that means). I've never really made anything with pork before, I'm not a huge fan of anything that comes from a pig. Except maybe the occasional bacon strip (guys, you have permission to start drooling, I know you always do). But anyway, I looked up recipes pertaining to this particular cut of meat and the most interesting that turned up was Polynesian ribs. It looked delicious, so I showed to Josh and he approved it. <br />Anyway, here's the original recipe. I didn't have all the ingredients, so I will post the changes in parentheses right next to what I replaced it with. IT'S YUMMY!!!!<br /><br />Ingredients<br />1 1/2 pounds pork spareribs<br />1/2 cup packed brown sugar<br />4 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch (I didn't put this much in, I put a little bit into some water and added that, but it didn't make much of a difference. Besides I like it a bit more saucy, not thick)<br />1/2 teaspoon celery salt (I used garlic salt)<br />1/2 teaspoon ground ginger<br />1/2 cup crushed pineapple, with juice(I used canned mandarin oranges and crushed them)<br />1/4 cup water<br />1/4 cup chopped onion (since I don't like onion, I just put in a 1/4 of a jumbo onion and let the layers separate in the sauce... then took them out after it was done)<br />2 tablespoons cider vinegar<br />2 tablespoons soy sauce<br />1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce (I used A-1 steak sauce)<br />1 1/2 teaspoons grated orange peel (I omitted this)<br />1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I used about a tablespoon of Franks for more kick)<br />Directions<br />1.Cut ribs into serving size pieces. Place ribs bone side down on a rack in shallow roasting pan. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 1 hour(50 minutes if it's boneless); drain. <br />2.In a saucepan, combine the brown sugar, cornstarch, celery salt and ginger. Combine the pineapple, water onion, vinegar, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, orange peel and hot pepper sauce. Gradually stir into brown sugar mixture. Bring to a boil; cook for 2 minutes or until thickened. Brush ribs with sauce. Bake 25-35 minutes longer or until meat is tender, basting with sauce several times. <br /><br />And by the way, for all my friends who don't eat pork or don't like it, I think this sauce would be excellent on chicken (though Josh disagrees). I could eat this sauce all by itself! I needed a lot of self control just to leave some for the ribs!<br />PS the meat was good too! Too bad I'm too lazy to think up some side dishes for this. Maybe rice? Hawaiian Sweet bread?Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-489523507916485702011-01-08T20:15:00.003-07:002011-01-11T08:51:10.618-07:00My first taste of (and attempt at) South Asian foodSorry for being gone so long. The second half of the semester was killer! I had no time to cook anything really good and then we went to Texas for Christmas, where I got a bit of a break from cooking and to enjoy my mother-in-law's amazing cooking!<br />Anyway, today's dish was inspired by one of my best friends. She's Pakistani and she recently posted a photo album with all the food she's been cooking with her mom. Her foods included hot and sour chicken corn soup, roghni naan (a kind of flat bread, this kind has sesame seeds), and spinach, potato and eggplant pakoras. I was interested to know what other kinds of food people in her neck of the woods might eat, so I researched it out a bit. One thing that caught my eye was Tandoori chicken, which I learned is a relatively new dish in the history of Southern Asia. The recipe was developed around the same time that India won its freedom and India and Pakistan split. I guess it's kind of the go-to dish in Indian restaurants, kind of like sweet and sour chicken or broccoli beef in Chinese food and teriyaki or sushi for Japanese food. <br />In terms of the food, traditionally it's cooked in an oven called a tandoori, which is usually used to cook naan. The guy who developed the recipe marinated his chicken for a while because he knew that the tandoori was too hot to cook regular chicken in without burning it. Eventually, he made it for some head honcho in the Indian government (I think it might have been the Prime Minister?) and they kind of declared it the offical food. <br />So I had the main dish down. Now I had to find side dishes to go with it. The first thing my search came up with was a recipe for naan. I knew I had plenty of time this weekend to make it since it's only the first week and I knew I wouldn't have too much homework. Which was good since the chicken takes at least 8 hours to marinate and the naan takes at least 2 hours to make. <br />I'm on a diet right now. I'm watching my portions, measuring EVERYTHING, and especially eating more fruits and veggies. So I had my protein covered and my carbs, and I needed some veggies. I knew I had some extra cucumber in the fridge, so I searched for more Indian side dishes. What I came up with was a Cucumber and Peanut salad. It's especially good when combined with a bite of chicken! Anyway, sorry there are no pictures this time! Here are the recipes and accompanying nutritional information! Happy cooking!<br /><br />Tandoori Chicken<br />1 (3lb) chicken, cut into serving pieces, skinned and trimmed of all visible fat<br />1/2 cup plain yogurt<br />2 tbsp fresh lemon juice<br />2 tbsp minced garlic<br />1 tbsp peeled and grated or crushed ginger root (I used ground ginger)<br />1 tbsp ground cumin<br />1 tsp paprika (for the characteristic red color)<br />1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I used 1 tsp of Franks hot sauce)<br />1/4 tsp ground cloves<br />1/4 tsp black pepper<br />2 tsp salt or to taste<br />vegetable oil<br />red food coloring (optional)<br />Prick the the flesh of the chicken all over with a fork. Then, using a sharp knife, cut slashes in the flesh to allow the marinade to penetrate. Place the chicken in a nonreactive, large, shallow dish.<br />In a nonreactive bowl, combine the yogurt, lemon juice or vinegar, garlic, ginger, cumin, ground coriander, cayenne pepper, cardamom, cloves, black pepper and salt. Stir until well-mixed, then pour the mixture over the chicken and rub it into the flesh, turning the chicken several times. Cover and refrigerate 8 hours or overnight. (Do not marinate for longer than 2 days.) Remove the chicken from the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before cooking. <br />The chicken may be grilled or roasted. If using a charcoal grill, prepare a fire for direct-heat cooking. Position the grill rack 5 inches from the fire. Allow the coals to burn until white ash covers them and the heat is moderate. <br />Remove the chicken from the marinade, pressing lightly to extract excess marinade, and brush with oil. Place the chicken pieces on a well-oiled grill rack and; grill, covered, with the vents open, turning 3 or 4 times, 45 minutes or until the juices run clear when a piece is pierced near the bone with a knife. <br />If roasting, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Place the chicken on a rack in a roasting pan, brush with oil, and cook, turning once, 25 to 30 minutes until the juices run clear when a piece is pierced near the bone with a knife. <br />Serve with sprigs of cilantro and slices of cucumber, red onion, tomato, and lemon. <br />Yield: 4 servings <br />Per serving: 303 calories, 33 percent calories from fat, 45 grams protein, 3 grams carbohydrates, .54 gram total fiber, 11 grams total fat, 124 milligrams cholesterol, 707 milligrams sodium. <br /><br />Naan (4 servings)<br />All the reviewers said that this was the best they'd had and I think Josh agreed. I certainly did!<br />1 1/2 tsps dry yeast<br />1 cup warm water<br />1 1/2 tsps sugar<br />3 cups all-purpose flour<br />1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)<br />6 tbsps ghee (clarified butter)<br />3 tbsps yoghurt<br />3 teaspoons onion seeds (I sprinkled onion powder on my first batch and garlic salt on my second. We liked the garlic salt better, but the onion powder was great too!)<br />Preparation:<br />Add the dry yeast and sugar to the warm water and stir till the yeast is dissolved. Cover and leave aside for 10 minutes or until the mixture begins to froth. This indicates the yeast is active. Keep aside. <br />Mix the flour and salt to taste and sift through a very fine seive. Put it into a large mixing bowl and now add the yeast mixture, 3 tbsps of ghee and all the yogurt. <br />Use your fingertips to mix all this into a soft dough. Once mixed, flour a clean, flat surface (like your kitchen counter) and knead the dough till it is smooth and stretchy (elastic). <br />Grease a large bowl with a few drops of cooking oil and put the dough in it. Cover and allow to rest for about 90 minutes or till the dough doubles in volume. <br />Punch the dough down and knead again for 10 minutes. <br />Equally divide the dough and roll between your palms to form 8 round balls. <br />Lightly flour the same surface on which you kneaded the dough and roll out each ball until you have a circle, 7-8 inches in diameter (1/2 "thick). Gently pull on one edge of the circle to form the Naan into a teardrop shape. Do not pull too hard or you may tear the Naan. Instead of rolling the dough out (with a rolling pin) you can also pat it into a circle with your hands. <br />Preheat your oven 200 C/ 400 F or Gas Mark 6. <br />Lay a piece of aluminum foil in an oven tray (to cover) and grease it lightly with a few drops of cooking oil. <br />Place as many Naans as will fit without touching each other, on the tray. <br />Brush each Naan with some ghee and sprinkle a pinch of onion seeds all over its surface. <br />Put the tray into the oven and cook till the Naan begins to puff out and get lightly brown. Flip the Naan and repeat. <br />Remove from oven and serve hot in a foil-lined basket.<br />Serving size 2 naan: Calories 78, Calories from fat 19, Total Fat 2.1g, Total Carbohydrates 11.5g, Protein 3.4g<br /><br />Cucumber Peanut Salad (serves 2)<br />1 large cucumbers - peeled, seeded, and diced<br />salt to taste<br />1 tablespoon butter<br />1/2 teaspoon ground cumin<br />1 dried red chile pepper or 1/2 tsp chili powder<br />3 tablespoons coarsely chopped peanuts<br />1 tablespoon lemon juice<br />1 teaspoon white sugar<br />1 teaspoon minced fresh cilantro<br />1.Mix together salt and cucumber, and allow to drain in a colander for ten minutes to release water. Pat dry, and place in a medium size bowl. <br />2.Melt butter in a small saucepan, and stir in cumin and chili pepper. <br />3.Add peanuts, lemon juice, sugar, and melted butter to cucumber, and stir together. Garnish with cilantro. <br />Nutritional Information <br />Amount Per Serving Calories: 165 Total Fat: 12.8g Cholesterol: 15mgUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-78757720863818594742010-10-30T21:06:00.011-06:002010-10-31T13:00:08.153-06:00Our Awesome Halloween Costumes and How I Made Them<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqKqiEpBqGW9y4tUCb9Sbano4k_W17yt-xT7p48C2LCG2gHt1row3lgGu2zgOSTcm0mjIghhD9h80WcWnzhDo0gowDo309oI59WATqfhHXAYVw-5j0jYLbTcO9tVmcXFCDxv-El52VEgjE/s1600/100_4359.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqKqiEpBqGW9y4tUCb9Sbano4k_W17yt-xT7p48C2LCG2gHt1row3lgGu2zgOSTcm0mjIghhD9h80WcWnzhDo0gowDo309oI59WATqfhHXAYVw-5j0jYLbTcO9tVmcXFCDxv-El52VEgjE/s400/100_4359.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534042069348300082" /></a><br />There we are: Gru and a minion<br />How did we do it? Here's how. <br />Gru's nose: take some foil and shape it into a nose, leaving a bit of an opening at the wider end to shape onto the person who's going to be wearing it. Then cover it in masking tape. Paint it to look like a nose! I bought skin colored paint and used it as base. Then I mixed a tiny bit of vermilion with the paint and sponged it on for a mottled effect. I also mixed some white with the base paint and sponged that on too. Here's the pictures!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEDMsBk5cIazwsp2P0ocUBK_eWRpk9O3iwbQKiQOg6hlbcSmB_YRqnFh-B-e0nPor16XD_H1w1dFVfNnFOeBhCMde34XhSbL9yY4UW_wZpO3POUF2igCrvKoO391gvQHPLoFC9fG1TAeq/s1600/100_4331.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnEDMsBk5cIazwsp2P0ocUBK_eWRpk9O3iwbQKiQOg6hlbcSmB_YRqnFh-B-e0nPor16XD_H1w1dFVfNnFOeBhCMde34XhSbL9yY4UW_wZpO3POUF2igCrvKoO391gvQHPLoFC9fG1TAeq/s400/100_4331.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534277808947555090" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifhIFkymcHal8v7pAaupqiwK-hADsDC8XomLTWMyFI6ZTpdzsxuLycGO8Hif1wHuE80YdkkGLykNobY4T3-ARVNjn1yDrXjosYOXPhcSrfmBZGAx3Aku9BhdwrruleU4Lfh7HZuX2Bxzg7/s1600/100_4332.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifhIFkymcHal8v7pAaupqiwK-hADsDC8XomLTWMyFI6ZTpdzsxuLycGO8Hif1wHuE80YdkkGLykNobY4T3-ARVNjn1yDrXjosYOXPhcSrfmBZGAx3Aku9BhdwrruleU4Lfh7HZuX2Bxzg7/s400/100_4332.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534277806733824994" /></a><br />Ok, so you can't see the mottling very good. Oh well. It's there and it looks good!<br />To finish Gru off, we bought Josh a big sweater and he padded himself up with 8 layers of shirts underneath. Then he borrowed my welding goggles (yes, I own welding goggles!) and put those on along with a scarf around his neck. Too bad he looked more like Dr. Horrible than Gru... we could have done without the welding goggles, but he wanted to wear them.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ER-mgoq0xZUfu0pEADLt92UgjPikTNV2CZEKKYX-OdyNcOV6Mkya96ILyt0Be7fvQfNg-ko6tWumDJUuAL6UgpYsEjxeXMcqIqMpRwSAVIw-DW6z09TjMXgIUn-o2HzzmxjwR201UXrl/s1600/100_4358.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-ER-mgoq0xZUfu0pEADLt92UgjPikTNV2CZEKKYX-OdyNcOV6Mkya96ILyt0Be7fvQfNg-ko6tWumDJUuAL6UgpYsEjxeXMcqIqMpRwSAVIw-DW6z09TjMXgIUn-o2HzzmxjwR201UXrl/s400/100_4358.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534286606571887634" /></a><br />For a minion, we bought me a yellow shirt. It was rather large since the small and medium sizes were cleaned out here. I also bought a kids pair of jeans and a pair of yucky old suspenders that were made for your typical Idahoan potato farmer. Here's a picture:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVLwaPQivFLWoHGZnKmLOLLxslb4fOYilAtfYzKuKX8Z9uWjGLvT-GprzTTXM8VA44eXeX3cyE5PdVeKhRLo1brsgByx4IGgfpTX_pn2BCzudV2CvHmRqv0KaDTFGsmhAGp5xp6vcwC9u-/s1600/100_4334.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVLwaPQivFLWoHGZnKmLOLLxslb4fOYilAtfYzKuKX8Z9uWjGLvT-GprzTTXM8VA44eXeX3cyE5PdVeKhRLo1brsgByx4IGgfpTX_pn2BCzudV2CvHmRqv0KaDTFGsmhAGp5xp6vcwC9u-/s400/100_4334.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534280126837802786" /></a><br />I tried to put them on just to see how they worked and the little criss-crossy part in the back ended up being on top of my head. <br />I wanted to make suspenders that looked like overalls without being overalls. Why? First, it's not the 90's anymore. Even if I wanted to wear overalls, not even DI has them anymore. Second, overalls are not allowed on campus (along with flip-flops, capris and short skirts... but honestly, when would you ever want to wear those in Iceburg?). So I took the pair of jeans I bought and cut them into strips about 2 times the width of the suspenders like so:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRsE6erHoG7An5k3ywUWpIZWRZB2dKbvZzBUgSnx62ma8Apgh1mkWO_wOcNYoh-8M7PIgTFs7jg0-a2UZxA14bfe59O5qne4oQhrIWch6NcRGHAD8gm0qymFlC_zAhfxHtNfNz52FVihLY/s1600/100_4333.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRsE6erHoG7An5k3ywUWpIZWRZB2dKbvZzBUgSnx62ma8Apgh1mkWO_wOcNYoh-8M7PIgTFs7jg0-a2UZxA14bfe59O5qne4oQhrIWch6NcRGHAD8gm0qymFlC_zAhfxHtNfNz52FVihLY/s400/100_4333.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534281939317753010" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuLObo9aQy5A-NA4-vKJjssUO4ErP_s27pVqWtLZpgwzbcQOlYlEEEoT_1C-6sZCcXrC7obMXYiXewfiq3-qV4rNnyfb6y2qznybSe2a_sEkB3LtJPPIi1sRqhlJX5m4zfSw3o2yUQx9m/s1600/100_4335.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYuLObo9aQy5A-NA4-vKJjssUO4ErP_s27pVqWtLZpgwzbcQOlYlEEEoT_1C-6sZCcXrC7obMXYiXewfiq3-qV4rNnyfb6y2qznybSe2a_sEkB3LtJPPIi1sRqhlJX5m4zfSw3o2yUQx9m/s400/100_4335.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534281934092036802" /></a><br />Little kid jeans are only so long, so you have to cut out 4 strips. Then you take 2 strips and sew them together<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiua9xXzuTjFWfysFKpvG-3HbkOZXMwmuV8RHnCFGQSX6taXRzPIrSCVmsSaFpYJV1KSQuA7qnHvhD1sl-LVRKSJ9ocwzED3U_VGeYehuccA1mZjvoJtsmwN958bU69WOkSvCJteNYSvSqK/s1600/100_4336.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiua9xXzuTjFWfysFKpvG-3HbkOZXMwmuV8RHnCFGQSX6taXRzPIrSCVmsSaFpYJV1KSQuA7qnHvhD1sl-LVRKSJ9ocwzED3U_VGeYehuccA1mZjvoJtsmwN958bU69WOkSvCJteNYSvSqK/s400/100_4336.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534282648122754786" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4kX2JcyiUTDmDYxYd1Q_JZzLq9BzSEUVJ468coCiih2-7kE42Cc_aEp44rabhXVlpS7gi_Cu7mANfGN8HOWZULS1IEXBleKj-rVbcfbR9ty90LYB64kKP2xH-KiKhSPx9OgkVN1TFN4p/s1600/100_4337.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA4kX2JcyiUTDmDYxYd1Q_JZzLq9BzSEUVJ468coCiih2-7kE42Cc_aEp44rabhXVlpS7gi_Cu7mANfGN8HOWZULS1IEXBleKj-rVbcfbR9ty90LYB64kKP2xH-KiKhSPx9OgkVN1TFN4p/s400/100_4337.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534282640690518706" /></a><br />And yes, I did have to do this all by hand since I don't have a sewing machine. It's definitely going on my Christmas list!<br />Next, pin and sew the strips to the width of the suspenders<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7pfLxbsZ9iFV43ojbKfB3XJ-z8jyNXIupDqIkoXGwWHTGBLVkaG7T4sh6LA6YL3gwM-uECyuo_nz606NWzd6x3y3cXKFruOSw7b32oVjbcIUyOeyw7PLHOv960b1OGNlc7jtgXW9fHvr/s1600/100_4340.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu7pfLxbsZ9iFV43ojbKfB3XJ-z8jyNXIupDqIkoXGwWHTGBLVkaG7T4sh6LA6YL3gwM-uECyuo_nz606NWzd6x3y3cXKFruOSw7b32oVjbcIUyOeyw7PLHOv960b1OGNlc7jtgXW9fHvr/s400/100_4340.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534283686228038082" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgt21_eh5QWAs2yJqDPMD8f_G8Q0wWAla8fe4sbec4C0LZ396cDaWPxg94mDULXU524dzV_hKhyphenhyphenlq3sRIy_ULL67UyaAkwiNJOuPICWlIITgLW79khN_Wb2yXtz7okm_nT9-EYEwHLEdF5/s1600/100_4338.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgt21_eh5QWAs2yJqDPMD8f_G8Q0wWAla8fe4sbec4C0LZ396cDaWPxg94mDULXU524dzV_hKhyphenhyphenlq3sRIy_ULL67UyaAkwiNJOuPICWlIITgLW79khN_Wb2yXtz7okm_nT9-EYEwHLEdF5/s400/100_4338.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534283676010600434" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFFauczP56J0eO47f_nvWEUgo25NtNL-zXhqvUm0oB0b3dTCMtweBvmiTUbPAFUrLJJJubY6J8CS-iYPwdUZRtvJ2H2AS3lTQBBgn9K3tGP0VXfBq5gyA1p6CgVyBCdacmYzj_zCz5Fqi/s1600/100_4343.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiFFauczP56J0eO47f_nvWEUgo25NtNL-zXhqvUm0oB0b3dTCMtweBvmiTUbPAFUrLJJJubY6J8CS-iYPwdUZRtvJ2H2AS3lTQBBgn9K3tGP0VXfBq5gyA1p6CgVyBCdacmYzj_zCz5Fqi/s400/100_4343.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534283661790225730" /></a><br />Once you're done with that, you get to destroy the really icky suspenders!!! I cut all the metal pieces off and used them on the strips. First, you thread the adjuster part on, then the clip and then loop the end around and thread it through the adjuster one more time. Sorry, I don't have pictures because I was doing this project while listening to my teacher drone on about Galileo, Copernicus and other Renaissance scientists. But here's a finished side.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-09fhaGJeDdmNaGhiHBxxzqwNynp_vH1STBSRsUqSvkISapYAlDcNh5xZzqUuiLZ2a8TiiH3O0-3KCgjrp7FPNaooToeAlVwze1BBTo9GHc9khgDojFysGjKLJpzu-Vea4b5Ylur1s3r/s1600/100_4339.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE-09fhaGJeDdmNaGhiHBxxzqwNynp_vH1STBSRsUqSvkISapYAlDcNh5xZzqUuiLZ2a8TiiH3O0-3KCgjrp7FPNaooToeAlVwze1BBTo9GHc9khgDojFysGjKLJpzu-Vea4b5Ylur1s3r/s400/100_4339.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534284844800143970" /></a><br />When both are done, put them on and adjust them. Then take them off and put them on backwards, criss-crossing them in front of you and pin it where they cross. Then sew that together and you have faux-overall suspenders!!<br />For the minion face, you just need yellow hairspray, yellow facepaint, and black and white face paint sticks. Draw like so<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLafXRSRQ_cMPgUzD0f7O6FuKmwKjah4ETDLZST9Bm9GOQ7n3uLxI2JJWEFNydXr16WWvFb_QIAg3VbFp5O6-K9S_9pdRosBKYVEGRd4G-8zHPDf2qL7OHuiN5tj2wI0xdyvmyEzOdoaBy/s1600/100_4355.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLafXRSRQ_cMPgUzD0f7O6FuKmwKjah4ETDLZST9Bm9GOQ7n3uLxI2JJWEFNydXr16WWvFb_QIAg3VbFp5O6-K9S_9pdRosBKYVEGRd4G-8zHPDf2qL7OHuiN5tj2wI0xdyvmyEzOdoaBy/s400/100_4355.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534286044458310850" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0cVYLlSVpimdi7TQvx32Um35x24_yR_hCWPFbfNBa776X1FcbsKM6kHt_q2kJky5X2EW8PiPIn8-okL6qFz8kWBb65aZZVEligpP7TBaIciGkvUyRTfJ1dxSwWpgok3h-lAIKeilJMGy/s1600/100_4356.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjg0cVYLlSVpimdi7TQvx32Um35x24_yR_hCWPFbfNBa776X1FcbsKM6kHt_q2kJky5X2EW8PiPIn8-okL6qFz8kWBb65aZZVEligpP7TBaIciGkvUyRTfJ1dxSwWpgok3h-lAIKeilJMGy/s400/100_4356.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534286039100966034" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxffez-EqoZfHzX6D8b-cl5QxOUyzzOs_KhJI964p_LMvQ-Ux44IzzTcrSTgN59dC_bucq1m7Co8hyijkHH69tAiFv90vLtK_0ksk4KUHoM7FLVDYulfQdqU02hLej1C1aIoVhyphenhyphen2AFxcf/s1600/100_4357.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqxffez-EqoZfHzX6D8b-cl5QxOUyzzOs_KhJI964p_LMvQ-Ux44IzzTcrSTgN59dC_bucq1m7Co8hyijkHH69tAiFv90vLtK_0ksk4KUHoM7FLVDYulfQdqU02hLej1C1aIoVhyphenhyphen2AFxcf/s400/100_4357.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5534286032935888994" /></a><br />Happy Halloween!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-10359540613965183522010-10-24T18:25:00.002-06:002010-10-24T19:23:10.843-06:00Fun date idea!We've done this date twice and it was so fun both times, I decided to share it. And this doesn't even have to be a date. Girls, this would be a great thing to do with roomies! Here's what you do:<br />Go to your nearest grocery store to the specialty cheese section. Pick out at least 3 different cheeses. At least one needs to be one you've never tried. Be bold!! Try that cheese that you can't pronounce! Cheddar is a big no-no for this. To date, Josh and I have had Chevre (pronounced shev), Gouda (awesome!), Muenster, Feta (I am seriously addicted to Feta), and Fontina. <br />Next, buy a bagette. Another suggestion from this last time is to take Tums before hand and also get something else to eat with it. Olives are great if you like those. We had Asparagus this time. Here's a really good recipe for Roasted Asparagus:<br /><br />Asparagus<br />olive oil<br />salt<br />Mrs Dash Garlic and Herb or Tomato Basil<br />Set the oven to 425. Snap off the ends of the asparagus and arrange on a pan. Drizzle olive oil over the top and sprinkle the salt and Mrs Dash on. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Goes great with Feta or Parmesan!<br /><br />So once you've got all this ready, spread a blanket out in front of your TV and enjoy with a movie. Good movie ideas for the mood include Letters to Juliet, When in Rome, Leap Year, A Walk In The Clouds or Sabrina. Here's what our spread looked like (minus the vegies, they were cooking).<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIF_Pq0i2PImR_jZYsWScL3C6iWzPVU4DB19L4KoulZrJZhCeIrvCREBf9DfrV_YyRlv1XTDBbCF6GLrr8PAmOVpWilgn38V9nYmFnL3V28qsCgFVbKvQ-uZxGL4Gs_taqPGLsFplZ3F9U/s1600/100_4344.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIF_Pq0i2PImR_jZYsWScL3C6iWzPVU4DB19L4KoulZrJZhCeIrvCREBf9DfrV_YyRlv1XTDBbCF6GLrr8PAmOVpWilgn38V9nYmFnL3V28qsCgFVbKvQ-uZxGL4Gs_taqPGLsFplZ3F9U/s400/100_4344.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5531787888197282210" /></a><br />Happy eating!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-43899872234061847862010-10-11T19:46:00.003-06:002010-10-11T21:51:15.565-06:00This weekend...This weekend was pretty eventful. On Friday, we went with Nate, Sam and their roommate David to the straw maze over by Big Jud's. It had been raining that day and the temperatures had finally dropped into what is normal for October around here (I LOVE COOL WEATHER!!!). So we bundled up and went. On Fridays and Saturdays after dark, the maze is haunted. I would have had pictures to put up, but I was dumb and forgot to bring the camera. I would definitely recommend the haunted maze to anyone who wants the pants scared off them, but for those who don't like being scared, every other day of the week is just normal. <br />At first, it was no biggie. Just a few kids in masks jumping out from behind the walls and stuff. Then we all turn a corner and up walks this guy wearing a really freaky mask holding a chainsaw. Of course, being the girl (and a pretty tiny one at that!), he comes right up to me. I'm talking in my face, about to kiss me, creeper close. I'm trying to hold my ground, so I say (semi-bravely), "Wow dude, you're really close to my face and I'm married..." That must have hacked him off, cuz he pulls the chainsaw. Nate and Sam go running off one direction, and the chainsaw guy follows me and Josh. I'm terrified at this point because creepy-stalker-dude-with-the-chainsaw-who-wants-to-kiss-me won't leave me alone. So I'm running away and Josh is attempting to slide tackle the dude just to get him to leave me alone (my hero!!). Once we finally get away from him, we run into some people coming from the other way who said there was ANOTHER chainsaw guy back where they'd come from. Great. SO we go and I just want to get out of there by now. so we're near the end and we see a part of the maze with boards over the top, so we figure it's the way out. then out comes this other guy with a chainsaw, who pulls on it to scare us off. I've had enough, so I screamed and ran until I got to some other people who he could chase. But apparently that wasn't enough cause he circled back and got us while we were in the home stretch. At that point Nate came in to find us and when the chainsaw went off for the last time, I actually grabbed him and used him as a shield (Josh wasn't close enough or I'd've grabbed him... can you tell how scared I was?!?). Then some guy in a mask follows us out to the car and attempts to get in with me, by opening my door when I'm already in. Yeah, apparently I'm a monster magnet.<br />Saturday was our "mystery date." I'd bought tickets to Stargazing and Dessert a few weeks ago and told Josh to plan to do something at that time, but I didn't tell him what. It was really cool, they drove us out to the Henry's Fork property outside of town, set up some telescopes and cooked us Dutch-oven cobbler. We got to see Jupiter and four of its moons (Io, Europa, Ganymede, and Callisto...I'm such an astronomy nerd!) through the telescope. You could even see the Great Red Spot! Then we had 2 helpings each of cobbler. Our first helping was Chocolate Peach (extremely yummy!). Josh tried White Peach next and I got Apple-Raspberry (a little too much raspberry for me). Here are some pictures:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kl3Txyvwv0ekYMacBIL0GnDSPeh5LxVPcxRv51F2xVmY9ie9Otm-RnzwKjh6csePJ9iBxuC4Zo5oHMZ3cUEr9oNYF-T33v0Z3BOuUy7wfHJl5FywdjVukndfa6rPFdmNOwytR9DJt0Nf/s1600/100_4325.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7kl3Txyvwv0ekYMacBIL0GnDSPeh5LxVPcxRv51F2xVmY9ie9Otm-RnzwKjh6csePJ9iBxuC4Zo5oHMZ3cUEr9oNYF-T33v0Z3BOuUy7wfHJl5FywdjVukndfa6rPFdmNOwytR9DJt0Nf/s400/100_4325.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526997402149517890" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxu0D9qPanZgnIeicfDBKbYY9BrTjjHVJwGVYI2vaBTUEvFELM7NuSI_3tSi63rzQnnRpJD3IEdTAbkOk_JRHMr7FMNqCwfjOjmdlv9LMAvS9wkdH9T0xE-BUCtuYPJP76Y1QgNMTO01q/s1600/100_4327.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgGxu0D9qPanZgnIeicfDBKbYY9BrTjjHVJwGVYI2vaBTUEvFELM7NuSI_3tSi63rzQnnRpJD3IEdTAbkOk_JRHMr7FMNqCwfjOjmdlv9LMAvS9wkdH9T0xE-BUCtuYPJP76Y1QgNMTO01q/s400/100_4327.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526997391682582466" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8YKbSeULqbFXBZpdoA1MjpNHAVNoQsSRZ2dcStjtOVrZB9Wa6q78VbLPOsOyqza0Aia5tUQJP88hGDa7bHTuVahVY3ixVQT6bcWUYSaBzMURXp6KvKzS4iCwSZXspt9ejihfES9ypmzyo/s1600/100_4329.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8YKbSeULqbFXBZpdoA1MjpNHAVNoQsSRZ2dcStjtOVrZB9Wa6q78VbLPOsOyqza0Aia5tUQJP88hGDa7bHTuVahVY3ixVQT6bcWUYSaBzMURXp6KvKzS4iCwSZXspt9ejihfES9ypmzyo/s400/100_4329.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526997385352127346" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgctkWbREX8SvSuWERXSQcVpU3s9wZ8FvGcT83dYhmBhgfSQsnRVgdpUPPZ5IZDKMsqchf9VMFZTL0q95k7SE6g5XxQkp_C0Fxw-JKxmFYU45FpwCDyq74ZMh2Xyz9Umz87EvaGqLh83sk0/s1600/100_4330.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgctkWbREX8SvSuWERXSQcVpU3s9wZ8FvGcT83dYhmBhgfSQsnRVgdpUPPZ5IZDKMsqchf9VMFZTL0q95k7SE6g5XxQkp_C0Fxw-JKxmFYU45FpwCDyq74ZMh2Xyz9Umz87EvaGqLh83sk0/s400/100_4330.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5526997380230757650" /></a><br />And I made pie again. I forgot to set the timer for the last 35 minutes of cooking, so it technically over-cooked, but it tastes great! Here's the recipe!<br />Apple Pie<br />Double Pie Pastry (see next recipe)<br />1 cup sugar<br />1/2 tsp cinnamon<br />1/4 tsp nutmeg (I didn't have nutmeg, so I substituted for cinnamon)<br />1 tsp lemon juice<br />2 tbsp flour or cornstarch<br />4 cups (6-9) apples, peeled and sliced (Fuji or Granny Smith recommended, I used Granny)<br />Heat oven to 425. Combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice and flour. Add apples and mix. The longer you let the mixture sit, the more sauce you will have. Place in pie shell and top with crust. Cut slits in top. Bake for 25 minutes and reduce heat to 350. Bake for an additional 35 minutes. <br /><br />Mom's No Fail Pie Crust<br />2 cups flour<br />1/4 tsp salt<br />1 cup shortening<br />5 tbsp COLD water<br />1 tbsp vinegar (yes, I know, vinegar)<br />1 egg-beaten<br />Cut shortening into flour and salt mixture. Add vinegar, egg and water. Knead together until well mixed. Roll on floured surface.<br />Makes a 9" double crust or a 10" single. If cooking only the crust, bake at 425 for 12-15 minutes.<br /><br />Josh took the car in today to get an oil and lube. He almost didn't because it's cheaper on Fridays and Saturdays, but that still small voice told him to go in. Lucky he did! Our serpentine belt was about to snap. For those of you who are not auto-savvy (like me), if it had snapped, our power steering would have gone out and our engine would have over-heated. Thank heaven for little promptings in everyday life!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-6696862386592951122010-10-07T19:37:00.004-06:002010-10-07T20:08:04.971-06:00What to do with that leftover roast....?I was perusing other people's blogs and Food.com and finding yummy sounding recipes today and wanting to cook something gourmet really bad. I had to leave for a meeting, but told Josh to look over some of the recipes I had up on my computer while I was gone to see what he thought looked good. When I came home, I had the idea to grill up what was left of the roast we cooked Sunday. He told me that the Chicken Parmesan looked good off the internet. So.... I combined them! Here for your culinary perusal is Leftover Roast Parmesan!!<br />So you start with your leftovers. Put them on a griddle or in a frying pan with a little bit of bottled minced garlic like this<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim77fBZD2BIH9Eel-39cEL7tusqdEvb0C_Re4EVnwHHlBvvoEdsUrbPC9vE4K3CyKLsA1kBAyXSx3v0M611E10Zj1Tb6r6htZWb80fXctxUdw0EGt72-lnMEy2oiZ7l5gJMOzbUx8ByukB/s1600/100_4321.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEim77fBZD2BIH9Eel-39cEL7tusqdEvb0C_Re4EVnwHHlBvvoEdsUrbPC9vE4K3CyKLsA1kBAyXSx3v0M611E10Zj1Tb6r6htZWb80fXctxUdw0EGt72-lnMEy2oiZ7l5gJMOzbUx8ByukB/s400/100_4321.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525484309309440514" /></a><br />Let that grill for a while and season it with a little oregano (Eets Italian, you gotta to hava de oregano!). Then grab a bottle of spaghetti/marinara sauce and dump it on! Lower the temperature of the griddle or the sauce will burn.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicsLwP-HIj8DHnJ_FHcw20zceIsOGOP0LlfQb5m0kB2JeZLpQrnsD-wyUo27oKSynfhlGnf9Usgr68oYzx6c1gNnoOGkOIVqku9YiTV096qgjYDDlJ9Nns9vO57Xnl7JV4qVzVOku4mom8/s1600/100_4322.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicsLwP-HIj8DHnJ_FHcw20zceIsOGOP0LlfQb5m0kB2JeZLpQrnsD-wyUo27oKSynfhlGnf9Usgr68oYzx6c1gNnoOGkOIVqku9YiTV096qgjYDDlJ9Nns9vO57Xnl7JV4qVzVOku4mom8/s400/100_4322.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525484305293636066" /></a><br />If it's like the kind I get, it doesn't have much flavor, so I always spike it a little. To taste, add oregano, onion powder and garlic powder or salt (again, amice, eets Italian, you musta hava da garlico!). Stir that around for a bit while the noodles are cooking and about a minute before the noodles are done, add some mozzarella cheese to the top. Let it melt.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyb3y3RyxU_laMBj8rwlA-1RjkKuUSkZ6JU67fmI5D7vYaNWgKh8NAvdlKOeLVHODo5hju6DyHFhyphenhyphen6rfjgqEDejh-Lah11iWJ9IN0HzW_kE4Xx3qklOKQeckfOuAYElDYfy43sTTDd1K0j/s1600/100_4323.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyb3y3RyxU_laMBj8rwlA-1RjkKuUSkZ6JU67fmI5D7vYaNWgKh8NAvdlKOeLVHODo5hju6DyHFhyphenhyphen6rfjgqEDejh-Lah11iWJ9IN0HzW_kE4Xx3qklOKQeckfOuAYElDYfy43sTTDd1K0j/s400/100_4323.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525484297252435538" /></a><br />When everything's done, put the noodles on a plate and scoop the roast/sauce mixture over the top. Sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYgVvFyH-bM3MeZtxBzaxeaye9R9oOG7Gslk6u4MLVRrnrByrNJk19LMKgir-hCVFmVBpkyGguCUFiuyckZXtMWiF5ErfNvmajefoaT7rcdXjahGOw9XgoKTBbTcYPkFzdO8XRnqzVURs/s1600/100_4324.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyYgVvFyH-bM3MeZtxBzaxeaye9R9oOG7Gslk6u4MLVRrnrByrNJk19LMKgir-hCVFmVBpkyGguCUFiuyckZXtMWiF5ErfNvmajefoaT7rcdXjahGOw9XgoKTBbTcYPkFzdO8XRnqzVURs/s400/100_4324.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5525484293275236194" /></a><br />I served it with a salad and my favorite dressing. It's homemade and AWESOME!! Due to the fact that we have NO CLEAN DISHES in the house except a plate and a bowl, we had to share. It was kind of like Lady and the Tramp, I almost swore I could hear "Bella Notte" in the background. Anyway, here's the recipe<br />Greek Dressing<br />2/3 cup olive oil<br />1/3 cup vinegar (any kind, red wine makes it a little sweeter than regular white)<br />1 tsp salt<br />1/2 tsp pepper<br />1/4 tsp oregano<br />1/4 tsp garlic powder<br />Mix ingredients in a jar and shake. Do not refrigerate or the oil will congeal.<br />The result? Total yumminess!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-56524704199052965282010-10-03T18:48:00.007-06:002010-10-03T19:28:31.211-06:00Kayla's first attempt at typical Sunday dinnerI made pot roast, garlic mashed potatoes, salad and homemade apple pie today and while I haven't tried the pie yet, everything else turned out AWESOME!!!!<br />For pot roast, I used my slow cooker and put my roast in this morning on high for an hour and then on low until we were ready for it. I only seasoned it with onion soup mix. For mashed potatoes, I pretty much wing it. I bake 4 potatoes in the microwave and then cut them up in the mixing bowl. Then I add milk, caesar dressing, garlic powder, garlic salt and regular salt to taste and beat it to a creamy consistancy with my beaters. They turned out great this time, didn't even need gravy!! And for the apple pie, I used 2 separate recipes, both from Mom. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivh5GDSpLL53iM5_Vq-I_0uFuFyoKO5eER0tXdPd3AXfztrdXyiaWBT20dNcBg1oguQ-o_CD5LL8O8wzXlQxSth7DsXd25Z73qZpCH9euyl-OdkiY8Pxn2YYWmEAYs2EcO40qKKS1Y74XW/s1600/100_4309.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivh5GDSpLL53iM5_Vq-I_0uFuFyoKO5eER0tXdPd3AXfztrdXyiaWBT20dNcBg1oguQ-o_CD5LL8O8wzXlQxSth7DsXd25Z73qZpCH9euyl-OdkiY8Pxn2YYWmEAYs2EcO40qKKS1Y74XW/s320/100_4309.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523995185494271762" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkGSnYVGp1kksdlgxuGltjl0Bq8jaDoTYC32NXO_aCrTw3R5hgUceNLtdEzreauzq9S_YIpjmATUfKDzm7DZTiZO-knU8VRVBO0gA3NV_hyphenhyphenhjFrMWqz9FPollgE4GjYt-93Q4Po-zeq5m/s1600/100_4314.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIkGSnYVGp1kksdlgxuGltjl0Bq8jaDoTYC32NXO_aCrTw3R5hgUceNLtdEzreauzq9S_YIpjmATUfKDzm7DZTiZO-knU8VRVBO0gA3NV_hyphenhyphenhjFrMWqz9FPollgE4GjYt-93Q4Po-zeq5m/s320/100_4314.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523994709503943058" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM10VIW27sC08gGG2EhTTCPdFH7hcjUdFbHvhrrtjyhX5bGDd9j3A7zeGp2rOgwI18qy6B62C21MDsaxff0VKyZ8TgBlmuATGSopLGbR8E5yPefKeYGruzb4j_rAntQ-xMbEgSEd6OhGyE/s1600/100_4315.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgM10VIW27sC08gGG2EhTTCPdFH7hcjUdFbHvhrrtjyhX5bGDd9j3A7zeGp2rOgwI18qy6B62C21MDsaxff0VKyZ8TgBlmuATGSopLGbR8E5yPefKeYGruzb4j_rAntQ-xMbEgSEd6OhGyE/s320/100_4315.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523994703802605890" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57-tk1nuZdyYC2rNFQ7EgXh9mwZWqsCmYpCm9Glo4crsSrEfUlMiWAH7Ro6tOlKMyp97o_zNxyC5O8jU_85ZvBNXCBElxNHRBQvgvOS8pYZn_dZ0lI3to3MCsZB8a0_JKx1WCdjmNaHfJ/s1600/100_4316.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg57-tk1nuZdyYC2rNFQ7EgXh9mwZWqsCmYpCm9Glo4crsSrEfUlMiWAH7Ro6tOlKMyp97o_zNxyC5O8jU_85ZvBNXCBElxNHRBQvgvOS8pYZn_dZ0lI3to3MCsZB8a0_JKx1WCdjmNaHfJ/s320/100_4316.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523993866948300386" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXb37Ml7JESRdmO4DB2T0PEd4l-jcX8nUmTK-07ZSgAJAWRJ8aq-v4KbUP6GAib6EMTyNJhPnQmo6d5lslkksgMeWXV3RQdV8zcwFil1TCOrEgWq597swsu-GiVBBv3wq2evYv85p7gqE/s1600/100_4317.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkXb37Ml7JESRdmO4DB2T0PEd4l-jcX8nUmTK-07ZSgAJAWRJ8aq-v4KbUP6GAib6EMTyNJhPnQmo6d5lslkksgMeWXV3RQdV8zcwFil1TCOrEgWq597swsu-GiVBBv3wq2evYv85p7gqE/s320/100_4317.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523993859528243650" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYaitdhh1gteudtpwLAlBP6IzsdC2OhT7Z6BchDjvQTAtWZcAwQujDVy59axV6Dcp_EsxedCAb368xyVcVbt_GdlgQ3fXgqBID-OMx04-8SUMOsuVYfy2-uMvvAb7nECaIAvAk3RHaYG3n/s1600/100_4318.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYaitdhh1gteudtpwLAlBP6IzsdC2OhT7Z6BchDjvQTAtWZcAwQujDVy59axV6Dcp_EsxedCAb368xyVcVbt_GdlgQ3fXgqBID-OMx04-8SUMOsuVYfy2-uMvvAb7nECaIAvAk3RHaYG3n/s320/100_4318.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523993853006058482" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNmEaCg9MAOkrzfRsa3letAjMGKj70b9OXAtjC-awh8Jr___jHYtTHD1W4aOfxT0eiv15geRC6VJz9lpW92QjqZyuCx5wJeAF6BFkqWbshgKrpQF0aYSC9A3wNjVVXOmClGWEjUxcm7u9/s1600/100_4319.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFNmEaCg9MAOkrzfRsa3letAjMGKj70b9OXAtjC-awh8Jr___jHYtTHD1W4aOfxT0eiv15geRC6VJz9lpW92QjqZyuCx5wJeAF6BFkqWbshgKrpQF0aYSC9A3wNjVVXOmClGWEjUxcm7u9/s320/100_4319.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523993845896280498" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQRMtcnHFy55-3nU8xRkee1WYZY981-KpOpjpudaz0Oxts3cOzAy3O3uAN5YcEryedVc3PWliZzJwQi_gfHbi7X_a0HxtPzxgmApti7raEuqFbCLx7ESKfLiQXHx0ByIsIzlXQFrGqB5S/s1600/100_4320.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqQRMtcnHFy55-3nU8xRkee1WYZY981-KpOpjpudaz0Oxts3cOzAy3O3uAN5YcEryedVc3PWliZzJwQi_gfHbi7X_a0HxtPzxgmApti7raEuqFbCLx7ESKfLiQXHx0ByIsIzlXQFrGqB5S/s320/100_4320.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523993839845321618" /></a><br />Also, here's the proof that we made waffles yesterday (they were delicious!) (for my family.... "I'm makin' WAFFLES!!").<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQVYyUqSSQp0yPg7axcUcI5r4_wbE0p2kYdDspEgu2kO5bLgWlxtto7hKXheS51GU9hzn-LnqK2mPVHKfno0jtYJxDMtDk-Ihy5hCZ4OxFcpIQILtuWau0EnlQKRGt7MeqYOKflYAtlSjr/s1600/100_4310.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQVYyUqSSQp0yPg7axcUcI5r4_wbE0p2kYdDspEgu2kO5bLgWlxtto7hKXheS51GU9hzn-LnqK2mPVHKfno0jtYJxDMtDk-Ihy5hCZ4OxFcpIQILtuWau0EnlQKRGt7MeqYOKflYAtlSjr/s320/100_4310.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523995176264571186" /></a><br />And here's all the decorations for Halloween I have up!!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffv23BXOiXnTLXu_aN1uPMzbfSiWBxxrZgSXTuEjIoZgx-iIJES70Ky05SSTuucf4bxJ_bSYVYQadiNuya887yICB9EvHl-5yJA6PS3MVEUWmOQq35A3eeU6YCsk2Sy0pW33TkVNnhFZd/s1600/100_4311.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgffv23BXOiXnTLXu_aN1uPMzbfSiWBxxrZgSXTuEjIoZgx-iIJES70Ky05SSTuucf4bxJ_bSYVYQadiNuya887yICB9EvHl-5yJA6PS3MVEUWmOQq35A3eeU6YCsk2Sy0pW33TkVNnhFZd/s320/100_4311.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523995166044524306" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9PdWv77cSA5F0ktFAZk6nM6I8sUgFn-ESk9gqFfgZsvYBvcUcVBr-t_t2_vVvpeR2pBQFpBd9aRR96inTdnnjoIFX6sxVtxYr9c2rFhKqGhMk-fTydnF7GwWIOnabm4qs4HYiGZ5p8JB/s1600/100_4312.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhj9PdWv77cSA5F0ktFAZk6nM6I8sUgFn-ESk9gqFfgZsvYBvcUcVBr-t_t2_vVvpeR2pBQFpBd9aRR96inTdnnjoIFX6sxVtxYr9c2rFhKqGhMk-fTydnF7GwWIOnabm4qs4HYiGZ5p8JB/s320/100_4312.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523994719892563426" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia9QX5TnOD2lW671N2gT7qRbwohrJGmYQHrzPpY7s6yvUYl9CI1R2JBJy6w3VuMeka8l8QAk7eWB5OPCSjPC-ivwu8Bi0RRzHlb8T4AyB1ZFfBqldlWRbU084JV1ro962EA22pKfdDBrGA/s1600/100_4313.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia9QX5TnOD2lW671N2gT7qRbwohrJGmYQHrzPpY7s6yvUYl9CI1R2JBJy6w3VuMeka8l8QAk7eWB5OPCSjPC-ivwu8Bi0RRzHlb8T4AyB1ZFfBqldlWRbU084JV1ro962EA22pKfdDBrGA/s320/100_4313.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5523994718623358914" /></a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-14104569677473846322010-09-17T17:54:00.003-06:002010-09-17T18:24:45.310-06:00Amazing Cold Relief!!I'm coming down with a massive cold. 2 days ago I had a bad sore throat that felt like strep during the night, so I scheduled a doctor appointment (I also had to refill a prescription... but that's besides the point). By the time I got to the doctor this morning, I had a runny nose and a bit of a cough, but no sore throat. I'd also been sneezing like mad during the night. I've been getting worse throughout the day and I finally asked to get out of tutoring lab tonight so I could go home and rest with tons of warm fluids, a blanket and my favorite person to cuddle with (I hope I don't get him sick). <br />Sometime after Christmas, I think, Josh started getting sick and was talking about this amazing tea that people in the Domincan Republic would serve him when he was getting sick. He said there was garlic, lemon and honey in it. Sounds gross, right? So I offered to look up a recipe and I made it for him. It smelled a little weird, as only the combo of lemon, honey and garlic would, but I agreed to try some too (He was probably giving me cooties anyway!). So I (bravely) swallowed a gulp... and it was actually really yummy!! Even Josh said so. He said only one family made it well and this recipe was exactly what it tasted like. So here it is, all you future cold sufferers!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUwfX7McnymspF-c-7-lSs5Q1rTMx-lIfRXEDR0qOlE-XnxI1JL1cZOwDXPfF8uE7cAGeoJrXLMhM8mIO8kQ6XUPDgoGsUsdxo_6YbcTCuNZ02lQdo5NNWOqlJPoPK-BHo5lpEVaugUxST/s1600/tea-cups.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 214px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUwfX7McnymspF-c-7-lSs5Q1rTMx-lIfRXEDR0qOlE-XnxI1JL1cZOwDXPfF8uE7cAGeoJrXLMhM8mIO8kQ6XUPDgoGsUsdxo_6YbcTCuNZ02lQdo5NNWOqlJPoPK-BHo5lpEVaugUxST/s320/tea-cups.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5518040313491370434" /></a>Garlic Tea<br />3 cups water<br />3 cloves, halved or 1-1/2 tsp minced garlic<br />1/2 cup lemon juice<br />1/2 cup honey<br />Put water and garlic into a saucepan and heat until boiling. Remove from heat and add lemon and honey (you may need to clean the honey off the measuring cup by stirring it in the tea). Strain. <br /><br />Photo courtesy of netcharles.comUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-56853004174563204532010-09-11T13:33:00.006-06:002010-09-11T14:49:04.139-06:00Horseshoes, Hammers and 9/11The Horseshoe Sandwich was a success!! (It also gave me a chance to make Josh cook something- the burgers!) Check it out!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4zXqQhRXBijIWn1z1SCZYra2v798aZkoCteu1M1_UAtSmoyBBX5MQMV5jk3qdY1S8XlDiro4W5-gYVesvq21tbLHKuWYIR8-4sGXOhk4Mx8X7Cfe3JMmwMiItGU2iMgk7w3obibaeaVMx/s1600/100_4298.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4zXqQhRXBijIWn1z1SCZYra2v798aZkoCteu1M1_UAtSmoyBBX5MQMV5jk3qdY1S8XlDiro4W5-gYVesvq21tbLHKuWYIR8-4sGXOhk4Mx8X7Cfe3JMmwMiItGU2iMgk7w3obibaeaVMx/s400/100_4298.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515742979431112674" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95av-tJ1JsNaQZSWGxLtK6dkVlsDifBTrXWRqvpGTKdNy7QSxOMUp944jOoBAV_YsZ804YJtCQ7IMCv3N6P7TyXQxLxLAJdFd2C9QmB9WqLJjdbaEBqpZzVd3rN27pacq4A6zATh4vJPS/s1600/100_4299.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh95av-tJ1JsNaQZSWGxLtK6dkVlsDifBTrXWRqvpGTKdNy7QSxOMUp944jOoBAV_YsZ804YJtCQ7IMCv3N6P7TyXQxLxLAJdFd2C9QmB9WqLJjdbaEBqpZzVd3rN27pacq4A6zATh4vJPS/s400/100_4299.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515742995693645730" /></a><br />Again, it's Texas Toast on the bottom (you can find it in the freezer section, we used Garlic flavor), a burger, fries (crinkle cut was a good idea, steak fries would work great too) and cheese sauce (we used Ragu double cheddar). It's yummy!!!<br />Started school yesterday. I have no idea how I'm going to get all this work done, but somehow I always manage. My Classical Mechanics teacher was actually pretty inspirational yesterday. He told us that, as physics students, if we've made it this far, we're not dumb! He said at this level of school, if a problem takes 20 minutes or less to solve, it's probably too easy. So we're not allowed to degrade ourselves in anyway from now on. I think I'm actually going to like his class (surprising, since I hated his 123 class)!<br />We inherited a set of shelves from my old roommate and they were absolute crap! The back was laminate and it was practically accordianing, not attached to the bottom or top of the shelves. The top shelf had fallen out and wouldn't stay up and the other shelves were pretty much useless until the top was on. So we fixed it!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUm_I8wjwtVrjTCzRnMYtKtw7sxyjH7c7zUYgeDpwDFUOet2fbDA1UZoa7n7VPMtu196lzFA22e3me75_5FuWigba42rmIzy4S4ieEExfUcPwQ0KuBsNltQ0la5-RejSjMl52q_y1rUPL/s1600/100_4300.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvUm_I8wjwtVrjTCzRnMYtKtw7sxyjH7c7zUYgeDpwDFUOet2fbDA1UZoa7n7VPMtu196lzFA22e3me75_5FuWigba42rmIzy4S4ieEExfUcPwQ0KuBsNltQ0la5-RejSjMl52q_y1rUPL/s400/100_4300.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515751649885488434" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1NTY4CtmOvb2SJsiFtccxN9ccf4b117XZRCpJCHtr8rfmiJVg5YIsL_OYs60F7f_V0CtthpiwFm9VIKGDMBvzqRQ6KekRxNcH4ejZRvUgXWIDsGv04TZ1ZBMDb3dYZMsX2a_S6qMjJ7Q/s1600/100_4301.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1NTY4CtmOvb2SJsiFtccxN9ccf4b117XZRCpJCHtr8rfmiJVg5YIsL_OYs60F7f_V0CtthpiwFm9VIKGDMBvzqRQ6KekRxNcH4ejZRvUgXWIDsGv04TZ1ZBMDb3dYZMsX2a_S6qMjJ7Q/s400/100_4301.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515751662276388258" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRP2Q0SUEaH9kI7typrHbPTzlNp4Cv5mH03GyrNK978iYQ2ltGs4QH_iKyiRRqo3iX3Mt0C9dT-cazvB-aldi9P_sWBtUxmX5CQtxg4PHXMHmPAwjnMgAmoK0nf_0u0HAq88tIA3Huroo/s1600/100_4302.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhRP2Q0SUEaH9kI7typrHbPTzlNp4Cv5mH03GyrNK978iYQ2ltGs4QH_iKyiRRqo3iX3Mt0C9dT-cazvB-aldi9P_sWBtUxmX5CQtxg4PHXMHmPAwjnMgAmoK0nf_0u0HAq88tIA3Huroo/s400/100_4302.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515751674205060242" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjnKuXOUYW64KmyE9Yr3GXOiHPaNXGHg05wYyGpXmTuvkqfMmfCxwlixOeMV6golP0MbsrJkRMe3WS-WQV-ZRi2P-xz6px57d-cW2BGE1U24Biw9Nh4Z-3dMX9U3imTHHcMnFpQXEEdO8/s1600/100_4303.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijjnKuXOUYW64KmyE9Yr3GXOiHPaNXGHg05wYyGpXmTuvkqfMmfCxwlixOeMV6golP0MbsrJkRMe3WS-WQV-ZRi2P-xz6px57d-cW2BGE1U24Biw9Nh4Z-3dMX9U3imTHHcMnFpQXEEdO8/s400/100_4303.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515752692867202930" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1AvnsbllgfrcXVuXUweLnmuFw_VS3SKSsISg6mOq09ElgoCadAQ7QpfSQYQ5fnqzfUn96ja2BoJAPUrkdxZfWmoLFDN5w9evokir2qCi-iMT7NoaKjMPED2HuhevHm35lk_5Z3-_ex_T/s1600/100_4304.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhu1AvnsbllgfrcXVuXUweLnmuFw_VS3SKSsISg6mOq09ElgoCadAQ7QpfSQYQ5fnqzfUn96ja2BoJAPUrkdxZfWmoLFDN5w9evokir2qCi-iMT7NoaKjMPED2HuhevHm35lk_5Z3-_ex_T/s400/100_4304.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515751688398327698" /></a><br />Now we finally have a spot to put our movies where they won't fall out in the back!!<br />I finally took pictures of our bathroom. Enjoy!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYXDDAUfPWFyy2wG_NtqFCH8oQWZMkZGZZxQyEWqcSlijGpF27x_I209vU5Z369S6Y7b5YHHJEcXxdWRMN4UTNUw6NV58krwJwqfj9QToTMoXnDIyLH62TJFU82ImnmKk-Qmbf88bqmHJK/s1600/100_4305.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYXDDAUfPWFyy2wG_NtqFCH8oQWZMkZGZZxQyEWqcSlijGpF27x_I209vU5Z369S6Y7b5YHHJEcXxdWRMN4UTNUw6NV58krwJwqfj9QToTMoXnDIyLH62TJFU82ImnmKk-Qmbf88bqmHJK/s400/100_4305.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515751697882284482" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvkLjXexcBZzoVWFpn35nhT2CR06fpfw1V3mOBuR7IBUtvIGjeoSGtvH947yRoxqnoe89ki5wIP4XCC2j35BBJyyCjiLh1qJvJsOTSLv92jLWoqMEKW1SzaAYOr8k5gli7KPRlMdkzhrV/s1600/100_4308.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguvkLjXexcBZzoVWFpn35nhT2CR06fpfw1V3mOBuR7IBUtvIGjeoSGtvH947yRoxqnoe89ki5wIP4XCC2j35BBJyyCjiLh1qJvJsOTSLv92jLWoqMEKW1SzaAYOr8k5gli7KPRlMdkzhrV/s400/100_4308.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515753938029960402" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDCfyD-FpsVeEmFdx-PUGax_9AxAOZwmQxCusJylgOQS-ByRYB_X40OX2MmkJWMoagCZxAWgt9ZDNwYegSMkZzHoSleZkNUiQMaFWSbqUVDoNe6omDpjRIV2zClJTRaYUUT19G28rtmRMJ/s1600/100_4307.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDCfyD-FpsVeEmFdx-PUGax_9AxAOZwmQxCusJylgOQS-ByRYB_X40OX2MmkJWMoagCZxAWgt9ZDNwYegSMkZzHoSleZkNUiQMaFWSbqUVDoNe6omDpjRIV2zClJTRaYUUT19G28rtmRMJ/s400/100_4307.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515753925973928466" /></a><br /><br />As it is September 11, I just want to say a few things. First, I was 12 when it happened and I was the first in my family to find out about it. I think I woke up about 6:00 Pacific Time and the announcers said that the Trade Towers had been hit by planes. I was so shocked that I didn't even bother to do my morning routine. I just got into clothes and listened for any information I could get (appalled, by the way, that they would even joke about it. "Uh-oh, the Space Needle's next" is not an appropriate comment for the situation... though, I guess everyone was in shock and really didn't know how to act about this). As I listened, the 3rd plane hit the Pentagon and they thought a bomb had gone off. When Dad came to get me for breakfast, I came out yelling, "America's under attack!" I'm sure Dad thought I was just being dramatic, but I told him we needed to turn on the TV. As we ran downstairs, I quickly explained what was happening and I could barely believe the words were coming out of my mouth. We watched as both towers collapsed. Then, reluctantly, I ate a fast breakfast and went to my bus stop. Usually noisy, my stop was absolutely silent. When we got to school, we were told that we were not allowed to talk about what had happened. This was typical for the Puyallup school district, as we were not allowed to do anything that might offend someone. Christmas Break and Christmas Concert (where mostly Christmas music was played) were refered to as Winter break and Winter concert. We were not allowed on Halloween to dress up as witches, because "it offends the Wiccans" and other costumes were also banned (a boy I know was sent home in tears because they told him he couldn't dress up as a fairy because that was cross-dressing). I was angry that on such an important day in history, we weren't even allowed to talk about what was going on, how we felt, and ask why this had happened. We of course made a poster to send to Ground Zero, but besides that, it's like it never happened. It just makes me sad how some people can be patriotic when tradgedy strikes and a few days later go back to bashing the president and blaming him for everything. <br />Also, I'd just like to point out that today is not a day to be anti- Muslim (or any day, for that matter). Muslims didn't do this. They don't believe in terrorism. To say that they are responsible is like saying all Mormons practice polygamy. Those who commited these terrible acts are not true Muslims. Trust me, I know. Of my closest friends, 2 are Muslim and one I consider one of my best friends. They are more faithful to their religion than some Mormons I've met. To them, all I have to say is Happy Belated Eid and I'm sorry that most Americans are dumb enough to believe people as good as you could have done this. God Bless America.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-2589287000080998782010-09-09T15:47:00.006-06:002010-09-09T16:36:25.244-06:00The old married couple starts school....We got our Internet back!!!<br />Today was the first day of school! I didn't have class, but I went anyway. I'm super excited, though. I'm taking 4 classes: Money Management, History and Philosophy of Science, Classical Mechanics and Electricity and Magnetism. I'm really starting to get into the hard-core stuff in my major and it looks like it's going to be lots of fun!!<br />Josh went to class today. I'm pretty sure he went to Old Testament, Medical Law and Ethics, and Medical Terminology. He was so excited when he came out of Medical Terminology, he was going on and on about how fun it was going to be to actually start learning things that are going to help him in his career. I don't blame him AT ALL!! I'm excited for him too! Tomorrow he has Spanish, a class on managing provider organizations (whatever that is...), and Healthcare Strategy. He has also applied for a job at Madison Memorial as a receiving clerk and we're both hoping that he gets it, because, as he says, there's only so much you can learn about administrating a hospital in class. It would be great if he could get the job so 1) he doesn't have to go back to Western Wats (which he hates) and 2) so he can get some street cred, so to speak, in his field.<br />Spent an awesome day yesterday with my best friend who just got off his mission and his brother. We showed him around campus and then fed the ducks in Nature Park. Here are some pictures:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgagiFpWk4jKwZS3gHzWAS-6DKRw-h0xLGnt8AKfiyn0WolXmKaEvUL6Pr6k2E2WG5QwNKbEcYBveEbPd5bqudzRvG-8vNiKYenAItY0dSx2KNxajGLSy8pYDvepxBuMy-UMWLgWrXV1mWN/s1600/100_4280.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgagiFpWk4jKwZS3gHzWAS-6DKRw-h0xLGnt8AKfiyn0WolXmKaEvUL6Pr6k2E2WG5QwNKbEcYBveEbPd5bqudzRvG-8vNiKYenAItY0dSx2KNxajGLSy8pYDvepxBuMy-UMWLgWrXV1mWN/s320/100_4280.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515039679326098402" /></a><br />My two favorite guys in the whole world!!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrxdVW_am-thYCf7qEx0Y3sKhO5C_w0h-jpIUN3uxGk8CmVfKaIeM1gKqSBTS6-11RzyIi5Os3CoFjiAmi9IL1g3bPYcOSLpIWywqH-KvtLHb9TpnnDVoh5OWlyMOS8PHMLDMX-5Gct5U/s1600/100_4281.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjrxdVW_am-thYCf7qEx0Y3sKhO5C_w0h-jpIUN3uxGk8CmVfKaIeM1gKqSBTS6-11RzyIi5Os3CoFjiAmi9IL1g3bPYcOSLpIWywqH-KvtLHb9TpnnDVoh5OWlyMOS8PHMLDMX-5Gct5U/s320/100_4281.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515039688026684882" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-6SZAonzQD-fsGcsXltyxUA2AmcKqhys9TfmHMPcczRgsCe0chmQYBZ63l4-b4qVss6pbDqZtS4XnM7YHFOryjpytY9usbODaAWDfZ1mSImg0zaZV5iIWjHiEQqeb1NdYP_CuE7u563-/s1600/100_4282.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH-6SZAonzQD-fsGcsXltyxUA2AmcKqhys9TfmHMPcczRgsCe0chmQYBZ63l4-b4qVss6pbDqZtS4XnM7YHFOryjpytY9usbODaAWDfZ1mSImg0zaZV5iIWjHiEQqeb1NdYP_CuE7u563-/s320/100_4282.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515039695539656242" /></a><br />Look at those studly men!!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9fER6dmmmg8w1gDu7rTwpsweOUbgbBit9enFsPR-_O6ymzw4ujlrThzEuwQMY3cXt6nKoBjdaE7rgIyPSDw45I8uWsjOqj2R0LnOa6sEoSH3B5-So1ECDBW2TsK_ACFbkFAH1iEWuAPUk/s1600/100_4292.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9fER6dmmmg8w1gDu7rTwpsweOUbgbBit9enFsPR-_O6ymzw4ujlrThzEuwQMY3cXt6nKoBjdaE7rgIyPSDw45I8uWsjOqj2R0LnOa6sEoSH3B5-So1ECDBW2TsK_ACFbkFAH1iEWuAPUk/s320/100_4292.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5515039709980085858" /></a><br />This is Nate, my best friend. Him, me and our other friend Kiersten were the Three Musketeers of the Oshkosh Ward since we were about 16. When we were 19, he went to Uruguay to serve a 2-year mission for the church and Kiersten and I went to BYU-Idaho. Now Kiersten's on a mission in Spokane, WA, I'm married and Nate's starting his freshman year.<br />Now take another look at the guy. He's pretty good-looking (and I'm saying this honestly and as a friend (I think Josh looks better, but I may be biased)), so I knew the girls were going to be all over him. Freshman Orientation was going to be bad because, let's face it: Freshman girls at BYU-Idaho have the same idea. Meet a guy, get engaged before Christmas break, and married after April. I know, I used to be one. It's bad. No sooner do we get on campus with Nate and his brother than we walk past 2 freshman girls who both in earshatteringly shrill voices holler "Hi Nate!!" in unison. Now I'm sure they're both really nice girls, but can you be more obvious?! A few steps away, he shutters and says, "yeah, I have stalkers." The whole attitude of freshman girls up here is scaring him and he claims that he will spend most of his time in his room whenever girls come out. <br />Enough about the freshman... I've found there's always something about the whole population that you will find annoying, even in college. But I have known some really nice freshman, so I'm not totally bashing on the whole group.<br />I just realized I hadn't put my groceries away and when I went to open the freezer, the box of donuts I got fell off the top of the fridge and hit me before dropping a maple-frosted donut frosting-side-down onto the floor. Scared the bejeepers off my dear husband in the other room. ATTACK OF THE KILLER DONUTS!!!<br />We saw this good looking sandwich on the Travel channel show "Man Vs Food" called a horseshoe sandwich. It's from Springfield, Illinois and apparently is only found there. It's an openfaced sandwich made of (from bottom to top) Texas Toast, hamburger patty, (or whatever meat you want, some one on the show had a buffalo chicken one!) French fries and cheese sauce. So we're going to try it tonight and we'll see how it works.<br />Looks like the sun's trying to come out on this cold, rainy day. Maybe I better start cookin!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-23809615791389501932010-05-26T22:46:00.002-06:002010-05-26T23:19:59.712-06:004 weeks and counting...Four more weeks of being single!!!<br />I'm in Boise working at Zurchers (a party and wedding store). It's getting lonely here despite being with my family. Josh and I talk on the phone every night, but that doesn't stop me missing him like CRAZY!!! That and my best friend Kiersten left on her mission a month ago today. <br />At least I have something closer to look forward to than the wedding. in a little more than a week, Mom, Dad and I will be loading everything that belongs to me up in a Uhaul and driving to Rexburg. I will then be spending the 2 weeks leading up to the time we leave on a twin-sized air mattress as my queen bed will be in Rexburg with Josh. On the 17th, the plan is for Josh to come over from Rexburg and stay until we leave for Seattle on the 19th. <br />In other news, plans are coming along! I've decided what to get Josh for his present, though I have to wait for my tax return or my next paycheck before I can get it so i can help with rent. We picked up my wedding dress a week and a half ago, got it bustled on Monday and we're picking it up from Sweetheart Manor next Thursday after it is steamed. <br />I also have Josh's ring. He wanted a tungsten band, so that's what I got! Just waiting to see him again so I can make sure it fits.<br />We got some of the favors done on Monday and we have a few still left to make before we're all ready to go. But other than that, things are moving along great! Counting the days!!!<br />KaylaUnknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-84920801722934524922010-03-15T17:30:00.002-06:002010-03-15T18:04:38.357-06:00Update on plans and such...It's been quite a ride these past few months. Mom is busy busy busy arranging everything perfectly for June. Josh and I have gotten through midterms and are preparing for finals and summer plans. I'm still working my tutoring job and I have been busier than ever!! The Lord has truly blessed me with enough hours to get the money I need to survive. He continues to bless both me and Josh. 2 weeks ago, as we were on our way to Arctic Circle for Friday date night, Josh got called into Western Wats for a job interview. He got the job and is now rockin it! Instead of working 6 days a week at 4 AM, he now works 6-10 PM Tuesday through Thursday and 8-12 on Saturday mornings. This is great for a number of reasons. First, he is more energetic than ever before! Who'd have thought sleeping through the night could make someone even more fun than before? Another thing, because he works at night, I can usually get more done. Like actually studying for things... and not finishing a reading assignment 15 minutes before class.<br />Our sealing has finally been scheduled for 11:00 in the Seattle temple on June 24. The reception is from 4-6 that same night. It's pretty exciting to have it officially official. Just today, we made our reservations for where we're staying in Leavenworth. It's a cute little German town up in the mountains with plenty of shops, leiderhosen, and trails in the forest. Ok, I'm kidding about the leiderhosen. But our bed and breakfast is just outside f town and it's so cute!! Here's the link: http://www.s-escape.com/Rooms2.htm We are staying in the Little cottage suite and apparently the breakfast is gourmet (click on the breakfast link on the side of the website to see it!) After 3 nights in Leavenworth, we'll travel through Boise, stay the night at our new apartment and continue onto Yellowstone for a few days of camping and nature!<br />As for the summer up leading up to the wedding, I will be heading home to Boise after school lets out. I've gotten my old job at Zurchers back, and I'll try for a second job as well. Josh will be staying in Rexburg and working at Western Wats for sure. He'll look for another job as well. He'll stay in his apartment until June 4th when my family and I will help him move into our apartment. Lucky boy gets a queen size bed all to himself for a couple of weeks. Then again... I get it for two months before he does, so...<br />It may be a while before we post anything else, so at the very least, we'll post stuff after the wedding. Hasta luego!!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-40140788935219059072010-01-29T21:01:00.004-07:002010-01-29T23:00:30.587-07:00Engagementness!!J: So its official, we're engaged. I think its kinda funny that the last post was Kayla talking about how she was okay with me taking my time with the proposal and everything. Little did she know that I had had everything underway and was planning it all right under her nose.<div>K: I figured it was, I just wasn't going to push it.</div><div>J: sure she says that now but she was pretty surprised all the same.</div><div>K: Ok seriously? How long does it take to make a phone call? On Thursday, he stepped out to "go to the bathroom" in the Hart building since he can't use my bathroom. After Reading an entire chapter on Hinduism and taking about a half-hour nap, he finally comes back. I figured he was talking to Dad, i'd just convinced myself that he was going to do it closer to my birthday.</div><div>J: alright so maybe i wasn't the most subtle but i did the best with what i had. How exactly do you keep secrets from someone you spend all of your time outside of class and within curfew with. It's pretty tough, let me tell ya.</div><div>K: that and your roommates bugging you about when your "package" is going to arrive.</div><div>J: not to mention moms calling and asking if its arrived while a certain someone is sitting right next to you eavesdropping. </div><div>K: HEY, i couldn't help it.</div><div>J: I had it tough but i still managed to pull a trick or two out of my sleeves. So this is how it went down (we'll both tell our different side of things so you get the whole picture kay) The day i got the package with the ring in it was indeed Thursday. I had decided to call her Dad as soon as I got it. Therefore I had a dilemma how in the world to sneak away to call him. So yes i claimed i had to go to the bathroom. I figured it wouldn't take too long... I was wrong. So i went to a place on campus and went running around all over trying to find a private place to talk. Unfortunately it happened to be game night in that particular building (basketball, battleship and various other sports) so after searching fruitlessly for an empty room i had to run to Another building to try to find some privacy. The problem this time was all the classroom doors in this building were locked. So finally I just found a secluded bench to sit on and call. Needless to say i was a little nervous (I'd never exactly asked someone for their daughter's hand in marriage before) despite the fact that Kayla's Dad is one of the coolest people ever. All in all we had a great conversation and I had nothing to be nervous about. And of course he gave his permission.</div><div>So after that all i had to do was set my plans in motion. I decided to get my roommates and hers involved somehow. She had also mentioned before that she had always wanted to get roses (I think thats something every girl secretly wants) so i made sure to include that in my plans. I decided to set up a treasure hunt marking out some of the most special places we've been to. At first i thought of making her run all over rexburg picking up clues and getting way tired (I thought that might be a little cruel) but i decided to have her visit the 3 places we went on our first date. The 3 places we went to were a gelato place called Dolce Vita, a park, and a building on campus. </div><div>K: Yeah, i know that sounds like a lame first date, but it was the best one i've ever been on!!</div><div>J: Ouch! I thought that was a really good first date, we talked, we laughed, and...</div><div>K: Froze our butts off!!</div><div>J: HAHA, yes that too. Anyway so I decided to set up the treasure hunt so that she would meet someone at each location with a rose and a small wooden box with a clue inside. So on Saturday I set my plan into action. Normally Kayla and I go to the temple on Saturdays but had we done that things would not have gone according to plan, so the roomies and I decided to go to the temple early for two reasons. A) to go to the temple and B) to kick my plan into action. So after our session we drove by her complex and i snuck up to her doorstep and dropped off two roses and the first wooden box. I dropped it off at about 11:30.</div><div>K: I was exhausted from the night before, so I slept in pretty well. Around 11, my roommate Elizabeth's alarm went off a few times before we finally decided to get up. I got up first and walked out to the living room to check my Facebook. I had a message from my best friend Kiersten telling me to call her, so I did. As I was doing this, My roommate Sarah was leaving and she opened the door and said, "Kayla, come over here." So I get up (with Kiersten still on the phone) and I start screaming into the phone. Kiersten's all, "what?" and I'm like, "There's roses and a little wooden box on my doorstep!!" So she starts freaking out too and is like, "You know what this means, don't you?" Then of course, being the over-analyzing people we are, we're just like, well, what if he's trying to throw me off and it's just a really creative date? Anyway, here is what the note said...</div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Kayla,</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Now you have the wonderful opportunity to go on a tresure hunt, At each location, you'll find someone with a clue which will lead you to another location. THere's only one rule: have fun and enjoy the trip. Oh and don't forget to dress warm.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Here's your first clue:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">At 4:30 take a stroll to this place</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Don't worry you don't have to race</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Here we enjoyed 8 flavors of a delicious treat</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">On our first date we enjoyed this treat that just can't be beat</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Now get going and make sure to have fun</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; ">This is just the beginning you're far from done</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; "><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; ">So basically, I couldn't concentrate for the WHOLE DAY!!!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; ">J: which stunk for me too by the way, I was pacing all day!</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; ">K: I got one homework assignment done, a journal entry. I finished at about 3:15 and then went to get myself prettifyed... I curled my hair. Then at 4:30 I walked out the door headed to Dolce Vita</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; ">When I got there, it was closed and no one was waiting for me. I sat on a bench for a little while, then after about 10 minutes, I broke down and called Josh (who of course didn't pick up). I basically told him my clue wasn't here and what was I supposed to do?</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; ">J: In the meantime i was heading off towards my part of this whole thing to get everything ready. Then I got a call from Matthew (the man with the first clue, my roommate) and he couldn't find the place. It was about 4:40 at that point and i felt very sorry for Kayla. I drove very fast back the direction i had come. While i was driving i got a call from Kayla which i wanted to answer....really really badly, but i couldn't, half of the whole operation was building suspense. So i picked up Matthew and dropped him off inconspicuously and then raced off before Kayla saw me. So things were underway with only a slight hiccup.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">K: I was panicking in my head, thinking what if he like dropped the note off in the store and they closed before they could give it to me? Then Matthew comes around the corner and it's like all the worrying went away. He handed me a rose and a little wooden box, then waited to watch me open it. Inside was the next clue:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Now head to a place we would visit whether light or dark</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">A special place known as a park</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Here we shared our first kiss</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">A memory that we won't ever miss</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Here my love for you exponentially grew</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Kayla Marie Hyatt I love you</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Once I knew where I was going, I let Matthew go home and I walked to Porter Park. I came from the opposite side of where my clue was waiting, so it seemed interminable to get to where I spotted a red-head sitting on a swing. It was John, Josh's roommate and he also had a rose and a small wooden box for me. Here is what my clue said this time:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Now head to campus where we did something silly</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">We ran around all willy-nilly</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Here we switched the D and the E</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">You couldn't help but laugh at me</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Here we had lots of fun</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Now keep on looking you're almost done</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">So i walked back to the Hart Building where, on our first date, we went to continue talking and get warm. The D and E part? The sections in the Hart Auditorium are labeled by letter and we noticed that someone had switched the D and the E around and they weren't in the right places, so we switched them back. Well, I got there and Elizabeth was sitting up in the bleachers between the D and E and my rose was stuck underneath the D. The box was right beside it and inside was:</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Honey just trust me</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">You won't be able to see</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Don't worry, you aren't going to the moon</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">You'll be at my side real soon</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">Princess you're as pretty as a dove</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">You I will forever love</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">I had NO idea what that meant, so I asked Elizabeth and all she said was, "Come with me." She walked me out to her car and then said, "Oh by the way, I have to blindfold you." Then she drove me over to Nature Park, where Josh was waiting for me.<br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">J: Yep thats right i had her kidnapped but it was only temporary. As i mentioned before this was tough for me too. Kayla was going around talking to people and doing stuff, and generally having a good time. I on the other hand was waiting at nature park, freezing and being generally impatient and antsy. However as soon as i saw Elizabeth drive up with a blindfolded Kayla in the passenger seat i had two reactions. 1) I had the urge to fall over laughing, seeing Kayla sitting there blindfolded was pretty hilarious and 2) immense relief. Then I opened Kayla's door...</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">K: As soon as Elizabeth turned off the car, my door opened. I was using every sense i had to figure out what was going on. As soon as i felt the cold air i asked "why did my door open so fast?"</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">J: At this point i leaned over and kissed her, which of course surprised her a lot. Then she said "Hi" and i said "Hi." Looking back on this moment i couldn't help but think of spiderman. Anyway so i took her out of the car and Elizabeth drove off. Then i led her blindfolded over to the beginning of the path. I then unblinded her and we took a moment to watch the sunset on the horizon.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">K: It was really pretty. It had been overcast all day and there was a break in the clouds precisely where the sun was setting. The clouds were bright orange and pink just for this occasion. Couldn't have been better if Josh arranged it himself.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">J: So from that comment alone i think you can all understand why i love this woman so very much. Anyway so i led her down the path for a little ways then asked her to stop at a certain spot and asked her to cover her eyes again. Then I pushed her the rest of the way. Then i lined her up exactly where i wanted her and stepped back.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">K: Everything about this was perfect. He told me I could open my eyes on the count of three. So I did, and out on the frozen pond were written the words "Will you marry me?" He gave me just enough time to absorb what was going on before he softly called my name. I turned around and he was on one knee with my ring in his hand. What happened next was fairly obvious: he asked and I said yes.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">J: So yes earlier that day i had gone out on the frozen lake (which was slightly less frozen than it had been when we visited it the sunday before) and stomped out "Will you marry me?" I just want to say that when she turned around she was the most beautiful girl in the whole world. I very nearly couldn't get the words out to ask her i was so stunned. But i asked her and she said yes and the rest is history. I managed to get the ring on her finger (a much more difficult task than one might think) and then we were engaged (not just practically engaged). We both left the park with ridiculously big grins on our faces.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">After that we drove down to Idaho Falls to Texas Roadhouse. We had to wait a little while (which was just fine since we had quite a few calls to make) and had a delicious dinner (I ate way too much, haha).</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;">K: Everything was perfect.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span></div>joshhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15845674141168269010noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-84510281942167171712010-01-22T11:42:00.002-07:002010-01-22T12:43:42.792-07:00School so far...This semester will be interesting...<br />Not only is there school and work to worry about like normal, but also wedding and marriage planning! Although thanks to my mom, the whole wedding planning is mostly being taken care of. (Thanks mom! I love you!!)<br />School alone would be interesting enough. I'm taking modern physics (which is stuff like relativity, quantum and nuclear physics and cosmology), 2 family classes (Family Relations and Parenting), World Religion (which I'm taking with Josh!), and a welding class. Yes, welding. As in hot torches and melting metal. It's actually fun the more I do it and get better. And I'm less scared of sparks! I already put my leather gloves to the test by accidentally grabbing a piece of metal that had been cherry red a few seconds before. Anyway, that's a wide range of subjects. <br />In terms of work, Because I have less credits to work on (and they're easier) I've upped my number of hours. And I've taken on a new class to teach. I found out one day while I was working in the tutoring lab that because I tutor for 121, I can also tutor for 105. So I got added as a tutor for that class and my business has doubled! Most of my students are 105ers. (See? the Lord really does provide for the faithful!!)<br />Bit of news: We've set a wedding date! We'll be getting married June 24 in the Seattle temple. Why June 24? It is a weekday... A few reasons.. The first one is that June 24 is the day I got sealed to my parents in Seattle. We both thought it would be cool to share that date. The other one is that June is a busy month at the temple (Thanks to Grandma Heller for the info!). On Saturdays especially! So doing it on a weekday would probably mean that we wouldn't be as rushed in the ceremony. <br />On another note, I've already ordered my dress, bought my shoes and gotten Megan's dress. I love both the dresses!! Meg's is really pretty, it's navy blue in kind of a mermaid style (with out being tight around the torso area) with flower decorations. And I love how it looks on her because her eyes really pop in that color! My dress is an A-line with a ribbon at empire waist that's kind of an inverted v. It has a square neckline and lots of beading. But I like the beading because it's subtle. It's all over the bodice and then starts to trail off as it gets closer to the hem. I LOVE IT!!! Wish i had a picture to post, but unfortunately it's got me in the picture wearing it and we wouldn't want to let Josh see that, would we?<br />So with all this, it's kind of funny to watch people's reactions when they see I'm not wearing a ring (ok, disclaimer. I am not being impatient for it because I know that Josh has a plan and I'm going to get it eventually. I'm not complaining about "how slow" he's going). In fact, I have one friend, Berthier (it's pronounced bear-tee-ay, he's Haitian), who whenever he sees me, will check my left hand. It's funny, because other people are hounding Josh about proposing A LOT more than I am. I'll tease him occasionally, but I'm not worried at all<br />It's time for class, so I'll go. Until next time!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-36247694891404434092009-12-27T12:06:00.004-07:002009-12-27T12:35:16.091-07:00Adventures in Texas, Part 2!Monday morning rolls around and I wake up to the smell of good food. No, actually I woke up to Josh knocking on my door and telling me there was good food. He and his dad had gotten up and gone someplace to get colachees (I don't know how to spell it, so sound it out), breakfast tacos and donut holes. The first thing i tried was a colachee. It looks like a mini hot-dog bun. I bit into it and there was a sausage and melted cheese on the inside... very yummy!! My breakfast taco was basically a burrito with egg, cheese and sausage in it, with salsa to dip. Also delicious. Josh didn't get a breakfast taco or anything special, so he felt a need to hog the colachees (he had 4). So there was a lot of teasing... After we all got ready, we packed in the truck and drove around Austin, going to a lake and enjoying nature (and the warm weather!! VERY nice change from Rexburg weather). Then we went to a park really close to downtown. Austin is bigger than i expected. The only real state capital I've ever been to is Boise (oh and Olympia, WA) and both are pretty small, from what I remember, so I wasn't expecting skyscrapers. We drove around a bit downtown, through the University campus and then back to the house. The boys went disc golfing and I stayed home with Taylor and Sister Cameron (My back was hurting). After some TV watching and such, I had a very nice conversation with Sister Cameron. I think she's going to be a really great mother-in-law... and I mean that!! We're a lot alike.<br />When the boys came back, we lounged for a few minutes and then went to Texas Roadhouse (Best restaurant ever!! especially since we were REALLY in Texas!!). Afterwards, Josh's parents dropped all of us kids off at a place called Main Event. For those of you from Wisconsin, this place is like a Funset Boulevard. It has bowling, pool, arcade games and laser tag. So we did some games and a little laser tag. I came in 7th on my team, so out of 13 or 14 people, that's not bad. Josh and Zack were dominating, though. I played a few shooting games at the arcade, got 1st place on Guitar Hero, and played Taylor on air hockey (I won 7-0... sorry Taylor!!). It was a really fun evening. <br />The next morning, Josh and I went shopping... ring shopping!!! And we found my ring. (I'm writing this on 12-27. Yesterday he called me and said he bought it!!!) Here's a picture...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jgoB3bX2kOdwanizwoZfgOK1cJALwVqzr0d3ZFb6Y7hVKUbkXezy8okD_vW9cy-IwCS1KySO5kXGSbhUgcOJdily01q55b3-_f1bFspDCdRZJYnq8NS9pSJSMujlfgOh2Mzu08OYyrAc/s1600-h/pZALE1-4064816t400.jpg"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1jgoB3bX2kOdwanizwoZfgOK1cJALwVqzr0d3ZFb6Y7hVKUbkXezy8okD_vW9cy-IwCS1KySO5kXGSbhUgcOJdily01q55b3-_f1bFspDCdRZJYnq8NS9pSJSMujlfgOh2Mzu08OYyrAc/s320/pZALE1-4064816t400.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5419999804417850210" /></a><br />Then we went to Whataburger (good food!!) and went to Walmart so I could get part of Josh's Christmas present. He wanted a fleece blanket that's double thick and tied like the one I have. They didn't have any fabric, but on our way out, we saw $4 fleece throws and got 2 of them (dark blue and brown) For the rest of the time before they had to take me to the airport, we cut up the fleece and were just starting to tie it when we had to get to the airport. <br />Leaving Texas was one of the hardest things I've ever done. But I'm glad to be back with my family for a short time.<br />My flight from Austin to Phoenix took its sweet time getting to the gate, boarding and sitting on the runway. By the time we got into Phoenix, it was time for my next flight to board. So again, I made the mad dash all the way across the airport to my flight, which was just starting to board. We made good time getting to Boise, landing a little early. However, since the 1st flight had been so late, my luggage didn't make it in with me. Luckily it was delivered to me the next day, everything was still inside and working!! (aka my laptop!! I learned my lesson there!)<br />All in all, this was a great trip and I'm so glad I went!! Now I just can't wait to get back to Rexburg!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3003956051389787981.post-81344058097970594122009-12-23T15:11:00.029-07:002010-09-11T15:11:29.855-06:00Hyatt Christmas Traditions- Tree ornaments!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdETScxfeGLb8jjDefldNdeuaPFF74ZeDuGGvyXznPDFTz6nc0vFCHGOXWzLtLWiNu_gmhk1vAWqmJsNeERbm1tAan-sqJ8v5vP3aELdsySWdXGToqjDXIbT8mw_gYiiDllpp5XiORSCg/s1600-h/102_3595.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLdETScxfeGLb8jjDefldNdeuaPFF74ZeDuGGvyXznPDFTz6nc0vFCHGOXWzLtLWiNu_gmhk1vAWqmJsNeERbm1tAan-sqJ8v5vP3aELdsySWdXGToqjDXIbT8mw_gYiiDllpp5XiORSCg/s320/102_3595.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418559869779875906" /></a><br />The Hyatt family has a lot of Christmas traditions... lefse (a Norwegian treat from Great-Grandma Heller), Christmas Eve, Little Tom Tinker... but I'll focus on a few at a time. Right now I want to do the ornaments. Not only is this a fun tradition, it also explains a little about me! <br />Every year, Mom and Dad either look for or create the perfect ornament to commemorate something that happened that past year. Every year, when we put up the tree, we get to see our new ornament. There's a lot of excitement involved with this and every year, when we ask when we get to see our new ornament, they ask, "What ornament? We didn't get you an ornament!" No Hyatt tradition is complete without a lot of heckling involved and no Christmas is complete without "ornament teasing." <br />I've painstakingly taken a picture of each of my ornaments. I have a complete collection now since next year, Mom and Dad won't be getting me one. This is a tradition I hope to bring to my future family. So I'll start at the beginning...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSrXeLRHu_3UX3ozJ_Myxm8xDz1MAtJBkLY5Jy9Xi5rbTt1YdMURlHaIN0EFEXjLaRqBRQK9kYrB3LL02UFSnqm-vn8Xs17qWo3DBV9rd6XjocSRWBp9IbtIPpk8_ojNZMmLyqkFtY_Tu/s1600-h/102_3596.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVSrXeLRHu_3UX3ozJ_Myxm8xDz1MAtJBkLY5Jy9Xi5rbTt1YdMURlHaIN0EFEXjLaRqBRQK9kYrB3LL02UFSnqm-vn8Xs17qWo3DBV9rd6XjocSRWBp9IbtIPpk8_ojNZMmLyqkFtY_Tu/s320/102_3596.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418560511135330642" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4tYYu506meYFV8UymXFUYAkzBFDPa3eUiBpLAYimMo003uaIg4IWimOnFkgOyyhjGczCS350RMe1EKJ5tBRTEHt9DYq3sYqEOfuqSzT-PGx-iEBaEfFE0yvNJfgz_YG1kO6NG1Pkn_9TP/s1600-h/102_3597.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4tYYu506meYFV8UymXFUYAkzBFDPa3eUiBpLAYimMo003uaIg4IWimOnFkgOyyhjGczCS350RMe1EKJ5tBRTEHt9DYq3sYqEOfuqSzT-PGx-iEBaEfFE0yvNJfgz_YG1kO6NG1Pkn_9TP/s320/102_3597.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418560519050186914" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlMeXLSkPSzpvV5UY1CQclfXxrxEVdfA5XMU24nP2_LCDjvXNihR4Pnp6dtRXRqRdxEyE4QepAyGPY7RA_UkyCaRLbBbYUqC1TQUG3gbAvwfM4hG1fAKOVm7aXYqQCyWiaTlBkdX-I5vpm/s1600-h/102_3599.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlMeXLSkPSzpvV5UY1CQclfXxrxEVdfA5XMU24nP2_LCDjvXNihR4Pnp6dtRXRqRdxEyE4QepAyGPY7RA_UkyCaRLbBbYUqC1TQUG3gbAvwfM4hG1fAKOVm7aXYqQCyWiaTlBkdX-I5vpm/s320/102_3599.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418560529834081410" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNqy2hm1j7hmGW-qlOJ64qmWyDNtOcjyEsrNvlCplF706iJG2BOA2SOMnw0I_VCvPh42qY_F2UUEnyXqgFnrr5f3tZhu31Se0MxFIChgstDIhDWA47XmrVZBAj-_LveUtrtTG0GSOJiTCY/s1600-h/102_3600.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNqy2hm1j7hmGW-qlOJ64qmWyDNtOcjyEsrNvlCplF706iJG2BOA2SOMnw0I_VCvPh42qY_F2UUEnyXqgFnrr5f3tZhu31Se0MxFIChgstDIhDWA47XmrVZBAj-_LveUtrtTG0GSOJiTCY/s320/102_3600.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418560538682577394" /></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiAHNRNYBfWICFOrtZFBRxYo2w8Q5Gn3K2ojNpB1kajuDh-qOzw6x9LVOyrvZVxcigomhXKLESObWekJdkCYJxjXRA5He2mpt4R_AYfhxJcOCLISmbAIPkcMVLs85U4EzEyY_CbFTtboPA/s1600-h/102_3601.JPG"><img style="cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiAHNRNYBfWICFOrtZFBRxYo2w8Q5Gn3K2ojNpB1kajuDh-qOzw6x9LVOyrvZVxcigomhXKLESObWekJdkCYJxjXRA5He2mpt4R_AYfhxJcOCLISmbAIPkcMVLs85U4EzEyY_CbFTtboPA/s320/102_3601.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418560539546982482" /></a><br />These are the first 4 years of my life. As you can see, there's nothing really special about them or descriptive of what life was like. They're just there to be Christmasy and cute.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5NzqjOwE9Gu5KiOGxCtBcARlKa_YmUac5f-pcBFLTUhAPw8A4EqZQmVLAgRzp_6g1N7RDHEoFtni-9bKldRUfNNMltqur8LNleH-UwRIlWYjwDg4aupEu5-jIZ0T5rmtyyH0gvli3SAX/s1600-h/102_3602.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix5NzqjOwE9Gu5KiOGxCtBcARlKa_YmUac5f-pcBFLTUhAPw8A4EqZQmVLAgRzp_6g1N7RDHEoFtni-9bKldRUfNNMltqur8LNleH-UwRIlWYjwDg4aupEu5-jIZ0T5rmtyyH0gvli3SAX/s320/102_3602.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418562107411134082" /></a><br />This one is one of my favorites, probably number 1. This year, I started a dance class while we lived in Tucson, AZ. I didn't stick with dance (unless you count taking 2 classes in college), but I do remember going to this and I remember the one day I got to wear "the crown." I was so proud!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rwgyVg0i3o6p4oSDHwYfXw0HWUgNTFZO05IL3jOWggmPORuqIlDTutJ6xtcpYDKakli1KB87YeH7ATLekWm420GFdzmh7o2AgLP0ifTpQKq1s7SCip7PIuK59vALBYngp5Svh-OAh4eB/s1600-h/102_3604.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_rwgyVg0i3o6p4oSDHwYfXw0HWUgNTFZO05IL3jOWggmPORuqIlDTutJ6xtcpYDKakli1KB87YeH7ATLekWm420GFdzmh7o2AgLP0ifTpQKq1s7SCip7PIuK59vALBYngp5Svh-OAh4eB/s320/102_3604.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418563646887786162" /></a><br /><br /><br />This was my first year of school: kindergarten! We were still living in Arizona at the time and I loved school (and still do, mostly). I was in a bilingual class where I was the only English-speaking native in there. I learned Spanish and could communicate with my classmates very well... then we moved to Iowa and I forgot everything. <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwf-yzkg7JrXCpiBFsFU4TrqGSadwN09itNOUPiiHugvVuRL4sxKdoimJPNOUqJir8j7JRHzSMFtxK13m7v3cKrjb9EIGD20Ifq_-VTywg-UEgwn9JLdvutQ9qlTM_n8ejpKhspH7kTWN/s1600-h/102_3607.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgwf-yzkg7JrXCpiBFsFU4TrqGSadwN09itNOUPiiHugvVuRL4sxKdoimJPNOUqJir8j7JRHzSMFtxK13m7v3cKrjb9EIGD20Ifq_-VTywg-UEgwn9JLdvutQ9qlTM_n8ejpKhspH7kTWN/s320/102_3607.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418564737788963970" /></a><br /><br />These two are from when we lived in Iowa, a few firsts for me. The snow globe represents when we moved into a real house with a yard, a swing set, and SNOW!!! Mom and Dad weren't too thrilled about the snow, since we didn't have a blower and it was probably one of the worst winters we've had in the Midwest. Not nice of Mother Nature since we'd just barely moved from ARIZONA!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxfSyCB9GZXNHVRScKzfF5mqgPOxYaORhMwWR9tvgQAKunMiuohcIA5cBkrj-HWIl9_eD0CUN96XKMktlZZlBoArEb-U0LBR4onAfaaBvxG6J-cM929l-A8gCAgW49L5dnZ_JV3ol3WvuE/s1600-h/102_3608.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxfSyCB9GZXNHVRScKzfF5mqgPOxYaORhMwWR9tvgQAKunMiuohcIA5cBkrj-HWIl9_eD0CUN96XKMktlZZlBoArEb-U0LBR4onAfaaBvxG6J-cM929l-A8gCAgW49L5dnZ_JV3ol3WvuE/s320/102_3608.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418564747493596466" /></a><br /><br />The bus is because I got to ride my first bus to school. I thought that was a big deal because only the big kids in movies rode buses to school. I rode a bus to school from then until we moved to Wisconsin and the high school was in my back yard.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhud1VywUJF5yRZEQ73g9MUBYajiOHqthOcd9CQFt8SoOwichAKGTbHBq0QQEZtU6-NkjWpM3heUAcbXY5IuTQyqtFIJhG1lQcoAEJIhvy-yYqwLZJCHGogWbEkIrJpDeYrQfqLi3Ue9Oqq/s1600-h/102_3611.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhud1VywUJF5yRZEQ73g9MUBYajiOHqthOcd9CQFt8SoOwichAKGTbHBq0QQEZtU6-NkjWpM3heUAcbXY5IuTQyqtFIJhG1lQcoAEJIhvy-yYqwLZJCHGogWbEkIrJpDeYrQfqLi3Ue9Oqq/s320/102_3611.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418567657705005826" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />This was the year my family spent 7 weeks in Seattle. Among the things we did were a small Heller family reunion, seeing my uncle Lane and aunt Patti get sealed in the temple and other things all around Seattle, Tacoma and Arlington. I think this was when I really developed my love of all things Washington.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPC_nNmMeKDvd99JKojZRsTikDlpz-4xN64-E8Ixp4FpGFsLV-uAklqo_kw-L-liNIPbFNWc6coDhXMaHaws4M2OT6j35u3Fmbj9vsx9In-5hdhYRMK5vORXad7cYG2qz6YZaX3rTxDEgO/s1600-h/102_3612.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgPC_nNmMeKDvd99JKojZRsTikDlpz-4xN64-E8Ixp4FpGFsLV-uAklqo_kw-L-liNIPbFNWc6coDhXMaHaws4M2OT6j35u3Fmbj9vsx9In-5hdhYRMK5vORXad7cYG2qz6YZaX3rTxDEgO/s320/102_3612.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418569173031567490" /></a><br /><br />This year I played soccer. Yeah, surprising, I know, considering how much I complain about flat feet and sports asthma and such. But I played for 2 years. The first year we were yellow and black and the next year we were black and blue. My second year was better, we only lost 2 games, whereas the first year, we only won 2 games. the year after that, I decided I liked swimming and softball better.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY0BrL1PNGwF3umbzfT0rMl-nyxjIUpB2qGVu0_9Zak0u5wDZuS1CJZ3UHYsUlUQ5N6LnB4eIyV49fyVRtWbuxEz1Q_FS3xhFn3lDiornNuRVehyvmVGwPqcA7Woy5dh3ThrimnBD-ebPc/s1600-h/102_3613.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY0BrL1PNGwF3umbzfT0rMl-nyxjIUpB2qGVu0_9Zak0u5wDZuS1CJZ3UHYsUlUQ5N6LnB4eIyV49fyVRtWbuxEz1Q_FS3xhFn3lDiornNuRVehyvmVGwPqcA7Woy5dh3ThrimnBD-ebPc/s320/102_3613.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418574066059696274" /></a><br />These next three were all Washington specific. The first here is Baby New Year 2000. We moved to Puyallup, WA during the summer (that's pronounced pew-ALL-up for all you non-Washingtonians). We spent New Years 1999-2000 at our house with the rest of our family.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEpco1aSE5mEP2QJq6qo0xeXaslpMJLUaeEaSuOsd7cOE_oC2WenZWzW-0tFG1QXHJi51Tk6r42kDd3pXeGwAABib9CxpX1hEJdRNlKRfWPRo8p4N3IlVrsg_MWQJQl5A9ckEccZGIDxs/s1600-h/102_3614.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZEpco1aSE5mEP2QJq6qo0xeXaslpMJLUaeEaSuOsd7cOE_oC2WenZWzW-0tFG1QXHJi51Tk6r42kDd3pXeGwAABib9CxpX1hEJdRNlKRfWPRo8p4N3IlVrsg_MWQJQl5A9ckEccZGIDxs/s320/102_3614.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418574072951664690" /></a><br />The next is Santa riding a moose. This is from the trip we took to Northwest Trek, a wildlife park a little while outside Puyallup. It was our first time going. Part of the park is a tram ride where they show you the grazing animals in their habitat with no fences or cages: Moose, elk, caribou, deer, goats and buffalo. Well, the tram driver informed us it was moose mating season and the bull moose didn't have anyone to fight with, so the day before he'd picked a fight with one of the trams. Sure enough, at one point we pulled up at a part and there he was waiting for us. The driver had just started to say, "ok, if he looks like he's going to charge, i'll speed up to try to discourage that" when the moose charged and rammed into the side of the tram. Luckily the tram's A LOT bigger than he is, so the only damage was a small hole in the side.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTecXlFmMwUSJhlxhZH-ICfKqlMMU5JNwLHDTAmKpdNax-53QjW48HnX8z11Vzv1es69Q9347YSZwjU1BP7ZqW9PaRKjG1oHslizoN0NyMEx7nal-_Pz3YqihWJWxEg9XySMb7wjFRUb57/s1600-h/102_3615.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTecXlFmMwUSJhlxhZH-ICfKqlMMU5JNwLHDTAmKpdNax-53QjW48HnX8z11Vzv1es69Q9347YSZwjU1BP7ZqW9PaRKjG1oHslizoN0NyMEx7nal-_Pz3YqihWJWxEg9XySMb7wjFRUb57/s320/102_3615.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418574083329314242" /></a><br />This was the year we had a Spanish exchange student at our house for a month. Her name was Bet. I'm the one in the pink jacket with the huge glasses. This picture was taken in front of Admiralty Head Lighthouse, close to where Grandma and Grandpa Heller live.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyGDUw7awTC7lPJPMg7rDdaW4RVALB__9WwNhVe1-Mo46ndKcVYXD40DHhB1NymcuFoCLzZWfg5-7ZLGh0UJ7U2n91yTjYxXpfP9zi3zl6UqptU07AaYyny-X5gEdi19ZMfMjsZJ_ed4S/s1600-h/102_3616.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkyGDUw7awTC7lPJPMg7rDdaW4RVALB__9WwNhVe1-Mo46ndKcVYXD40DHhB1NymcuFoCLzZWfg5-7ZLGh0UJ7U2n91yTjYxXpfP9zi3zl6UqptU07AaYyny-X5gEdi19ZMfMjsZJ_ed4S/s320/102_3616.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418579315514447906" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br />This year, we went to Disney World and it was like Disney's 100th birthday or something. We went to every park and Megan was afraid of all the rides. Still is, in fact, she won't go on any ride unless it's a kid ride or you force her to.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzC6Hi18YLUjVbHXegvPw-AbNnKbgJaXeGWmqROQYGFI3-yXmMaDmOUzVBZGCN6miSnVrENl0Qwgkhh5EbWli3jJVcusobiiE5yQQCEOyZVXxz45hJrXh_mumBUK2ETYRfUKKQ3TwL2sD-/s1600-h/102_3617.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzC6Hi18YLUjVbHXegvPw-AbNnKbgJaXeGWmqROQYGFI3-yXmMaDmOUzVBZGCN6miSnVrENl0Qwgkhh5EbWli3jJVcusobiiE5yQQCEOyZVXxz45hJrXh_mumBUK2ETYRfUKKQ3TwL2sD-/s320/102_3617.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418581759975256130" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />This is when we moved to the state I still claim as my home: Wisconsin!! Gotta love the cowbell...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX66IMxc-P0qc4pywGWKODYA_YA9g5ujo0L6Vb3DVZT4FBc3vk2ag1s-pQawkxWNMRNrG5lq1x-fYEgYyHtcMZou-Vyddy4NDsTWNSaDjJ1BXy-sYDH5HolkpXdCaCUHa4BXJ7w58HBROk/s1600-h/102_3618.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjX66IMxc-P0qc4pywGWKODYA_YA9g5ujo0L6Vb3DVZT4FBc3vk2ag1s-pQawkxWNMRNrG5lq1x-fYEgYyHtcMZou-Vyddy4NDsTWNSaDjJ1BXy-sYDH5HolkpXdCaCUHa4BXJ7w58HBROk/s320/102_3618.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418582885969422962" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Probably my second favorite ornament: my violin-playing blue-and-white BYU cougar!! I went to BYU music camp this summer. It was like a cross between EFY and a music major. We had dances. devotionals, rehearsals, theory classes... The best thing was a Sound of Music sing-a-long. We all dressed up as somthing from there, mostly there was a lot of leiderhosen. I dressed up as Maria in her ugly dress.<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-k2WN6H5ZXGMkH66_33bMzC3cgrHoKSc0RLbVk9W3pDb0vTRbriA89nwRhMlzkmmopu7XfqtgABjETr0eBcslnMYgLkllwV4Xn3E1im0qjlGLY9rEJuRYx689uylx3SlgTVJ4NeOvfVW/s1600-h/102_3619.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEit-k2WN6H5ZXGMkH66_33bMzC3cgrHoKSc0RLbVk9W3pDb0vTRbriA89nwRhMlzkmmopu7XfqtgABjETr0eBcslnMYgLkllwV4Xn3E1im0qjlGLY9rEJuRYx689uylx3SlgTVJ4NeOvfVW/s320/102_3619.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418584411871544114" /></a><br /><br /><br />The next 3 are just big steps in life... getting my license by the skin of my teeth (i was 4 points away from failing... happiest D- of my LIFE)!!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglTXeNf3Rqv47VemZzUX541teo1LytQEktXudxg_b1Lqi87ehKIYlNNqkRt3RYLhK7u2E8h36VNIgF-uoiwJwFcvloNFTRTTb7xc5Q9d6HCxAs8XWFtkdyd091_gomxx2LU1-2-0lpDYjW/s1600-h/102_3620.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglTXeNf3Rqv47VemZzUX541teo1LytQEktXudxg_b1Lqi87ehKIYlNNqkRt3RYLhK7u2E8h36VNIgF-uoiwJwFcvloNFTRTTb7xc5Q9d6HCxAs8XWFtkdyd091_gomxx2LU1-2-0lpDYjW/s320/102_3620.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418584424887061762" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Graduating high school... My colors were Green and gold, so just pretend that blue is green...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47Arpoa38QjyAcGWdUNTE9l5GbwXx9S3kJv5QbQJhdc-2658dzR6eP2dbk0zhcg0j2LbVpXWoPC54AMjV3tTkXHQBac-xwKw8Jf6o7onp3URsi4yOK-rS3QMwtG2PHkKhD1y3MI6T_R4x/s1600-h/102_3621.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi47Arpoa38QjyAcGWdUNTE9l5GbwXx9S3kJv5QbQJhdc-2658dzR6eP2dbk0zhcg0j2LbVpXWoPC54AMjV3tTkXHQBac-xwKw8Jf6o7onp3URsi4yOK-rS3QMwtG2PHkKhD1y3MI6T_R4x/s320/102_3621.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418584433459306770" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And my first year at BYU-Idaho. Great year. I lived in the dorms with my best friend Kiersten and we had a blast!!<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMVCVsMdRI7wU4jO7M_MAGJRj53LQfiuHjxYx9w4s0CZLp4fqD_lpbeq6ydtYX7CdM3FF0gD8Pf8SOE4PC_dSDFA-MHBKxnPBD-jnx1r2TAh_12B-Ex08Lch8rUiATxt8Pz9gepnFnQAH/s1600-h/102_3622.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidMVCVsMdRI7wU4jO7M_MAGJRj53LQfiuHjxYx9w4s0CZLp4fqD_lpbeq6ydtYX7CdM3FF0gD8Pf8SOE4PC_dSDFA-MHBKxnPBD-jnx1r2TAh_12B-Ex08Lch8rUiATxt8Pz9gepnFnQAH/s320/102_3622.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418590751481180082" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />2 left... We moved to Boise and floated the river... SO MUCH FUN!!! the water was freezing, though...<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEify8QJopv-pEGxMZ5S-W8jkIyxL1ZgSvsohyh6fqzBIGqpzWd0bRU7GcrO8EO0nnjc_oSHprsG1Wz5ZXpdSXJNhIqNEH0BJiRhFu7GKz1OWPigQy2CV1UsryGP-gOiYyKlfW5PdIZ7GIA2/s1600-h/102_3623.JPG"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEify8QJopv-pEGxMZ5S-W8jkIyxL1ZgSvsohyh6fqzBIGqpzWd0bRU7GcrO8EO0nnjc_oSHprsG1Wz5ZXpdSXJNhIqNEH0BJiRhFu7GKz1OWPigQy2CV1UsryGP-gOiYyKlfW5PdIZ7GIA2/s320/102_3623.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5418590760919477298" /></a><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br />And this year's was our trip to the Oregon coast. We stayed in Newport and went all up and down the coast. This is Yaquina Head lighthouse.<br />Well, that's my ornaments... stay tuned for more Hyatt traditions...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0