Melody Graduated!

Oh, where to begin. I'll start by saying this trip to Utah was very unforgettable. I would've written more about my upcoming trip to Utah if it wasn't a big surprise for Melody. You see, I had to get her back for the big surprise she did for me on our birthday. I knew it was my turn and her graduation was the perfect time. She did come to mine after all. And the next time I would see her is when that belly of hers is no longer there and I had to see it before that happened. So here's how it all went down:

KC and I got an late flight on Wednesday night. We got in around 10:00 pm and picked up a car that KC's parents kindly left for us at the parking lot as they had to leave town the night before. We went to my parent's house, got a few hours of sleep, and them headed to the store to get the makings for a surprise breakfast (in case she was mad about being woken up, we had to have a treat planned). We got to the Rejholec residence a littler earlier than anticipated, 6:50, but we knew Jonny left at about 7:00 so we knew someone would be awake. He answered the door and whispered "Holy crap. Just a second." A few minutes later we went in, and I slowly tiptoed into her room where she was covering her head with her covers but clearly waking up. When she saw me, she screamed so loud! We have it all on video. It was awesome. So we proceeded to make our favorite Jamba Juice smoothie from when we worked there, and stuffed french toast. It was oddly not so strange to see her for the first time with a 8 month old belly protruding from her little body, but still a surprise. I went with her to her Doctors appointment, and heard the little heart beat an everything. It's amazing how much can change when you don't see your sister for a few months. The rest of the day was filled with seeing friends, and relatives that dropped by, going to the graduation commencement, (where President Hinckley made an appearance and Vice President Cheney gave a very good speech) and a great meal of rotisserie chicken, assorted breads, cheeses, fruits and other hors d'oeuvres type foods complete with Martinelli's. I've been wanting to have a fruit and cheese party lately and this was the perfect occasion. We also played some major Guitar Hero that night. I loved it, even when I wasn't the one playing. We could all clearly see that Lili dominated that game. The others were bad either. We got home and wanted to get to be because we had to wake up relatively early for Melody's convocation. Well, I don't think any of us got more than a few hours of sleep. I was very sick and after a few hours of trying to self medicate, it only got worse so KC and I headed to the ER, and after a few blood tests, and couple hours went by, we were given the proper medication and were on our way. I slept through most of the graduation but managed to wake up to see her walk. We had a nice brunch at IHOP and then all had much needed naps. The rest of our time in Utah was spent having fun with our families doing whatever we felt like (the best form of plans in my opinion.) It was fun to see how things change and stay the same when I go home. Especially the nieces and nephew I don't get to see so often anymore. Little Allyson changes so much every time I see her. I probably notice her the most because she was so little when I moved away. But all those kids are growing up and becoming little adults. I'm always a sad so leave my original home. It's probably because it's all about having fun when you are on vacation, there's no work or responsibility, and I just love being where I am comfortable wherever I go. It's getting that way here, but it will never be the same as when I am there. But I am always so grateful to be coming home with my KC. It always makes leaving a vacation much better than it would be otherwise. It also helps to have a good bunch of family here as well.

Well the next time I am in Utah, there will be even more changes with the little Rejholec coming soon and all. I can hardly wait. It will be even harder to leave then. I am so proud of Melody for graduating. I know it was not always easy for her, and I have a lot of admiration for what she has accomplished. She's always been someone to look up to, even as her twin. Now, I suppose I should get some sleep to get ready for another work week. I miss you Utah people! You can see more pics on my by clicking on the flikr icon on the right.

Fender Bender

Well yesterday I got in a little accident. I was completely not at fault, and no one was hurt, thank goodness. It was in the parking lot of the Bank of America where I had just been at the drive up ATM. I had quickly parked to get situated with all the papers I had in my hands. When I backed out to leave, I was stopped to pull out of the parking lot, and all of the sudden a maroon VW Jetta was backing out toward my car. I have him three loud honks before he hit. I thought to pull forward, but my instincts told me that would cause more damage than good. Then, like slow motion, he backed into my right rear door. He was a nice and very shaky Indian man. He was confused, it seemed, and I held my ground to make sure all facts were straight. He knew he was at fault but he claimed he didn't hear me honk. Pa-lease. Everyone heard it but him I guess. We were nice to each other the whole time kind of laughing about it. At least I was. He was so nervous saying over and over that this has never happened to him before. He gladly offered his info and we were on our way. I called Geico immediately. The door now does not open from the outside. It does open from the inside, so I was playing around with it and accidentally set the child lock. So that door is a goner. Won't open from the inside or out. The car just has a small dent and some scratches, but enough damage to be talking to Geico for a while yesterday, and making a recorded statement with them today about what happened. They believe from the stories that I am not a fault and they'll cover the damages. I'm about to go to a consultation for the damages. I'm not really frazzled about this since we are car shopping at the moment anyway. This car of mine won't pass emissions unless we replace the very expensive catalytic converter. It also has plenty of other scratches and dents from the previous owner and another sideswipe that was not my fault. So I think I'll ask for a check instead of getting the door fixed. It's not worth any one's time to make improvement on my trusty old Taurus. I'm just so glad that no one got hurt. If it's possible to have a best case scenario in a car accident this was it. Minimal damage, no injuries, and new car soon anyway. I'm definitely giving Heavenly Father the credit for this blessing as he is responsible for all the blessings I see in my life multiple times a day. Funny how things that could seem like inconveniences can turn into blessings. Now if I could just learn that concept with trials that Geico can't fix for me.

The Picnics Have Begun

I am loving this weather and it's only a matter of time until it gets too hot to stand it, and the mosquitoes come out to play. So we've been trying to have advantage of it and have done well so far. On Sunday we had stake conference. Our friends Molly and her husband Andrew had put some chicken and salsa in a crock pot (one of our slow-cooker staples as well) and invited us over to have some with them. Another couple, Ryan and Courtney and their daughter Samantha (one of my CTR kids) came too and we made it into a last minute pot luck. Millers provided the chicken and drinks, we brought a fruit salad, the infamous tortillas, chips, and ice cream, and the Murphys brought cilantro lime rice, and other topping for our burritos. We only decided that we were making them into burritos when all the fixings were there, but man they were good. They weather was perfect, it was Sunday afternoon, and we were eating good food. What made it even better is that we came home and had a great Sunday nap.

Last night was another great out of doors adventure. Our friends, the Drapers, were have a birthday party for their two year old Daughter Elizabeth Jane (on the right in the cake picture). They provided dinner and a very cute cake in the shape of a whale since that is her favorite animal which I think is awesome. I love whales too! There were lots of cute kids there. They always have great taste in food. We have yet to pay them back for the many delicious dinners we have been invited over for. Anyhow, I was so glad to finally get some pictures of the amazing azaleas that are in bloom everywhere you look. They are like paint splatters all over our neighborhood. The Drapers have some great blossoms right now so even though it was getting dark, I still wanted to get the pictures taken in case I don't get another chance. I hope we are able to take more advantage of this perfect time of year before it become unbearable. We are planning on having a barbecue very soon.

Adventures with Pie Dough

Who doesn't love a good pie crust? It is something so many people are in search of. I find that the perfect pie crust is really an achievement. At the hotel where I worked, it seemed that every recipe there had been tested to perfection. This pie crust is one of those. It's pretty basic, like most recipes you see, but I have recently realized of my love for this almost effortless pastry. It is one of my favorites tools of the kitchen. I call it a tool because it is really a component of what you are going to make with it. It can be savory or sweet, you can shape it, or go rustic, and it can be elegant or very simple. I love versatility in the kitchen. It's what makes food so interesting. You use the same ingredients to make dozens of different dishes. Last week I made a batch of this dough for a chicken pot pie (one of the best comfort foods that exists, in my opinion) I made for a new mom in the ward. I made so much of the of the filling that we ended up having enough to make a couple more for us. I was going to freeze one for later, but was too tempted to just use them both in the same week. Don't worry, we had them a few days apart. And anyway, it gave me a couple more chanced to play. I while ago I made the artichoke tartlets you see, for a party or something and had some left over to freeze. I pulled them right from the freezer straight to the oven and it was like I had made them that very day. Another great feature of pie crust. It freezes like a charm. So after all the pies were made, I had a little dough left and wanted to use it up. I wanted something sweet so I made them into a cookie of some sort. I feel like the possibilities are endless with pie dough. And summer is here, so it finally seems, and pies are very popular in the summer. I can't wait to try something new for this glorious season.

D.D.R. and E.M.

It has already been quite an eventful weekend. Last night my friend Wendy and her boyfriend Larry invited us over for dinner and DDR (Dance Dance Revolution for the uneducated). It turns out that KC is remarkably good for a beginner. I remember that this was the case with Jake when we did it at the Turpins for the first time. It must be the part of a male's brains that helps with this skill. I would need a little practice for us to be able to really compete. We got quite the workout and had a really good time challenging ourselves. Wendy is an experienced dancer so this is right up her ally. I think I'd like Karaoke Revolution. I hear it's pretty entertaining.

So this Morning, we got up relatively early to meet up with a KC's friend who is in town. He used to live here, but I guess he never saw the Eastern Market during that time. We thought it would be fun to have breakfast there. It's pretty close to our house, only about 5 metro stops away, so we don't mind taking the trip. Besides the breakfast there is very good, and always has a long line of hungry waiting customers. We got the french toast (during the winter it is egg nog french toast) and The Brick, what they call their breakfast sandwich. They also have awesome blueberry buckwheat pancakes and Don's friend went on the wild side and ordered a menu item call The Croaker. He thought the name was cool. It ended up being deep fried fish with grits etc. and he really liked it. We were once again satisfied by our delicious, warm, breakfast. And it was an extremely nice day today for the first time in weeks. So sunny I actually felt hot sitting there eating. What a welcomed change. There are a lot of things to buy at the market--art of all mediums, produce, many styles of jewelry, purses, soaps, and other hand made merchandise. But I feel like I can't ever settle on something to buy unless I have a focus in mind before I get there. It is They are so proud offun to walk around and look at all the things people invest so much of their lives in to selling these things. their projects and are so enthusiastic to give you any details if you show the tiniest bit of interest.

Now we are spending the rest of our weekend with stake conference sessions starting tonight, where KC will be in the musical number. Enjoy the sunshine everyone.

"Oh, for gosh sakes Napoleon just make yourself a dang quesadilla!"

I'm blogging about this delightful Mexican dinner not only because it was so huge and pretty good, but it gave me a chance to mention a little gold mine I found when I was living with roommates in Silver Spring. It's a tiny family owned grocery store name Snider's Super Foods. It was where I did all of my grocery shopping when I lived there. It has great prices, almost unheard of for some of the food they were selling. Granted, some of the food was getting close to the sell by date and was on a huge sale because of the small nature of the store but most is great quality. The produce in particular have great deals all the time. When you walk in and look to the right there are always interesting foods on sale. Always a variety of cheeses to chooses from ( I've found plain Havarti, Brie, Goat Cheese, Parmesan, Boursin, blue cheese, and the basic Cheddars all for great prices), and also fruits, breads, and anything they wanted to sell quick I guess. They also have a really great deli which is not such a bargain because it is so good. I bought it anyway. A hospital where I fill in sometimes is near my old stomping grounds so I take that opportunity to go to my little market. I'm always excited to see what interesting things they have on sale. I like to grocery shop by inspiration. I see something I think is cool and make a meal out of it. Sometimes I make a list, but I'd prefer to do it like this. You can't really make a list at Snider's. It's always a surprise. Like and indoor farmers market. SO, the point. I found these huge tortillas on sale there and had to buy them. I just thought they were great, and the moment I saw them I immediately started making plans for what to do with them. This quesadilla was the size of a pizza. Now, what to do next. I think a ginormous burrito is in order. We might have to invite people over to finish one.

Layout Indecisiveness

I know I have changed my layout yet again, but I think I got sick of the darkness of the other. I'm trying to find one I don't mind looking at over and over. The white seems to be the only way. It's seems fresh to me. It'll probably change again.

I'm 22!...Really!

Since I have moved here I have been asked my age more times than I can count. Yes, there are the usual times for asking, like when you are dating, or jsut meeting new people. But the majority of times I have been asked seems to be that people are curious because they simply cannot tell. Usually I have them guess and it's always a different answer. It used to be that people think I'm older than I was because I was serious about my career at the young age of 19 and didn't mind working early mornings. I guess 19 year olds they knew are different than me. They thought I should be out all night partying or something. I've heard everything from "Wow, you were just born when I started working here," to, "I could be your father." People also have found it hard to believe how familiar I am with songs that were popular way before I was here (thanks to my great education of the Beatles and Carpenters, etc.) But it was always followed by a respect of the level of maturity that could see. Now it seems that people find it hard to believe that I am as old as I am since I am working part time in a less serious environment. Today a nice lady with what seemed like a nice African accent asked me my age and I told her 22. She looked at me strangely and said, " No you're not, you're only 18 years old." I laughed and told her it was the truth, and that I have been married for over a year and pointed to my ring. In society we seem to want people to guess our age as younger than it actually is..unless it's 18! I have tried very hard, since I was an actual teenager to not give people a chance to label me as a stereotypical teenager. Once, in high school during a dance day activity, my date used the horn on my steering wheel to be silly and get the attention to someone at a light that we were stopped at. I was trying so hard not to be a stick in the mud, because he was my date. But I was so embarrassed and didn't want to be in this care with all these...hoodlums. I was above it. I'm not saying that the lady in the hospital was saying I was a crazy teenager, but I think that is what people think of when they think of you as that age. I have been through quite a lot since I was a teenager, and even though I am only a few years beyond, I feel that those years are very significant in me becoming an adult. Granted, 22 in this area gives way for even more craziness in the party scene with all the legality of the age and everything. I love being this age, in fact I think this is where I am finally not wanting to get older. The years are starting to seem shorter and I love being young. This kind of young, where you have your independence, and a little experience to learn from. Not the young where you are in high school and every tiny thing causes so much drama. I thought once I had a two in front of my age people would stop being surprised at my age when I told them, but no, it continues even today. When I met KC and found out that he was an old 27, I thought there was no chance that our ages could be compatible. Then we figured out that through his kid at heart attitude, and my seriousness, we really balance each other out. We switch place at times, and other times we meet in the middle. It seems to work out okay (well, better than okay, I guess). Maybe I'll wear a sign on my head or something, but then again, I am always intrigued as to what people have to say. Let's see how long 18 lasts.

Unfortunate IHOP Experience

Warning: This ended up being longer than intended but I had to include all information to give you the whole experience.

Last night after a very pleasant time at the Temple, we invited a few friends, as it was stake temple night, to come with us to IHOP to have a late dinner. I was pretty hungry, so I was really excited for that late night IHOP flavor. We arrived and were seated not long after. Our young looking, flustered waitress came by and explained to us in her slightly winded voice that she was sorry for taking so long to come to us and how there are only four servers tonight, yadda, yadda, yadda. I don't think there is ever room for excuses. And besides, as customers, we don't need to know any of that. Her explanation took so long that we all started to look at each other and laugh under our breath. I can't even remember half of what she said. It was something to the effect of how all the servers were talking about how they didn't want to serve the big party (our table) because it was too busy, and then she went on to say that it's their choice if they don't want the big tip from the big party and so on. She also said among everything else that she was new. It was getting annoying since I was really getting really hungry. We had looked at the menu long enough to order, but I think all she could handle right then was the drinks. Most of us wanted water, one with no ice, and one OJ. Pretty easy, but she seemed to have to repeat it three times to all of us before she left the table. It took a while but we got our drinks, and then it was time to order. Every time someone ordered, she had to ask them to point to it on the menu to make sure she knew what it was. I was last so I tried to make mine very clear. I told her what I wanted, and the style of eggs and everything. She acted like she didn't even hear a word I said. I mean come one, I had just said it, and very slowly to make sure she had it down. So who knows how long we waited, but we started getting our food, one plate at a time, over about a half an hour or more. Luckily we were all having a good time and laughing at the whole experience or else we would not have left in good spirits. But it goes on. I got my classic skillet meal with country fried steak, gravy and eggs, over easy. (Did I say I was really hungry.) I was a little cold, but I think that was as good as it was going to get. I cut a piece of the steak, and dipped it into the gravy (that had developed a skin on top, might I add) and took a bite. Something wasn't right, and I thought it was the gravy. It was kind of vinegary, and a little sour. I tried it again and it was definitely not the sausage gravy I'd had before. I tried it alone, and it was most definitely chicken cesar salad dressing. Everyone tried it and agreed with me. I had it replaced, but was grossed out by that fact that I had a big bit of it. Good thing I didn't poor it all over the steak. We were so nice to her the whole time telling he that it will get easier, she just need to take it easy even though she was never once apologetic. Another girl got the wrong order completely, and we didn't get water refills until about the end of the meal. A couple that was with us decided to go talk to a manager. They are two of the nicest people I know so we knew they wouldn't be jerks about it, but just explain what happened. They brought back our check with a 20 percent discount. We also filled out a comment card and had a good laugh. When we were done she told us to have a good night, and next time we come to ask for Katie. We already had the check, but she didn't know that, and brought it to us about 10 minutes after she said good bye. From the minute she came to our table, to the minute she left, she made many mistakes. I know I'm only talking about IHOP here, but I feel that no matter where you are, you should expect a good experience. There is no excuse for not knowing how to do the job you are trained to do. We don't go there often, but I think I'd just rather make our own grand slam than go through all that again. This wasn't our first disappointment of this place either. Maybe we just need a new location.

White House Easter Egg Roll

It's high time I wrote about my experience with the Easter Egg Roll. It is an event that takes place every year on the White House Lawn. It's free but the tickets are not easy to come by since everybody in the nation seems to want to get in. A couple friends of mine from the ward really wanted to get in so they decided to camp with the other hundreds, or thousands of people to get their hands on tickets for their families to take part in this annual event. They were all hyped up about it until they heard it was going to snow that night. But still that just made them make come adjustments to the number of layers of clothes they were wearing and the amount of blankets they were going to sleep with. They were determined. At the last minute, one of them needed someone to watch her kids from 5:00 am to 8:00 am, so that her husband could go get in line with her to get the right about of tickets they needed. (They only allowed two adult tickets per person, and they were getting tickets for others as well.) I said I would gladly help as long as I got to work at my normal 9:00. Well, I did get to work, around 10:15, but I kind of knew this would be the case. You have to add about an hour to anything when you are going downtown. I had a pleasant time with the kids and they successfully got all the tickets they needed. On Sunday we found out that the other lady they got the tickets for had had her baby about 4 weeks early. She was fine and so was her baby, but she definitely wasn't going to take her 3 year old daughter to the Easter Egg Roll now. So I was chatting with the other ladies and they said if her dad couldn't take her, I could come and help with the new big sister, after all, she was going through a lot of changes and she probably needed to get away. So it was a plan. I had work off and everything. We took the metro down, and they let our group in at about noon. The kids had a great time. There was face painting, magicians, Easter egg painting, musical performances, ( I think by famous Disney Channel people. I'm not really up to speed with all of that.) story telling by famous children's book authors, and a lot more. We really didn't see it all. The little one I was the substitute mommy for, couldn't have acted better. She was perfectly behaved in her little umbrella stroller with her stuffed ducky she had obviously been carrying around by the neck since she was able to. All she really wanted to do was see Clifford the Big Red Dog. As long as she saw him, her day was complete. I would ask her if she wanted to walk around and she was content to stay put most of the time. So, it was a successful day and everyone felt their freezing night camping out was well worth it. I think it's one of those one in every 10 years type things.

Posted in the Post Again

A while ago I blogged about my picture that was in the Washington Post. Well, there was another article about how the hospital is most likely going to shut down and there I was again. It's sad since this hospital allows people without insurance to come and be treated. Where are they all going to go? It seems insane to shut a huge hospital with a main trauma center down. But it's just not making enough money. Anyway, I got my picture in the paper from it, so that one thing. This time my picture made it to the Washington Post website. Here's the article as well if you want to read what this is all about. It's pretty crazy.

Easter

We had a lovely Easter this year. I can't believe this is already our third Easter together, only married for two of them. We had a nice dinner and Easter egg hunt and Cami's. I contributed the rolls (see daily food photo) and the birthday cake. I made her an orange pound cake with a peach ,vanilla bean compote. The orange flavor wasn't as pronounced as I would've liked, but I know what I'll do differently next time. It was still cake, right? Cami made a great ham, and potato nasty (Graham vernacular for funeral potatoes). Jefferson loved finding and hiding the eggs. We hid them for KC and me to find, (in plain sight, I might add) but would always end up finding them for himself and announce that he had more than we did. We were laughing pretty hard.

Until we have kids to make Easter baskets for, KC and I are having fun doing each others. I got a piano book in mine and we've both been
enjoying the Chopin ringing through our little apartment from our newish little Keyboard we bought to tide us over until a real piano comes along. I also got a little coupon book full of things KC promises he will do with out any hesitation. Some of them are things we have been meaning to do, like a new dresser for me with all purchases included. I like the one that is good for two emergency ice cream runs, or the one that I can fill out for anything I want. It was very thoughtful and made me laugh the whole way through. He got an airplane kit and play dough, and of course we have more candy than we should ever eat. It's awesome. Dark Chocolate Cadbury Eggs, need I say more. Oh wait, yes, Andes mints. Those are worthy enough to mention. It was a great fun day and today I even went to the Easter Egg Roll on the White House Lawn. But that's a long story so there will be a blog.

"New" Ring

Well I decided that it was time for a ring renovation. I love my ring and have never tire of looking at it on my hand. But as my fingers have slightly shrunk in the past year, I have really wanted it to be re sized for fear of it falling off randomly, and the annoyance of it spinning around all day. I have delayed a little thinking the summer would provide chubbier fingers, but I think even after resizing, it will be just right for the warm months. I also noticed the yellowing that has occurred since it is white gold and naturally needs to be re coated occasionally, as anyone with white gold can attest. We took it to our friendly jewelers and they remembered us and were happy to do the work that needed to be done (for a fee of course). I was so thrilled to see my new ring, so shiny and perfectly fitted. It's just like new. I think we need some lighting like the jewelry store has. They really know how to make a diamond sparkle.

A Steal of a Deal

KC and I often check a few "hot deal" website. Fatwallet, Slickdeals, and as you've probably read about or heard about from Matt, Woot. I think we've only bought one or two things from Woot, but we have used the other two several times. They are great sites to find out anything from the latest travel deals to when Gap.com is having a new sale. They update the deals constantly, so it's fun to see what they come up with everyday. We haven't bought that many things. The people who are real regulars buy things just because it's a good deal. I don't need any useless stuff in my house, so we just like watching for the things that we need and find something cool in between. Yesterday at about 4 pm I saw a deal I thought I'd take advantage of. It was a pair of slippers. I love slippers and the couple of pairs I have are seeming to lose their integrity. So I looked at what the deal was. It was $5.89, with free overnight shipping. But that's not all. If you call the 800 number after you purchase, you can get 5 dollars credited back to your account. I read a few of the comments some customers had written about the product and they all vouched that they indeed paid exactly 89 cents for they very cozy slippers. I took the, not too risky, risk and ordered them. I mean if all else failed, they were only about 6 bucks, right? So I ordered and called to get my refund. The woman said she had had a few calls about this and promised that as soon as my order went through I would get an email confirming the 5 dollars would be credited back to my card. So when I walked up to my house after work, at about 2 pm, there was my box of slippers, just like they said. It hadn't even been 24 hours. And, I received the email about my 5 dollars. So there you go. I would tell you all to follow in my slipper steps, but they are oos--that is Slickdeals language for out of stock. Happy deal hunting.

Kicked Up Mac

I told myself a few years ago that I would never again purchase Macaroni and Cheese from the grocery store. I seemed to grow out of it as I attained more of an adult pallet, and try to stay away from the high calorie, quick fix meals. And I have a great recipe for homemade mac and cheese that I'm pretty loyal to. But I was shopping the other day and I passed it wondering when and if I would ever find a reason to buy it. It was on sale and I thought, what the heck, I'll splurge. It stayed in the cupboard for a while. Today I hadn't even thought about what to make for dinner until KC was about to walk in the door. I usually have dinner on the table by this point. I looked in the fridge and the cupboard evaluating my options and there it was. The blue box what practically jumping out at me. Of course, I wasn't going to make it how the instructions told me to. I gathered some ingredients and came up with this: Five cheese, tofu, turkey kielbasa, and pea Mac and Cheese. Say gross if you want (I kind of did at first) but combined with the boxed mac, it mad for an okay meal. Of course, we'll probably never have it again, but it was fun for a night. Our whole wheat avocado toasts made it a little bit more of a well rounded meal. I am lucky to have a man who can put up with all my experimentation. And it's fun to revert to those childhood flavors every now and then.

Conference Cinnamon Rolls

For some reason, cinnamon rolls on conference weekend have become a tradition for us. I think it started the year my friend Sarah was with us for conference and she wanted to make them. Maybe it's her tradition and I'm copying her. Anyhow, I made them for a girls gathering during priesthood session that never happened due to people's sick kids and such. So we were stuck with the whole pan for breakfast, which made KC smile. I've been using a new recipe courtesy Alton Brown from the Food Network. It really is a good recipe. They always come out great. I've tried different ones throughout the years, but I've stuck with this one for a while. Usually with recipes I find online, I add or change a few ingredients, or I change the amounts of them. I don't need to do so with these. Last night we realized that we better not eat them all alone, so we took them to our friends the Drapers and shared. They were very appreciative.

Whenever I make a yeast bread, I get so excited about the chemical reaction that takes place when the bread rises. I love kneading a freshly risen, warm, soft, tender dough. I would do it all day if it wouldn't keep developing the gluten resulting in a tough dough. If you look closely at the unbaked cinnamon rolls you can see all the gas bubbles that have formed. I know we're all seen it before, but it never ceases to amaze me. In school we made some pretty intense rustic breads. It was probably my favorite part. The smell was incredible. I would've been a bread baker in a shop if it didn't require overnight baking. We owe a lot to the people who are up all night to give us fresh bread in the morning. If you try these, I'd like to hear how much you like them. I know you will. By the way, I've tried both rising overnight like the recipe says, and rising for just a few hours. Overnight it better, but if you haven't thought ahead, it is fine to do it all in one day. You'll just sacrifice a little of the tenderness and flavor. We won't be waiting 6 months for the next conference to make these again.

Boo on April Fools Day!

I don't like April Fools day. I don't like the practical jokes, I don't like the lies, I don't like people getting made a fool of. Melody, I'm not falling for anything this year. She's the worst. Watch out!

You can probably tell, I hate it because I was always the gullible one, who believed anything. If I didn't believe at first, knowing it was the first of April, I was talked into it through the deception of the joker. They even used tears! Sometimes, I even fall for my own. Once I put a rubber band around the spray thing by the sink, and immediately decided to get a drink of water not thinking about what I had just set up. I was the brunt of my own joke. I just think this day is no good.