My kitchen essentials

We all have them, and with that party I catered fresh in my kind, there are some things I couldn't have lived with out for the preparation of that, or everyday baking for that matter. Here is my list:

Bench scraper--great for cutting bar cookies, portioning dough, scraping counters, and many other countless uses.Blow torch--the smaller more domestic versions of this great tool are most commonly sold for creme brulee, but I'm a fan of the big one. I have used it for meringue/baked Alaska, heating a knife to make a smooth cut, or caramelizing fruit garnishes, etc. I am very happy about this new purchase I've made. It has been an essential part of the kitchens I've worked in, and now it's in mine.
Cardboard cake circles--not only are these perfect for decorating desserts on before you transfer them to the final platter, but they make it easy to stack things to conserve space in the fridge. I need to always have these on hand.Parchment paper--we all love the function this have of making clean-up a breeze, but there are also many uses to it.Silicone baking mat--Man, I love this thing. Hardly anything sticks to it. I use it for everything from baking cookies, to caramelized sugar work.KitchenAid stand mixer--Of course!Off set spatula--This makes decorating and icing cakes so simple. It helps you stay in control.Apple peeler, corer, slicer--I don't use this very often, but when I want it, I'm glad I have it. Thanks to my mother-in-law giving me a Pampered Chef wedding shower, I got a ton of great kitchen gadgets.Cake turn table--It makes icing, cutting, and decorating a piece of cake. Ha!
Bowl scarper--a clean bowl in one fell swoop. Everyone should have one of these.
Many Silicone Spatulas--I hate running out of these, so I keep several with in an arms reach.
Powdered sugar shaker--A dusting of powdered sugar adds elegance to any dessert. Also great for cocoa powder dusting.Oh I better stop now. I could go on all day. And all these are revolved mostly around desserts. If I were talking about cooking, the list would be completely different. And I'm sure the list will grow over the years.

Small catering gig

A friend here in Cheverly asked if I do any catering. Her husband has been in Iraq for six months and she wanted to have a dessert party to celebrate his homecoming. She told me what she wanted and it sounded like something I could handle. I made up a menu of many desserts and their prices. Her choices included: Chocolate raspberry truffle cake, Chocolate dipped macaroons, raspberry almond shortbread bars, a fruit platter with Lemon curd dip, caramel cheesecake with an almond crust and cooked sugar decor, Coconut bundt cake with roasted pineapple, and a mango frangipane tart. I was able to do a lot of things ahead of time so I wasn't going crazy the day of the party. It was quite an adventure being as it was just me against these seven desserts, but with KC's help doing dishes and transporting the food, we pulled it off. They told us to stay and meet their friends. I knew a few people that were coming, but I didn't really want to stand around telling people I was the one who brought the food, so we just dropped off the food and left. Then, not wanting to deal with the sink and counters covered in chocolate and dishes, we headed for Mexican food and picked up some friends on the way to go with us. It was nice to not have to cook dinner after all that. It was fun to catch up on a few techniques I haven't used in a while. I have missed having chocolate under my fingernails. But I am happy to have my fridge and freezer back. I took a lot of pictures of the process since it really was my first solo gig and I probably won't say yes to a lot of things like this. It may seem like there are a lot of repeats, but I like a lot of different angles. Bon appetit!

Oh, what to do!

My doctor finally gave me the okay to get my tonsils out. It is to be scheduled at my earliest convenience. I thought this would be a day to be glad about, to finally get these ever-loving disgusting, infecting tonsils out of my throat. In the past couple of years I have had several bouts of strep throat and tonsillitis. My tonsils are now all mangled and are usually hurting on a daily basis. Not to the point of a soar throat all the time, but enough for me to notice and pray that it doesn't turn into something worse. I hate hate hate have throat infections. I know no one does, but the things that occur... I won't even gross you out with the details of my lovely times with tonsillitis. Let's just say it's not pretty. Anyhow, I have been putting off seeing an ENT for a while, but I thought now it was time to break down and live up to my word. That I want them out and will beg to get this done. I actually didn't have to beg. In fact, the doc said it was the best thing to do. I had been told earlier that this procedure was not done as commonly as it has in the past and you have to have more frequent and consistent infections for them to consider you for this surgery. It was almost too easy and now I'm second guessing. I feel like I'm signing my life away, like I'm deciding to go through all the pain when I can just decide not to do it. And I heard it is painful and the recovery is no picnic! Anywhere else but my throat, I could live without for two weeks, but the thing that allows you to talk, eat, even swallow and breath. I just don't know. Whenever I have strep I just can't wait for the day that I can swallow without bracing myself before I do so. This is something I have to walk right into. Wow, I'm sounding really wimpy right now, but I feel like I have a big decision to make. Yeah, people do this everyday so I shouldn't really complain and just be grateful to have the opportunity to improve my health. Anybody that had gone through this, words or encouragement, not horrific pain stories, are appreciated.

Weekend happenings

Well, KC is still working pretty long hours so I am keeping myself occupied one way or another. On Saturday I put up this cool new home for the little fishy we adopted. I bought it online the other day and I am so glad he if off the counter. The poor guy freaked out every time we did anything in the kitchen. He hated the garbage disposal the worst. This gives him room to really explore.

I also made this little contraption I saw in Real Simple a while ago. It's great, and makes finding my earrings so much easier. They'd get all tangled up together. Annoying!

We went to a Jazz Festvial, suggested by our friend Andrew. It was so so so crowded, but the music sure was good. We at at one of our favorites, Lebanese Taverna ( of course I got an order of grape leaves with our meal), and had mango and strawberry gelato after. It was a beautiful night too. We loved watching a little girl dancing right in front of us. She sure had great moves.

We are going to the DC temple visitors center for a fireside in about and hour. It's about DNA and the Book of Mormon. Should be interesting. Then it's on to another work week.

This is what happens...

...if you live in Maryland and don't refrigerate your baked goods. I usually store our bread in the fridge since we don't eat it so quick with just the two of us. It lasts quite a while that way. I wanted to see if we could just keep it in the cupboard and after less than two weeks, it looked like this. I have another loaf in the freezer and I'll be sure to keep it there until I know we are read to eat it up. It was pretty much unrecognizable.

Dessert gifts

I was looking through my pictures and noticed something. A couple weeks ago I had several occasions to bring gifts to people and so I decided to make everyone desserts. The first was a sugar-free, flourless, chocolate, mixed berry cake. It was for my friend Molly who is pregnant and has to cut down on her sugar, so for her birthday she got to eat a guilt free dessert. She shared with her family even though I told her to eat it all by herself. She reported it was good. I'm glad since I hadn't tried it before and it was sugar free and all.The next was a strawberry, mandarin cheesecake tart for our friends, the Frosts, who were moving. I hope they had time to eat it before they left.
I made some mini cheesecakes from the rest of the batter and brought them with me to see my friend Courtney's new baby at the hospital. I love mini tartlets. They are such a perfect bite after dinner. I've yet to bring them dinner. Oops.And I have actually made this about three times in the last couple weeks. This one was for Corrinne on her birthday. She mentioned before that she loved key lime pie. I remembered this and instead of making many for the whole party, I made one for her to eat all by herself. I wonder how she is doing on that.My landlord has commented that I'm walking out of the house with food every time she sees me.

Tag, we're it!

Amber Cottrell tagged me and 6 others to play this game of sevens. I don't usually do these, but Amber is so nice so I'll oblige:
A. List 7 habits/quirks/facts about yourself.
B. Tag 7 people to do the same.
C. Do not tag the person who tagged you or say that you tag whoever wants to do it.


1. I just bought an elliptical machine from craigslist. I love it. I absolutely hate working out and am terrible at it. I do like swimming, pilates and the elliptical machines at the gym. We have just enough space for it and it folds out of the way when I'm done. Matty helped me load it in his truck . It was pretty cool how he tied it up. We'll see if this pushes me into gear.

2. I love thinking of what to make for dinner. We do have waffles and eggs, or frozen pizza nights on occasion, but looking in my fridge at random food items makes me excited to see what I can make out of them. KC is always interested to see what I come up with. Sometimes it doesn't turn out so good, but he's always a great sport and very appreciative. Here's my latest concoction, stuffed spaghetti squash. It could've been better but was okay.



3. I love turning off all the lights in the middle of the day and watching Lifetime movies. KC knows not to flip the channel there because I get hooked. They are really getting big actors these days.

4. I have a weird habit of holding my breath as someone passes me in a hallway for fear of smelling them as they pass. I noticed this in high school, but I still do it on occasion. I didn't really know I was doing it, I just realized it one day. It's mostly when they are passing very quickly so there is a strong wind and it has their smell in it. Weird I know.



5. I have just remodeled my bedroom which is a big step for me in the decorating department. It's nothing special but I love that it is put together. We've had "your's mine and our's" furniture for a while, and now I feel like it's all just our's. It's helps to keep it tidy too. KC knows not to put any clutter on the new dresser.



6. I love waking up and going places early in the morning. The people at the grocery store are the nicest in the morning. I just like being awake and on the road while no one else. Not too early though, and not every day. Just on special occasions.



7. I have recently had an urge to see what it takes to be a beekeeper. It looks like such a nice calm environment to work in. Besides the bees buzzing around, you always see those people in a nice sunny field. I've actually reasearched this. Maybe it will really get into it during my mid-life crisis.



So this was really an excuse to tell about my elliptical, but it fit in quite well. I tag Melody, Molly, Mom, Matty, Ashley, Amber, and Whitney. That is, if you guys want to.

I blame myself

I have 20+ mosquito bites on my body from a couple hours outside for labor day festivities. Some of which are on my hips and shoulders. You tell me how that happens. The worst part is, I know better. I can't wait for the summer to be over.

Quite a different experience

Well you might remember this post I wrote a while ago about my less than satisfactory experience at Wal-mart. Well today I went and it was quite different. I think it was the time of day. I was ironically returning the items I bought in the above mentioned post. I was also picking up a prescription and didn't really have a list of anything else to buy there. Weird I know. I had to wait about 40 minutes for the prescription so I was left to browse. This is a bad thing to do in this type of store. Of course I found many things to buy. Some of which I'm glad I thought of while I was there so I wouldn't have to make another trip later, and some of which were just for fun. After items were purchased (including prescription), in very short lines I might add, I headed to the car. As I was unloading my merchandise, an employee was there a few seconds before I was done to retrieve my cart for me. I tried to hurry as he told me to take my time. I gave a subdued yet enthusiastic thank you along with a little laugh as this is so different from what had happened in, again, the above post. Not that is was the employee that caused the problem before, but it was just the feeling I left with. I guess I'll try to do my Wal-mart runs before dark.

Other news, our friends the Murphys had their little boy the other day. I went to see him yesterday, and even though it was after hours for me, I gave him a little photo session, off the clock. It was fun to take pictures with a family I knew. He's a sweet little guy and handled all the friends and flashes very well.

Sad news, our friends moved today. They were the only church friends we had here in Cheverly and it will be sad to walk by there house, knowing it's not their house. They gave so much service to everyone the knew. I mean, I can't even say how much they did for so many people. I told her to start a lot and I think she will. I can't wait.

Exciting news for them, but sad news for us, Matty and the fam are moving to Utah. We hope they like the new job. Cortnie and Jack are moving TOMORROW to get him going in school, and Matt is staying for another little while to get things sorted out. We've been so busy that we haven't even been able to say good bye. Good thing we have blogs.

Great news, KC is coming home before 9:00 tonight. Well he said he would try. He doesn't even have to go in tomorrow! Yeah! We do have to be at road show rehearsal at about 8:30 in the morning however. It should be fun though. My friend Molly is directing and we are the main roles. I know, something to brag about. But you should see this script and these dance moves, we have to learn. It is intense. Well, maybe for the drama-illiterate folks like me.

Hard working husband

KC is working twelve hour days for the next little while and this includes weekends. I think it finally stops come Labor Day. I like having me time during the day, but there comes a time that I just get sick of trying to keep myself busy. Knowing he'll be coming home lets me relax a little and know that I'll have something to do, even if it's just cuddling with him watching TV or something. I suppose we should travel or just get out more, being in this stage of life that everyone call the perfect situation: young, no kids, no pets. But with all the hours he's putting in, you tell me when we shall do that. Hopefully we'll plan a vacation in the next little while. We could really use it. Horray for all the hard working husbands.

Molly's Surprise Shower

On Saturday a few of us girls threw a surprise baby shower for my friend Molly. It was great! We had something like 20 people there, the food was wonderful (we asked anyone who would, to contribute since we had so many people coming), and she didn't even see it coming. Her mom and sister were even in town and pretended that they were leaving to their flight when they were really leaving to her party. It was supposed to be a girl's night to partly celebrate her birthday last Wednesday, and a little going away party for Tracie, who's house the shower/fake girl's night was at. Courtney did so much work, and Christina, Tracie, and I just did what we could to help. I think the tears in Molly's eyes when she saw her family and everyone there to surprise her, let us know she was happy. Here are the pictures for Molly or anyone at the Shower that needed them. The lighting is not so great, sorry.

Why today is a good day...

-I finished a short and productive day at work.
-I listened to the Book of Mormon to and from.
-I ate fresh guacamole and Hint of Lime tortilla chips (oooooooooohhhhh man those are so good.) and Mediterranean grape leaf rolls for lunch. An odd combination, but they were both starring at my from the fridge.
-A best friend just told me she's engaged.
-I cleaned the bathroom before I went to work. I love getting something done before I have a chance to think about it again.
-I have two loads of laundry getting done.
-It is a beautiful, overcast, 70 degree day outside.
-I have nothing planned today so I can do whatever I want with the rest of it.


I know this seems silly as these are all regular things, but for some reason today I felt so grateful for the day. It's nice to enjoy the simple pleasures since life can seem pretty mundane sometimes going through the same things everyday. I feel like when a Monday goes well, the rest of the week follows. I hope everyone is having an especially great Monday as well.

Possibly the best I've ever had

Last night at Christina's house playing games, she displayed some GIANT chocolate chip cookies, with GIANT chocolate chips just waiting for us to devour. They are probably the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever consumed, and I have consumed a lot. I just don't remember any of them being quite that good. When she opened up the suggestion of people take some home, KC wanted one for his lunch tomorrow. I said no, he may not, knowing they probably had our daily caloric intake in one alone. But with slight persuasion I gave in and told him to get one for me while he was at it. Another guy took three for himself, so I didn't feel quite so bad. Thanks for the branded memory of the best cookie ever, Christina. Here are some pictures of our friends just for fun.

I "knead" a break!

It has been a crazy couple of days. I've been very busy with different events since Thursday, I think. Dinners with friends and family, a baby shower, and baking bread. They are all fun activities, but a lot to do all the same.

A couple of friends and I put together a quaint shower for our friend Courtney. It was just a few ward friends and we did fondue. This is what I made the previously mentioned cinnamon spice cheesecake and pound cake for. It was really fun complete with a baby memory game, among other classics. I ate way too much. I had had delicious fondue at Cami's the night before and was still full from that adventure. Who gets fondue two nights in a row?! We did the broth and cheese versions at Cami's house. Delicious! We must do it again sometime, when I have recovered.

Mattie invited us over for dinner the next day for a very upscale salad bar with artichoke hearts, streak strips, avocado, and cherry tomatoes, to name a few fixins. It was nice after eating everything covered in cheese or chocolate for the past two nights.

I was asked, and gladly agreed to teach a class on baking bread for an enrichment activity on Tuesday. I decided to make wheat, French, and foccacie breads. I love baking bread, as you probably know, but teaching a class requires a lot of prior preparation and organization. For instance, having the finished product baked before the class begins, having a batch of dough raised and ready to be shaped at the precise time in the class when you want to shape the loaves, teaching how to make the doughs (details on kneading, yeast, and gluten), and getting all the equipment and ingredients you need to the church. This seemed an easy enough task, so on Sunday I thought I'd go straight home from church to test out the recipes for quantity, and to check my timing. The class was Tuesday and this was getting close to procrastinating for me. I used a cheap measuring cup for the water that I realized after a long time of kneading a big glob of what was supposed to me a French bread recipe I've make dozens of times, was 1/2 cup over what it actually says on the cup itself. How deceitful! This solves a lot of mysteries in my occasional baking misfortunes. I thought I was going insane when really, every time I'd used that cup, I was mis-measuring. I was pretty upset, as I usually am when a simple cooking task doesn't turn out how I want it to. KC is very patient with me. He never takes these types of situations personally. So all that work was for very big, and not quite right, loaves of French bread (see photo, pre-baked) that actually made a very nice pizza later on. Anyway, the next day I couldn't let the bad batch haunt me anymore. I needed to make it right. I find that whenever something doesn't turn out right, I have a very strong urge to make it again immediately no matter what time of day or what previous engagements I have. I started making both the wheat and the French bread doughs one after another right when I woke up at 6 something, since I would need them both as examples to present and have something to eat in case the other batches didn't get done. Everything was going wonderfully. Both were rising, the wheat in the pans, and the French, ready to be shaped. Then I got an emergency call from my boss telling me to go into a different hospital since the girl that is normally there is now in the middle of morning sickness. My bread was mid-rise! I said I would since this hospital is very busy and out company gets a lot of words if people get missed. I was upset, once again, and had to put the wheat bread in the oven immediately, and freeze the French dough to stop it from rising altogether. What a pain. I thought I was never going to win with this bread. Anyway, after all that, I went home and had to go straight to my friend Jeanette's new apartment, 40 minutes away. She is a former co-worker from Just Cakes, and she invited me and a couple others that have worked or still work there. I brought all of them a loaf of the semi-raised bread, which was actually still good, just not as fluffy as I would've liked. I had a great time catching up with them. It's weird working with people for 40 hours a week to not seeing them at all. We became great friends.

That night KC and I did a reimbursable shopping trip and I was finally feeling prepared. I had my recipes typed up, and my class itinerary ready to go. After work on Tuesdays, all I had to do was prepare the foccacie toppings, and make one more batch of dough to be ready to be shaped in the middle of the class. We had a trunk full of ingredients and tools. KC was a huge help, going on grocery store runs, hauling equipment, and moral support. The class went perfectly, there was a small but fun group of ladies there and it was a great successful night. The foccacie was the hit. I supplied prosciutto, goat cheese, fresh rosemary, parsley, and basil, caramelized onions, garlic, marinated tomatoes, and Parmesan cheese. I've made enough bread in the last three days to feed an army, and gained a few pounds from eating a good portion of it. I really loved teaching this class. All the worry and freaking out was for nothing which is usually the case. One crazy thing happened though. A girl who seemed to be happily interested the whole time passed out and was completely gray. We didn't even see her until she woke up and told us since we were all eating in the kitchen. We had to call her in-laws to pick her up since he husband was at work. She didn't get much color the rest of the time but we fed her a little bread and she started to feel better. Poor girl. I hope she's okay.

I gave my friend my camera and asked her to take a FEW pictures. She knows how picky I am so she's kept on taking. I only wanted a documentation because of all the hard work that went into it. Notice how I look progressively hotter, and my face gets more red as the class goes on. Kneading 4 batches of dough is hard work. Sar, notice the cute Hawaiian apron.

So, today I was happy to finally do the jobs that have needed to get done around the house that I couldn't get to earlier due to more pressing matters. The fridge is now clean, and I think the flour is cleaned off of most of the surfaces in the apartment. I have a few more baking projects I have to do in the next couple weeks. Funny how last week I baked endlessly for no reason at all, and now I'm swamped with mandatory jobs. Good thing I love to do it.

Excessive Baking

Lately I have really been in the baking mood. As soon as I get off work, I have this sudden urge to bake something. Sometimes I have an idea of what I want to make, some things have actually been for something in particular, and others have just been something that I made to use up something in the fridge. Here is the list, most of which you'll see in my "something we've eaten lately" sidebar:

-puff pastry dough--(previously mentioned) I actually made this for something and it's in the freezer waiting to be used.

-Caramel corn--It was actually pretty intense. More info in sidebar.

-Banana whole wheat brownies--I was asked to bring a refreshment to a baptism on Sunday. I wanted to use some frozen bananas and just thought I'd go crazy and make them whole wheat. They weren't received as well as my usually contributions to pot lucks( I was told to my face that they weren't that good), but I didn't care. I wasn't that willing to bring something anyway. There were also two other fantastic batches of brownies there, so I asked for it. I don't usually make brownies since I know there will always be some already. They would've been great with a cream cheese frosting. People are suckers for that.

-Bacon and cheese biscuits--Made for something but I decided against it and now they are in the freezer to be baked whenever we desire.

-Key lime pie--I had to use a bunch of lime I had in the fridge. It is also frozen to be used at an appropriate time.

-Cinnamon spice cheesecake bars--I made this to be dipped in the chocolate fondue we're having at a baby shower this weekend.

Strawberry mango swirl pound cake--I use this fruit combination a lot because I made a not so great batch of jam with them. I like finding ways to use it since it's not quite jam consistency. This is also for the fondue.


I have a couple more things on the back burner (ha!) that I have to make next week. I don't know what has gotten into me. I've been known to bake during stressful times to help relieve it. I haven't felt as stressed as when this usually occurs, but maybe my body is just taking care of it's self. Maybe I've learned to crave my spatula and red Kitchenaid mixer when I need them the most. It's a great way to channel any anxiety into something productive.

By the way, the picture above is a batch of coconut ganache I made a while ago for something I didn't end up using it for. It is delicious on ice cream, however. Most of the things I make and have no use for, come in handy for the spur of the moment game nights or Sunday dinners with friends. Rarely would be defrost a key lime pie, for example, for just the two of us.

Shocked and Appaulled

We just returned from Wal-mart picking up an online order and had a less than satisfying experience. We know we need to avoid that store at all costs because first of all, the store itself is quite annoying never being stocked properly and being a mess in general, and second, the area we live in. The people that work AND shop there are so rude and distasteful. It is a pretty low income area but that is no excuse. I don't understand the ethics these people live by. We waited in the customer service line to ask where to pick up our order. She called someone to come to us, and after a little while of no one paying attention to us, someone had asked if we were helped. She had us follow her to the back of the store to where you are supposed to pick it up. We got it, everything was all fine and good and we were gladly heading out of the store to escape the madness. The store was actually closing in 20 minutes and the lines were getting wild. Luckily we didn't have to stand in one. So we stepped into the car and watched as a laughy couple in the car a few spaces over left their cart just rolling freely in the lot obviously heading toward a white truck. They saw exactly where it was going, got in the car, taking their time mind you, to adjust the radio or whatever, not even caring that they were about to dent another car with their cart. They knew full well it was happening and didn't even care. The cart gatherer saw it a quickly caught it before it did any damage, but I just stared. It honestly made my blood boil. What goes on in these people's heads? I am the kind of person that has guilt if I don't put the cart in the cart return even if I'm in a huge rush. And there are the people that just place it in a spare space because they are too lazy to take it to the cart return stall, and that isn't even as bad as just letting it roll to hit whatever it comes in contact with. If I must go to Wal-mart again, I'm parking in the back where no annoying, careless, people's carts will come in contact with it. But that is not the point. I'm so tired of people trying to get away with doing the least amount of work as they possibly can at the expense of others. Why are some of us so willing care about other people, while others seem to have never heard the golden rule. I witness this behavior a lot around here. Whew, I could go on and on, but I just needed a little vent. I need to remember that even though seeing this initially makes me wonder why I am so willing to go out of my way to be nice, and want to turn around and do it right back to them, I would never want to stoop to that level. There's so much to say, but I better stop now.

Unsuccessfully, successful day

On Saturday we didn't have any plans. I woke up and was in a mood to do something fun, out of the ordinary. I looked up some berry picking farms we're going to go to at some point, and found a fair in Cami's county and thought I'd call and see if they were interested. Of course, Ethan is confined to the house with his potty training state. So Cami said I should come shopping with her instead. I was glad to agree. We went to the mall where we ate my favorite, Mexican (Thanks for buying Cami. I even got the chips and salsa to myself because of her diet.), and to Target. We went to some of my favorite stores, and you know what? I didn't buy a darn thing. Not even at Target! I always need something there. I was trying to think though, was this successful or unsuccessful? Usually when I don't actually need anything, or am not looking for something in particular, it's hard to convince yourself that you really need something that you just happen to like. I think it's my bargain shopper mentality, or the fact that I hate having things cluttering my house that I don't really need or forget about. It gets too crowded and it makes me feel like I can't control myself if I buy something I don't need. I don't like feeling out of control. Maybe if I saw an amazing deal on something, but I wasn't quite satisfied with the sale prices, so let's call it a success.

We decided during the day to go to a later showing of Hairspray with a couple more friends. I was missing KC and asked if he wanted to come hang with Jake and the kiddies. We weren't quite thrilled to have two cars here, so Jake offered to go all the way to our home and pick him up. They even got dinner while they were out. Before we went to the Movie, Corrinne and I were talking about the Baltimore accent that I had heard John Travolta really does well in the flick. Corrinne found a website that explains it very well. We were laughing very hard since we are hearing this accent daily. It was hilarious in the movie, but my favorite character was probably Christopher Walkin. We were laughing non-stop, and I need to get the soundtrack soon.

Ipod+Harry Potter=Productive!

Since I have been listening to the infamous new Harry Potter on my ipod, I have been so much more productive. It seems boring and silly to just sit and listen with two free hands. I have been making my bed everyday (not a usual occurrence I'm embarrassed to say), I have been keeping the house tidy, and exercising more. It's also nice to have something to listen to during simple things like doing hair and makeup, driving, and doing mundane tasks as work. Here is the list of the things I've done today alone while listening, on and off, to this gripping novel:

-Worked at the hospital for about three hours
-Washed, folded, and pit away load of laundry
-Made a batch of puff pastry dough (A long process. My rolling pin muscles are not what they used to be.)
-Dusted the whole apartment
-Organized my kitchen pantry
-Organized a kitchen cabinet
-Organized my clothes closet
-Made chicken salad for dinner
-Cut up a watermelon
-Took Matt to the metro station so he could catch his flight
-Went grocery shopping (remember that requires unloading into the house, and reloading into the kitchen )
-Written this blog

Granted there are things that obviously can't be done while listening, but still it's nice to see a list of everything you've accomplished in a day. Being home more that usual, you'd think I would get this much done all the time. But there are some days that it is harder to get things done when you know you have plenty of time on your hands. I feel so blah after those days of doing nothing after work but watching Lifetime movies, The Style Network, or Oprah (yuck). There are times for those types of days when you really need one, but I think I've found my key to productivity. Not that I'm lazy everyday or anything, but I love the feeling of getting things done. I'd better get another book ready since this one is rapidly coming to a close (Amber bring Ender when you come). I have turned it off from time to time to concentrate on whatever I was doing, not wanting to miss anything, but I've had it one for the most part. It keeps me company while I'm here alone all day. I'm actually feeling pretty tired now. It has also kept me from taking my afternoon nap I've gotten in a habit of taking. KC is reading the hard back (thanks to Cami and Jake who loaned us both mediums) and we just found out we are at the same part but were each too afraid to ask details for fear of giving something away.

I actually liked this one

Only rule: you have to answer with one word.
1. Where is your mobile phone? charging
2. Relationship? giving
3. Your hair? bangs
4. Work? easy
5. Your sister(s)? RAD
6. Your favorite thing? creating
7. Your dream last night? weird
8. Your favorite drink? pina-colada
9. Your dream car? convertible
10. The room you're in? living
11. Your shoes? colorful
12. Your fears? sharks
13. What do you want to be in 10 years? settled
14. Who did you hang out with this weekend? Kenny
15. What are you not good at? oversleeping
16. Muffin? oatmeal
17. Wish list item? House
18. Where you grew up? Wedgewood
19. The last thing you did? rearrange
20. What are you wearing? bathrobe
21. What are you not wearing? makeup
22. Your pet? beta
23. Your computer? laptop
24. Your life? Simple
25. Your mood? chipper
26. Missing? Julia
27. What are you thinking about? work
28. Your car? Accord
29. Your kitchen? functional
30. Your summer? eventful
31. Your favorite color? blue
32. Last time you laughed? last night
33. Last time you cried? Tuesday
34. School? L'Academie
35. Love? organization

New friend and new do

So, my lovely split ends were jealous of KC's fresh ones so I made a long overdue hair appointment. I went in for a trim, nothing serious, and came out with this swoop type of bang. I found a picture in a magazine and just went for it. It grows pretty fast so it's fun to try new things every now and then. It's nice to have a new hair cut and still keep my hair long. There's not much you can do with long hair to make a change in your style. But any girl with bangs will tell you that going from having none, to having some, makes quite a difference in the everyday look and routine. It may not seem so, but it does. It will take a little more maintenance than normal, but I can deal with that. I still have the length that I'm not sure I will ever get rid of. One of these days, I suppose. I'm trying to talk Melody into some layers. We'll see if she complies. And don't worry that I'm wearing that same red pok-a-dot shirt in many blog photos. I really don't wear it everyday.So the new friend I speak of is this little beta fish.He's actually had quite a list of owners. About two years ago, we purchased this fish for a friend in our singles ward for her birthday. She lived in the basement apartment of our friends/neighbors/bishop and family. She went on a mission a year ago and left the little guy to the landlords. They have suddenly decided to move (a big bummer) and didn't think the fish would make it. We are technically fish sitting for the next six months, until the rightful owner returns to claim her little friend. His name escapes me now, but I know it translates to "fish bate" in Spanish.

My big boy's first haircut (by me)

On Saturday I cut KC's hair for the first time. With the corney, outdated video, KC's advice, and any memory I had from my mom doing it, It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. And hopefully it will only get better from here. We are happy with our Costco hair cutting kit but will definitely have to replace the scissors with a more cuttable pair. KC was a great sport and we both glad we can cut the cost of his haircut every three to six weeks. We both go to the same stylist. I don't need a cut nearly as much as he, so when I have to pay, it doesn't seem so bad. But when he has to fork over $20 plus tip, it seems silly to not take this task upon myself. My haircut costs more than his which is also silly because mine is probably easier to cut. Oh the price we girls will pay for a good haircut. I've tried the less and more expensive route when I first moved here, but with the black population being so high, they are usually skilled with that type of hair. When you find someone you like, you must hold on. But something that makes me more happy than saving money about this situation is that cutting my husbands hair really makes me feel like a wife. I remember my mom cutting hair on the porch countless times, and I'm happy to join club. I tried to take pictures of KC, but I think he was too nervous and wouldn't let me, so maybe next time. Yay for all the hair cutting wives!

Surprising pleasant time at the MVA

I went to the MVA (or DMV for Utah people) to finally change my name and address. It's about time. Everytime we fly, I'm still Emily Graham. So I braced myself as we all know this can be a tedious and long journey. I had a doctors appointment in the same area at 10:45 this morning so I thought I'd get in the already formed line at about 8:00 to get in the doors pretty quick when they open at 8:30. I was actually thinking it would be stretching it to be done in time for my appointment. They started letting people in and they were handing the first numbers to license renewals, which is the category I was in. I wasn't sitting down for three minutes when they called me up. They took a picture, not a bad one for a license picture if I do say so, and that was that. I think that is record time. 15 minutes from the time I stepped in to the time I stepped out. I have been there a few times for car/license issues. In fact, I have had my picture taken there three times since I've lived here. None of those times were as easy as this. Now I had 2 hours before my appointment and I was 25 minutes from my house. So I decided to get some things done and read some of my book I brought along. Even my doctors appointment was just as quick and smooth, and we all know those can be an awfully long wait as well. So what I thought would be a hectic and annoying morning went quite smoothly. It was such a welcomed change since I've felt like ever since I got home from a hectic week out of doors, I've been faced with a hectic week inside. I think Heavenly Father was blessing me by making thse often tedious experiences a little more bearable while everything else is crazy. He knew I would break if something went even the tiniest bit wrong, so he went easy on me. I think sometimes he even tells the little babies to act really good for me while I'm taking their pictures so I can have a pleasant experience at work. The babies have to be on their best behavior for my job otherwise nobody is happy with the pictures, so it's nice when they cooperate. It's good to recognize the blessings we have in the places we aren't always looking. Heavenly Father knows us and how much we can take, and he gives us signs along the way to remind us he's there. KC and I are at a point right now where we both describe it as "unsettled". We want to move sometimes, but there's no reason to. We want kids, but well... We love our callings in church, but wouldn't mind helping in other areas. We're grateful for our jobs, but feel like there's more out there. We know all these things are coming in the future, but we are learning a great deal about patience in this awkward yet wonderful and easy time of our lives. I'm sure it's something a lot of people go though after the newlywed stage is coming to an end. Although, I don't think I'm quite done with it yet. I don't want this to sound like I don't love my life and the blessings I see in it every day. It's just been a time of reflection, you know? I think our lives have many more of these awkward years to come. I am enjoying it, but I'll enjoy it even more when we move to a place with a little more leg room.

It's OVER! Girls camp is over!

I am home and I think have recovered from a week in the wilderness. It was certainly a long time for me to be outside my comfort zone. I'm not much of an outdoorsy person unless I can go home and have a long shower immediately after a long hot day. So I tried to embrace my surroundings and enjoy not caring what I look like for 6 days. It actually was great. I am so glad I was asked to go. It was an experience that I'm so glad I was a part of. There was so much to mention that I think I'll just make a list and let you look at the slide show if you so desire.

-For the first two days it was 110+ degrees. I really didn't think the girls would make it. Our clothes just continued to stick to out bodies.
-We had different ethnic foods at every single meal. Some had an American twist to them to appeal to all the little picky eaters. The food really was amazing. The people in charge really knew what they were doing. Everyone giggled when I'd take pictures of my food at every meal.
-Some of the meals included: churros, chow mein, fried plantains, chimichurris (Dominican burgers) with homemade sauerkraut, Milanesa (breaded and fried stake from Argentina) Ethiopian chicken with injara bread to be eaten with fingers only, and many other food adventures.
-Being a leader is much better than being a young woman at camp. I could drive to Wal-Mart or McDonald's whenever I wanted. I only did this twice when there were others that wanted to go as well.
-I think I started really having fun when we went swimming at the beach that was a couple miles away. I thought we'd never escape the heat. I was giddy in the water. The girls thought I was a little crazy, but I think they enjoyed it.
-It rained and poured as we were cooking dinner over a fire on the third day. We all managed to hold tarps over the fire before it went out and ate very well.
-I showered three times in the 6 days of camp in the most disgusting showers.
-The bathroom was quite a distance from the camp and for some reason I always had to use it in the middle of the night when I had to walk all alone.
-I was so excited for KC to come on Thursday. My girls were excited to meet him . They all laughed and told me to keep it PG when I ran and jumped into his arms when he arrived.
-The skits were actually really fun to watch. The youth leaders topped them all by imitating a few of the leaders. They borrowed my cowboy hat and sunglasses I was wearing. I was laughing pretty hard.
-I never sang along to one camp song. I despise them.
-There is a Spanish branch in our stake so a lot of the girls were Spanish speakers. We had many girls from Africa as well. It was a diverse group.
-The second to last morning, we all woke up at 5am to attend a sunrise service. The YCLs, a few leaders and a couple men, including KC bore their testimonies in their home, or learned languages. There were over 14 languages spoken and a wonderful experience for everyone.
-I was in charge of the YCL challenges which I think went over very well. They really enjoyed the competition.
-I carried a bag around with me the whole time full of necessities that I might not want to walk all the way back to the tent to get. It was the magic bag. Any time anyone needed anything, I seemed to be able to pull it right out.
-I faithfully wore sunscreen and bug repellent. I got minimal burns, and only about 6 small bites. It was a miracle. Some girls had countless bites on their leg. It looked miserable. I sprayed so much that my watch and toenail polish actually started corroding and melting. I think my skin was reacting to the repellant by itching. Ironic, wouldn't you say.
-One of the meals was cooked in a pit in the woods dug by a few cook girls. We cooked whole chickens, and vegetables. Some of them weren't done when we took them out so we had to turn on the gas skillets and cook them in pieces. There were still rave reviews.
-I learned a lot about people's dedication to their callings and service. It was amazing what all the leaders, especially the director and the one in charge of the food did for the girls. What amazing women. And hardly a complaint.
-I learned that young women complain and whine about the dumbest things. It especially bothered me when I knew someone had worked very hard on what they were griping about. I hope I was never like that.
-I became really good at bossing the girls around and having them actually listen to me. It was great.
-Every night, the camp director and food director (long time friends) put on a News at Night program to tell of the events of the day. Their names used to be Seymour Butts, and I.P. Freely. One leader had a problem with that so they were Harry Back , and Harry Pitts this year.
-One day when we were waiting for someone to come for pictures we got bored of standing there and started singing randomly. It turned into a competition between the a few leaders and a few girls. We had a sing off for probably 30 minutes. I even broke out my Darrin's Dance Grooves. It was a great stress buster.
-We had so many left over marsh mellows from the YCL chubby bunny challenge, I thought we
should play "I am a chubby Bishop" when they all came up. It was a hit.
-I slept in my own little tent the whole time except when KC got there. It was a very good decision on my part to have my own space.
-I had no trouble falling asleep in my camping chair on a few occasions.
-When we finally got home I had a wonderfully long shower, checked emails and fell asleep for 14 hours. It started out as a nap and I didn't get out of bed until the next morning. I was very refreshed.


So that's it in a nutshell. Pretty random and probably boring to everyone, but that's how it was and I'm glad I was a part of it. I really bonded with my fourth year girls that I was over, and the girls in my ward I didn't know that well in the beginning. We have such a great group of young women and I really grew to love them.

Belated Indepencence Day

I have been getting ready for camp that is now only hours away and haven't had a chance to blog about my last culinary adventure. It was Jake's birthday last Saturday and since he was jipped on a cake from being in New York (boo hoo), and the 4th was right around the corner, we decided to combine the occasions for a very special cake. Jake's birthday is always fun to experiment with since he doesn't mind something really rich and over the top. The construction of it was diagrammed on a post it note so I wouldn't leave anything out. This cake went as follows: The crust was made of leftover chocolate chip cookies, then there was a layer of chocolate ganache on top of that. Then I lined the sides of the spring form pan with halved peanut butter cups. The design didn't quite work out . Then a layer of cookie dough ice cream was spread followed by a layer of chocolate cake. The ice cream and cake are repeated, and topped with another thin layer of ganache. That is frozen overnight and when it was time for the party it was topped with a border of ganache and loaded with fresh whipped cream, along with broken pieces of chocolate chip cookies. The reason I went so into detail into describing this heart attack on a platter is because this is the result of someone telling me to do whatever I want. Especially when their favorite things are peanut butter and chocolate. The possibilities are endless. It was kind of hard to stop adding different components. Anyway, we went to Cami's for the fun and you can read her blog for more July 4th details.

For now I have to say good bye for a week as I'm off to give my life to 70 teenagers. I feel pretty prepared and I think it will be a good experience despite how much I may have complained about this and that. I'll miss my honey until he comes on Thursday, but I know we'll be fine. With my own tent equipped with a queen sized air mattress, I think I'll survive.

Thank you, come again.

As some of you may know, 7-Eleven is transforming some of it's stores into Kwik-E-Marts (from the Simpsons for the uneducated) to promote the new movie coming out later this month. KC was reading about it the other day and found that one of the dozen nationwide locations they have renovated is only but a mile from our home. We decided to check it out. Man, there were so many people taking pictures, getting squishees, buying boxes of Krusty-Os, taking free packing boxes, the O's were shipped in, and purchasing much more Simpson memorabilia. I even overheard a guy say that he was annoyed when they were driving all the way there, but now he was glad they did. That lead me to believe that he had driven quite the distance since there isn't another closer than New York or Florida. It was quite the scene. Security and everything. I'll present you with this slide show of our adventures. If there are any requests for any Simpson keepsakes, let me know and I'll make another trip. Lili, I already thought of you so don't worry. And course, on our way out, we were told my many Kwik-E-Mart employees, including the Indian cashier,"Thank you, come again."

Another eventful summer weekend

We had a pretty busy week but had a big weekend to look forward to. I had work off on Friday but spent a lot of it helping a friend with some food she was making for a shower on Saturday. She always does such great things for the parties she throws. She made dozens of royal icing cookies, stacked them to make a wedding cake, and topped them with tiny royal icing roses we piped. It was fun to get into my tools from school again and try to remember how to do the techniques I was taught. The cookie favors turned out beautiful. We also did some cupcakes. She wanted gold and pink cupcakes so I had some pretty cupcake cups I've been wanting to use, and then loaded them with pink buttercream that everyone seemed to love, myself included. She and a couple of other ladies made the rest of the food and it looked beautiful. Friday night we went to 1408, the new John Cusack movie. I needed a movie to remove all thoughts from my head. something to really distract me from normal life. It sure did it. Not only was the movie scary and thrilling, but the audience members were distracting as well. We decided we can't go to movies here without getting upset at the rude people who think it's their time to tell us all about their lives. I can't believe the disrespect of some people. But The movie was a good one.

We had been planning to help babysit the Turpin boys while Cami took Jake on a birthday trip to New York. We picked them up at about noon, after our car insurance meeting, and they were very excited. We had been invited the night before to birthday party at the Drapers for Thomas. We told them we had the boys and they said to come along anyway. We were also asked to bring out ice cream maker along. The kids always love that. They had the makings for mint chocolate chip. It was very minty, but very good. The boys were excited to see other kids and play with the new presents. The parachute was fun for everyone. I headed to the shower while they played and then we took the kids home to relax after a long day. We had a good time reading books and eating pizza, and they went to bed very well. KC and I watched a little Jaws until they came home. We stayed up way to late talking and eating the sugared nuts they brought us from NYC that I love so much. It was fun to spend a day in the life of the little Turpins. They had us constantly laughing.

I like eventful summer weekends, as long and I have a chance to stop for a few moments to soak it all in before the season is over. With girls camp next week, I'll have a lot to do until then. I think the summer will be a lot more relaxing when that is over.