I hate snow unless it's only for a few hours

We have been so busy this last month but we also squeezed in some fun. This year we went to STG for thanksgiving and had so much fun with the Utley' and friends. Then we came home and started getting ready for Christmas.

I found a new love...cookie butter. You can find it at Trader Joe's.

I made new Christmas wreaths with some guidance and inspiration from Tricia and Andrea.

We had friends over to make gingerbread houses. It was a lot of fun.

 

We went up to the snow with Tia and Tod and their two dogs. It was fun especially since I knew I didn't have to drive in it or live in it this year. Just a short little visit.

Other good news:

 Tyler is finished with finals!!!

He got really good grades again.

I got into a Masters of Social Work program that I will start in January.

I got an iPhone as an early Christmas present.

Not Complaining

Everyone has heard the phrase "when it rains it pours" right? Well today that literally happened (yes, I am using that word the correct way, I recently read a article about the words people use that make them sound stupid when they don't use them correctly)

Recently, Tyler and I have had a number of things of ours break:

• his watch
• the microwave
• he dented his laptop
• the sound system we ordered came broken, so we had to send it back
• our car
• and I believe there was something else I can't remember right now

On Monday I came down with the stomach flu which was absolutely awful so I guess you could consider that my body breaking. Yesterday, the engine light turned on in our car and we figured there is something wrong with the temperature  gauge. Then last night it wouldn't start. Thankfully I had already gotten home from work. So we planning on just going to work/school together on his motorcycle. Well then Tyler broke...he got what I had and was very sick all night. Then this morning it rained. So even if Tyler wasn't sick he couldn't have taken me to work on the motorcycle in the rain.

So as my post title says: Not complaining. I am here to say I am very grateful for:

• his watching lasting almost 4 years ( I gave it to him our first Christmas together)
• home warranty that paid for most of a new microwave
• that his computer didn't break when he dropped it 
• that we have received good customer service and they will be sending us a new one
• and that I have an understanding job that pays me sick leave and that Tyler picked a good day to be away from school because he has had a quiz/test or two almost every single day but today.
• I am grateful that I was home when the car decided not to work and that I have a very skilled hard working husband that likes to work on cars.
• oh and of course I am grateful for the rain :)

We are kinda boring....

Tyler and I have been very busy, but that is nothing new. I am still working my two jobs and Tyler is still doing his very best in school. On the weekend we try to work on the yard, but usually we just pick up our messes from the week and do dishes and laundry. We attempted to go to the beach a couple weekends ago, but after driving an hour and only being half way there because of traffic we decided to head home and watch the new Batman movie instead. We both really enjoyed it.
We had our friends Tanner and Brynne come on weekend in July and that was a blast. I took them to Yoga and I'm sure they thought I was trying to kill them. Hopefully, I made up for it by cooking a lot of good food. I love having company because I actually cook.

This last weekend we went up to visit my family and see my friend Jamilyn get married. It was a beautiful wedding and it was so good to see my friends after so long. It was also fun to see our nephew AJ, he is growing up so fast and is the happiest child I have ever met.

This weekend Tyler and I plan to retouch the paint in the front room and dinning room so we can finally hang pictures.

I feel like almost everyday Monday-Thursday is a repeat of itself and then on the weekend there is a bit more variety added to my life. I guess that is what happens when you work so much.

My Favorite Holiday

Happy 4th!!!

Yes, the 4th of July is my favorite holiday. Here are a few reasons it is almost guaranteed to be a warm day, watermelon, day off work, BBQ, time with friends and family, and to top it all off you get fireworks at the end of the day. More importantly though because I love my country and I believe it is important to show patriotism. Our new neighbors were completely decorated and generously shared a little flag for our yard. (I will be going to buy some discounted decorations today for next year.) Our neighborhood has a block party every 4th of July. One neighbor opens their pool to everyone and when it gets later everyone moved down towards our place, because it has the best view, for the firework show put on by the city. It was pretty impressive, they had firework designs that I had never seen before. We also went and hung out with all of our dental friends at a park for a bit. Our friends the Gordons threw the party and her parents brought a candy cannon that uses compressed air to shoot off candy for all of the kids. It was pretty fun, I think Tyler wants to make one.

So I have a bit of catching up to do...

Back in May Tyler turned 25 and I threw him and Mustache Bash.

This was a very competitive game of Guess Who's Stache

Our good friends the Tattons looking fabulous

I got braces!!! My insurance approved me for corrective jaw surgery, but the first step is to get braces on for a year. I would say I'm pretty self conscience about them, but I keep telling myself it is only a year. They are the least noticeable braces I have ever seen though, so I am happy about that. It looks more like a retainer.

We moved into a house!!! So we switched wards and are a bit further away from Loma Linda, but it still takes the same amount of time to get to work and school because we take the freeway now. My favorite thing about this house: 

The Kitchen

As nice as this house is we have quite a few projects. One of the major projects is taking the office out of the garage so that we can use it as a garage. This week Tyler was doing that. It went from this:

To this:

Next project is to finish the garage and put a new electric door in.

Tyler also started school again this week. He is now officially a D2!! I am so proud of him. He is a really good student and I think this year will be harder, but more fun for him since he will start working in the clinic.

Along with moving and doing projects on the house we were able to visit UT. In fact we got the keys to the house on a Friday, we moved in on Saturday and left Sunday morning to Utah. So we didn't even unpack and came home to lots of boxes, which are now unpacked thanks to Tyler.
Here are some picture of our trip:

Nephew Stetson

Nephew Jack

So for the last two months you can see we have been very busy. Thanks to my mom for coming and helping us clean and pack I was able to remain sane during all of this while I worked my two jobs. And we have the best of friends that helped us clean and pack too, we are so blessed here!

Bomb Threat

So every once in a while I find something cute I want to do for Tyler to show him I love and appreciate him. I usually find something on Pinterest and it usually takes me months to finally get it done. This idea was no different. I literally had been wanting to do this since November, finally bought Rolos in January and wrapped them in red paper in February ( was hoping to have it done by V-day) and finally assembled in April and delivered in May. I know it shouldn't take that long, but hey at least I finally finished a little craft. I decided to use/abuse my access to the dental school lockers since I am a JDA officer ( it's a dental student wives club) and put it in his mailbox on Wednesday afternoon. 

Tyler cleverly posted this picture Thursday morning with this caption on Facebook.

Found this in my locker at dental school. This was obviously a premeditated attempt at my life.

An hour later...there is a bomb threat at Loma Linda hospital. Crazy coincidence huh? I got all of the blame from his dental school friends. Tyler even said for split second he thought he was in trouble for having something that looked like a bomb when they announced the issue to everyone at the school. 

Other news...MIDTERMS ARE OVER!!!!!

What a nightmare those are and in a few weeks finals will be here again, at least then we only have 3 years left after that. Right after finals Tyler and I will be moving into Loma Linda University housing. The current place we are at is quite disappointing. We had a choice to sign another lease with rent going up about $50 a month or go month to month for an increase in rent of $350. But the plus side of month to month is we only have to give them 30 days notice instead of 60. So our plan is to pay one month of MTM and then give our notice and move somewhere cheaper while we wait to hear on the house. Well we went in on Saturday to give our 30 day notice and they told us they changed their policies the day before (Friday) that everyone now regardless of what type of lease will have to give 60 day notice. They are a bunch of crooks!!  We will be asking very politely for them to make an exception for us when the manager is back in today, hopefully they will.

On Saturday we were able to go to Hadlee's baptism. Hadlee is the daughter of our good friends and fellow dental couple Amanda and Tyler Tatton. It was such a nice baptism beside the carpet stinking like mold inside the RS room where we were. But Tyler gave a talk on the Holy Ghost and he did a great job.  Later that night we went over to the Tatton's and ate cake that Amanda made. It was a 4-tier cake and it was beautiful and delicious, she is my baking idol. One day if I ever get a kitchen aid mixer and have more time I hope I can learn to be as good of a baker/cook as she is. Here is her blog if you want some amazing recipes.

This month is probably going to go by super fast, tomorrow I have a consultation with an oral surgeon, I have a couple JDA events, babyshowers (there are so many babies being born lately it is crazy, I am a bit worn out from babyshowers), Tyler's birthday (I'm throwing him a mustache party), packing (hopefully), and then the beginning of finals. I will try to keep updating.

Spring-ish Happenings

I would like to start off by expressing how much I enjoy living in warm weather. I feel so much happier this winter than I can remember in the past few years. I love not wearing jackets everyday and only needing light sweaters some days. I love waking up and it being sunny outside and not gray. I surely took growing up in Southern CA for granted, and I have a feeling it might take Tyler a little bit of effort getting me to leave again. Of course all he would need to remind me about is the traffic, the gas prices, and the crime rates.
I have been enjoying my new yoga job! I love the atmosphere, the opportunity I have to workout everyday, and the people. I really really love it. Yes, I am a little more tired by the weekend, but I also have never looked forward to working out before. Tyler has been very supportive and always wants me to show off my new yoga moves to people.
Tyler and I went to San Fransisco for a little break a few weeks ago. We had a wonderful time and meet up with Jason and Andrea who flew in from SLC. You can check out pictures on my FB page, I'm too lazy to upload them onto here as well. We were able to use these city passes that gave us unlimited transportation around the city and entrance to 5 different museums and attractions including SFMOMA and Alcatraz. It was a well deserved trip and we made it pretty budget. We found a hotel that served free breakfast and even bought a groupon for a restaurant ahead of time and for lunches we went to a grocery store and bought stuff for PB&J. Like I said, it was very budget, but we had so much fun.
We are still waiting on the house we put an offer in on. Today we heard that they should be making a decision soon, whatever that means. But we are hopeful, we can't wait to have our own place again, and I can't wait to be able to paint and not have to live among the off white walls anymore.
I am not supposed to brag about how well Tyler is doing in school because he doesn't like it, but I really really want to brag, so I have this little conflict going on in my mind. He probably doesn't read this blog anyway so I can squeal right? Ok here it goes, don't tell him I told you, but he got a 4.0 again and the highest grade in his anatomy class. Isn't he just awesome!!! We really look forward to this summer when he gets a 3 week break and then comes back as a D2!!!

Update for January and February and a bit of Decemeber

Well it's not like I haven't been posting every week almost, it just all I talk about is baking. I am so glad I joined this baking group it has been fun, but it has been hard for me to keep up the blog with everything going on. So here are some of the top events of the last couple months. In December my family (Mom, Dad, Marta) came to visit for a weekend. It was a lot of fun playing games and eating with them. Then for Christmas my work gave me off a week so we could go to STG. We had a blast there with all of the Utley's visiting. The craziness began early in January as Tyler started school on the 3rd and I started work on the 1st. Yes, I commonly go into work on holidays and Saturdays because I am so busy. I love my job so much, but I have never worked so hard at any job. But I prefer it that way, I rather be super busy than checking Facebook every 15 minutes out of boredom. I also have a lot of freedom in my job to plan and create and organize. All things I love. There is only one large downside to my job. The connections I have with my boss and my office roomie. Noha is so great and so nice, but she likes to talk a lot and I like to focus a lot and those two do not go hand in hand. I find myself zoning out while listening to her because I have so much work to do and she is repeating herself for the fourth time. Don't get me wrong we do get along and I respect her a great deal, I mean she is a professor and has two master's degree and a PhD, but I prefer when she is off teaching classes. And Dr. Z my boss is very kind and considerate to everyone and has been so accommodating to me. But there is over a 50 year gap in our ages and we just don't have much to talk about except her bum knee and her grandchildren. I am not complaining about them, I like them a lot, it is just such a different atmosphere than UPB. I guess I just miss all my friends at UPB. My birthday came and went, it was bad timing because Tyler had midterms the next week, but he still managed to make reservations to the Rainforest Cafe in Downtown Disney and we went on my favorite roller coaster California Screamin. Well moving on, Tyler is doing fantastic in school. He was on the Dean's List for Fall quarter and will probably be on it again for Winter. I am so proud of him. He seems to really be enjoying what he is learning. There was a ceremony a week ago where the fourth years receive their white coats and the first years get a Bible. It was really nice, they engraved our names on it and everything, unfortunately we had to leave a bit early because we forgot we had to feed the missionaries (Cafe Rio saved the day). For Valentine's day we didn't do anything special really, but we exchanged gifts for the first time since being married. I got his tennis and racquetball racquets restrung and we went shopping for some perfume for me. It was actually a lot of fun. Then just last Saturday we went to a dinner that the JDA (Junior Dental Auxiliary) puts on every year at the Dean of the dental school's home. It was so fun, we had Thai food and then played the newlywed game. I haven't laughed that much in a long time. Tyler and I practiced before hand and we actually won a prize: Movie tickets and a gift card to a pizza restaurant here in Redlands. It really is so nice because we never go out to the movies and rarely go out to eat. Today I went into work then came home for an hour and then went to my new job! Yes, I have another job. I will start at the beginning ... Once I got my first job back in November Tyler and I started thinking about buying a home, but we knew we would need me to have a few pay stubs first before going to talk to a mortgage place. So in December we met a guy from our ward who is a mortgage broker and also the branch manager of Broadview Mortgage. He had us bring him all our papers and gave us a range in prices we should be looking at. Oh and he introduced us to our wonderful real estate agent Aida. So the beginning of January comes around and we start looking at places with Aida. We found a place, but someone out bid us by $20k so that didn't work, but then we found another and we are currently waiting, it's a short sale. So we understand we could be waiting for a long time. But back to the point, sometime when I was talking with Colin our mortgage broker I mentioned or he mentioned, I can't remember, something about yoga. He recommended The Yoga Room here in Redlands. Then a few weeks later he forwarded me a groupon where I could get 10 classes for $25. That is an amazing deal, since one class regularly cost $15. So I started going and I love it. Then one of the instructors mentions that they are moving to another building and they will hopefully have a receptionist so that the instructors won't have to check people in. That was when the light bulb in my head turned on. For a few days I wrestle with the idea of emailing the company and just letting them know I am interested. I didn't really expect a response when I did send an email with my resume saying that I would be interested in working in the evenings for them. A couple days later Shawna emails me back and wants to meet. So pretty much I got hired without even an interview because we only talked for about a minute before a class started and through some emails over the last couple weeks. But I am so excited to work there, especially because I'll get free yoga. So now after work at LLU I will go over there and check people in and then get to take the class. How awesome is that. The downside, Tyler will not being getting fresh home cooked meals every night, but I will probably cook on the weekends and he can re-heat. Oh and I am in the process of applying to grad school. YAY! But don't worry if I do get in it doesn't start till next January.

Bake 52 Week 7: Pizza

Tyler LOVES pizza. Even the gross cheap kind such as Little Caesars. So it was very appropriate to make pizza for Valentine's Day, the day of love and things you love to eat I guess. Lucky for me I made this recipe back in January and saved half the dough in the freezer. I love being able to do that. Tyler and I really love this crust and it isn't hard to make at all and it taste way better than Little Caesars. I topped our pizza with mozzarella  cheese, black olives, and red onions, oh and some tomato sauce. We are having a vegetarian week. Sunday we had black bean quesadillas, Monday we had sweet potato and bean burritos and then last night this pizza. I didn't really plan it that way, but we are going with it. I think next time I'll try to get fancy with the crust and put garlic salt on it or something. Thank you Betsy for choosing this recipe, it was easy and delicious and way way better than $5 pizza.

Tyler had me put on a few jalapenos. He enjoyed them.

Bake 52 Week 5: 7 Layer Bars

So these were...AMAZING!!! If I could pick out all of my favorite things to eat and put them all in one recipe this would be it minus the cilantro. If i already had the pecans and coconut toasted it would have been a super quick dessert too, but that is because I couldn't wait for them to cool completely and ate one warm. Thank you so much Jesse for choosing this delicious dessert. Good thing I cut in half the recipe or else I would be in a lot worse shape than I am. I just love the sweet and salty mix and then the coconut and chocolate and pecans, in fact I am eating one right now and will probably go get another. Please go visit Jesse's blog so you can get the recipes, you will not regret it.

I loved these so much I posted a picture of myself eating one.

Bake 52 Week 4: Light Cheesecake

Ok so I am all about cutting calories if you can and it doesn't ruin the flavor. This week I made a cheesecake. A whole cheese cake. Bad decision. Yes, it is light, but that doesn't mean Tyler and I should eat it all ourselves. The texture was just fine, not as creamy as normal cheesecake, but not bad either. The taste was just a tad bit off, but nothing that bother me too much, I liked it. My problem was with the crust. I know in the past I admit that I skip steps or rush things, but I promise I didn't do that on this recipes because I know how temperamental cheesecake can be. So when it said wait for the crust to be completely cool before adding filling, I did exactly that. My result anyway...a soggy crust. I was pretty bummed. I mean my cheesecake cracked too, but that didn't bother me like this does. And just so you all know, I have made cheesecake before from scratch and it turned out how it was supposed to. So after reading Amanda's blog where she said it is only 60 calories less, I think I'll go with a smaller slice of traditional full calorie cheesecake. Thank you to Talesha for hosting this week you can find the recipe on her page. Maybe I should have done what Amanda did and made a smaller batch or made even smaller batch and put it in a cupcake tin and then freeze them and I could have mini cheesecakes whenever I want. Overall, if the crust was better it might have been a keeper.

Bake 52 Week 3: Boston Cream Cupcakes

Amanda decided to help ruin some people's New Year resolutions by picking this recipes out. But it was bound to happen sooner or later and I was sure glad to have these yummy treats last week. During this recipe, because there were many steps involved, I felt like it was spreading my wings in the baking realm. So it was a bit more effort than most recipes I deal with, but it was so worth it. I wish I could have FedEx one of these to each of my friends and family because I was so proud of them and I should have spread the calories around. I did take them to a BBQ, however, the queen bee also brought hers to the BBQ so not all of them got eaten, so Tyler and I ate the rest. We also did our best to run it off afterwards. I look forward to opportunities where I can make these again. If you would like to try them out go to Amanda's Blog, however, I hope you have some event to take them to because they are hard to resist.

Some unique things about these cupcakes:

• The cupcake is very dense while still being moist and somewhat fluffy.They puff up while cooking and then deflate and become flat on top. Also the recipes says to use 1/3 cup to fill the muffins, I would do 1/4 next time.
• The cream tastes just like Bird's Custard. A favorite of my family.
• The chocolate is the perfect texture and flavor and can be used on many other desserts. However, I did use semi-sweet instead of bittersweet chocolate. 

Bake 52 Week 2: Bran Muffins

So this week the recipes is Bran Muffins. To tell you the truth I've never had one before, but I generally like healthy carbs and I definitely like muffins, so I was excited. I however, wasn't excited about getting sick this week with a cold. So I am a bit late on posting, but I am so glad I ended up making this yummy/healthy treats. If you would would like the recipe you can get it here from Valerie's blog. I think she made a good choice because so many of us are trying to eat healthier right now. We will see what we will be baking at the end of this year ;)

So I cheated a bit in two ways. First, I got to see what others had written about the bran muffins before I baked them and second, because I had read others people's reviews I put chocolate chips in them, which I know for certain to be cheating. However, I did make 4 of them plain, but that made me realize I was glad I put chocolate chips in the rest. You see I don't like raisins, but they help make the bran muffins a bit sweeter, so chocolate chips did the trick for me. But the important thing is that we will eat them and still get our fiber out of them. I was also pleasantly surprised to find them soooo moist, I just normal don't think of bran muffins as being moist. But there is quite a bit of yogurt in them which is great. I am very happy that I made these healthy treats.

Bake 52 Week 1: Quiche

 

From The America's Test Kitchen: Family Baking Book

Quiche 
p. 72-74

There are many different ways to do quiche, which is why I picked it for the first post. Like I said before: "The reasoning(of why I choose this recipe)...I like quiche, not very many people make it, and it is so versatile." Therefore, there are many recipes to choose from. 
I chose Broccoli Cheese Quiche.
And I used Easiest Ever Press-In Single-Crust Pie Dough on p.363 and let me tell you it was the easiest pie crust I have ever used, the only thing that I noticed was it was on the sweet side, not that there is anything wrong with that.


Easiest Ever Press-In Single-Crust Pie Dough 

• 1.25 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons of sugar
• .25 teaspoons salt
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
• 2 ounces cream cheese, softened

1. Grease a 9 inch pie plate. Whisk the flower, sugar, and salt together in a medium bowl. 
2. In a large bowl, beat the butter and cream cheese together with an electric mixer on medium/high speed until completely combined, about 2 minutes. Reduce the mixer speed to medium/low and beat in the flower mixture until it resembles course crumbs, about 20 seconds. Increase the mixer speed to medium/high and beat until the dough begins to form large clumps, about 30 seconds.
3. Transfer 3 tablespoons of the dough to a small bowl. Turn the remaining dough clumps out onto a lightly floured counter, gather into a ball, and flatten into a 6 inch disk. Transfer the disk to the prepared pie plate.
4. Follow the photos below, press the dough evenly over the bottom of the pie plate using the heel of your hand. With your fingertips, continue to work the dough over the bottom of the plate and up the sides until evenly distributed.
5. On a lightly floured counter, roll the reserved 3 tablespoons of dough into three 8-inch long ropes. Arrange the ropes around the top of the pie plate, leaving small gaps between them. Squeeze the ropes into the crust to make a uniform edge. Following the photos on page 362, crimp the edge of the dough. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and place in the freezer until the dough is fully chilled and firm, about 30 minutes, before using.


Broccoli Cheese Quiche

• 1 recipe single-crust pie dough, fitted into a 9-inch pie plate and chilled

Filling:

• 5 large eggs
• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh chives
• .25 teaspoon salt
• .25 teaspoon pepper
• 4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (1cup)

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees. Following the photos on page 363, line the chilled crust with a double layer of foil and fill with pie weights. Bake until the pie dough looks dry and is light in color, 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pie plate to a wire rack and remove the weights and foil. Adjust the oven rack to the lower-middle position and decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees. (the crust must still be warm when the filling is added.)

2. FOR THE FILLING: Whisk the eggs, half-and-half, chives, salt, and pepper together in a large bowl. Stir in the cheddar until well combined. Transfer the filling to a 4-cup liquid measuring cup.

VARIATION
Do not substitute frozen broccoli here.
Bring 4 cups bite-sized broccoli florets, 1/2 cup water, and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil in a covered 12-inch skillet and cook until the broccoli is bright green, about 3 minutes. Uncover and continue to cook until the broccoli is tender and the water has evaporated, about 3 minutes. Pat the broccoli dry with paper towels, then sprinkle it over the warm pie shell before adding the egg mixture.


3. Place the warm pie shell on a rimmed baking sheet and place in the oven. Carefully pour the egg mixtures into the warm shell until it reaches about 1/2 inch from the top edge of the crust (you may have extra egg mixture).

4. Bake the quiche until the top is lightly browned, the center is set but soft, and a knife inserted about 1 inch from the edge comes out clean, 40 to 50 minutes. Let the quiche cool for at least 1 hour or up to 3 hours. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.

Review:
I loved the crust,  I forgot to only partially bake it so it came out a bit more brown and I didn't chill it before cooking because well I wasn't patient enough, however, it was still way good. I didn't have half and half but I had something better: heavy whipping cream. I did some math and mixed the WC with milk to make half and half. I over cooked the broccoli as well, but it didn't make a difference really, and I don't really like my broccoli under cooked, so it all worked out. Tyler and I did not wait the hour after it was down cooking to eat it, we were starving! I think I should have varied from the recipe and added onions and garlic and maybe some more spices because it seemed a little plain. So I made a ton of mistakes and it still was really good. I hope everyone else had similar or even better experiences than me. Here are some pics:

Happy Husband! That's the goal.