Miscellaneous Monday

I’ve been working on my scrapbook for the past couple of weeks. I ordered some scrapbook helpers from Close to My Heart, and then as soon as I started using them, the time flew by! It was WAY easier, now that everything was already printed for me, and cute. So I caught up on over a whole year of scrapbooking in just a couple of weeks, and I finished last night! I wanted to throw myself a party, but I stayed up later than usual to finish, so I’ll celebrate later, I think.

Yesterday, on our way home from church, the deacons followed us and came in for the usual Sunday-candy stock up. Then, they took a seat on the couch, and stayed and chatted. Slowly over the next hour+, kids just kept coming over, until we had like, 8 or so over there, eating food, chatting, etc. Its really weird to me that kids just come over to our house to eat candy. There’s talk of starting a game night Sunday nights, to break up the day, and basically by that I mean, the kids made a plan, and then asked if they could use our house. I said yes, if only to keep an eye on them, and make sure they don’t get into any shenanigans.

I’m now over a month into school, and I think I’m in the groove of it. I’ve taken 1 math test (got a 97 – I made some rookie mistakes, dang it) and have taken numerous quizzes. I’ve turned in two papers, with 2 major ones left to do and turn in. This is when I’m starting to panic, because I keep thinking of the HUGE major things that’ll happen in the next 2 months of classes. Midterms, finals, etc., and I’m terrified. Wish me luck everyone…I need it!

Foto Friday

Yesterday at scouts, we were working on Craftsman, so we made these things out of these beads. Of course, now I can’t remember the beads, but you put them on a little…thing that holds them, and then you iron them together and they stay. I used the turtle shape, and made this little beauty.

His name is McConnell and he’s a crime fighting turtle. One of my scouts made a fish to be his sidekick Joey.

The crime fighting duo of #McConnell&Joey. (My scout liked the hashtag, so I’m still using it)

Weekly Darth

This week saw a big improvement in the way Darth takes pictures. He has a really wide-eyed look now.

Plus now he wears hats. Hats are cool.

His face is too cute, I can’t take it.

A Day of Cookery

Today, I had an idea of dinner, and definitely took advantage of the free time I had today to do them. First of all, I made a pie, using the peaches from the peach tree in my own backyard!

Here are the ingredients to get the party started:

Filling:
10 ripe but firm peaches
1 lemon, juiced
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon or pinch ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
3 tablespoons butter, cut into small pieces
1 egg

Step one: Use a store bought pie crust, because making your own is hard work. I just used a regular one, that we had to roll out, so it almost was like homemade. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Then, peel and cut the peaches (Use about 9 or 10) into 1/4-inch thick slices (you should have about 7 cups) and toss with the lemon juice and almond extract in a large bowl. Whisk the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt in another bowl, making sure there are no lumps. Stir the flour mixture into the peaches and mix well.

Pour the peaches into the pie crust. Scatter with the pieces of butter. Top with the lattice strips. Brush away any flour underneath the lattice to make sure it seals well. Crimp the edges to seal. Beat the egg with 1 teaspoon water and brush the lattice and edges with the egg water.

Ahhh…looks good. And then,

Pop in the oven and bake for 10 minutes, and then lower the heat to 350 degrees and bake until the crust gets brown, about 50 minutes more. Then, let cool, which will take the better part of a year, since mine was still warm, eating it at 8:00, after having taken it out at like, 4:00.

Ta-daaa!

And then, for the actual dinner, I made some balsamic steak rolls, ended up looking like this:

And they were AWESOME. At the risk of being lazy, I’m going to link you to the blog where I got it from, because this post is long enough already, and this would make it super super long.

http://picturetherecipe.com/index.php/recipes/balsamic-glazed-steak-rolls/

Find them there, and they were SUPER delicious, if not a little time consuming. But otherwise, I had a pretty good Sunday, food-wise! Hope you did as well!

Walk for Chiari

My good friend Chelle has a cutie niece, Brylie. Brylie has Chiari Malformation of the brain – a really crappy thing to have. Today, there was a fundraising walk for her, and others like her. We went, and walked with all that we had!

Before the race – it was waaay too hot!

Miss Brylie had her own “Team Brylie” sign, a team we were happy to be a part of!

Every time you walked a lap, you got to put a jewel/rock into a jar. Here’s Brylie putting ours in for us. As a group, we all walked I over 350 miles – the whole of the length of Utah! It was really fun, and awesome to see the people who are affected with this, and to feel like, in this small way, we’re doing something to help find a cure. Keep fighting, guys!

Foto Friday

I bought wooden letters last year to do, and then never got around to them. Finally, I was like, I should do these, all they’re doing is taking up space. So I opened the bag, and the receipt was still in there. Yup, I bought these 9/2/13, and am only just doing them. Sheesh, Vieve.

I think they turned out pretty good! And now I can have them up for about a week, before it’s time to put up the Halloween stuff. But at least I got them done!

Weekly Darth

Darth had a bath this week, and he weathered it way better than he did the last time. He seemed to accept that this is ok to have done.

Here he is before

And here he is during

And here he is afterwards.

And of course, the shark towel is a must.

All in all, he didn’t do too badly. Maybe someday he’ll relax and let his hands not be in tiny fists.

The Day Mama Became a Citizen

Today, my mom became a citizen of these Great United States. After many much months of studying, a little bit ago, she took the citizenship test and passed with flying colors. So this morning, she had the ceremony, the swearing in and all that jazz, and became one of us!

I took the pic so you can’t see me, but there’s the family that came!

We’re so proud of ya, mama!

Miscellaneous Monday

So the dentist last week wasn’t too too bad. Luckily I was much calmer than the week before, so the procedure went much smoother. In a perfect world, I would still like to have the gas right now, but at least I’m not dying. They finished one of the teeth today (yes, I decided it was so much more economical to have a tooth infection in 2 teeth instead of 1 at the same time, that way I can get them both done) (yes that was super sarcastic) so now, I go back next week, and hopefully, that will be my last time ever at this place!

On Tue/Thu, the set of classes I have involve a lot of stairs. From my first class to my second, I go down 3 sets of long stairs. So then, to leave, I go back up those 3 sets of stairs, and then have to go up another 3 sets of stairs, outside to the parking lot. By the time I get to the parking lot, I am winded! I feel sometimes like I may be in good shape, and then every week, twice a week, I’m reminded, I’m not. I’m always breathing so hard, and trying to hide that from the strangers I’ll never see again.

A couple of nights ago, there were some fireworks going on around my house. Why? I don’t know. I have no idea if they were just a random house that found some leftover ones and decided to light them, or if there was some event in my city, and people were celebrating. I’ll never know, but I thought I’d let you guys know what I hear going on around us.

Foto Friday

Every Mon, Wed, and Fri, I have an hour between my first and last class. So I head on over to the food court nearest me, which only has a Taco Bell and a Jamba Juice. Because I’ve basically had teeth problems since school began (that’s really depressing to think about) I haven’t been able to hit up the Taco Bell, because I can’t bite into the foods, so I have been going to Jamba. I usually just get a smoothie, drink that for lunch, and enjoy. But today, I tried something different.

This delicious thing is a Nutty Strawberry Energy Bowl (I don’t know why they call it an “energy bowl” because nothing in here gives you much energy) and it has yogurt mixed with granola and peanut butter, and strawberries, topped with the bananas. I love it so hard. I now get this every day. Try one guys, they have all sorts of different flavors. (Also this is a good time to wish I was employed by Jamba, because I could get some money for this. Shoot!)

Weekly Darth

Somebody learned what Skype was this week. “What is this talking person in the small screen?!”

It was national Talk Like a Pirate Day so he got into the spirit, sans eye patch.

Doesn’t he look like he’s seeing something awful here? Dig it.

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cookies

I am already sad about this post, and let me tell you why. After making these AWESOME cookies, I forgot to take a picture. So now, I can give you the recipe, and I can tell you that the are the best cookies ever, but without a picture, how will you believe me?! Take my word on it, these are fantastic.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups quick oats
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 1/3 cups packed light-brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl whisk together flour, oats, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger for 30 seconds, set aside. In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip together butter, brown sugar and granulated sugar until creamy (occasionally stop and scrape down sides and bottom of bowl throughout entire mixing process). Blend in egg then blend in vanilla extract and pumpkin puree. With mixer set on low speed, slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until combined. Mix in chocolate chips and pecans (if you want some chocolate to show through set some aside to press into tops before baking). Let batter rest 5 - 10 minutes (this just gives the oats some time to absorb the liquids so batter isn't so sticky and cookies don't spread so much). Scoop dough out on to parchment paper lined baking sheets, spacing cookies 2-inches apart. Bake in preheated oven 12 - 14 minutes.

These are awesome. They are really soft. They are super tasty. I recommend them.

Miscellaneous Monday

Last night, I went to my neighborhood popcorn time like usual, and now, with it getting dark earlier, they ended it at about 8:30. The teens were like, “ugh its so early, let’s continue the party at Vieve’s! “ I told them they were welcome to come over, but I needed to study for my test, so it would be more like homework time instead of fun times. So a few girls grabbed homework, and a bunch of them came over. One of them helped me study, a few of them helped each other study, and a few just giggled in the corner. It was so funny to me, that even though I said it was homework, they came over, and we studied. In great news, I got 10/10 on my quiz!

I have to go back to the dentist tomorrow, and I could not be more terrified. It’s like, all the years of getting my fear of the dentist down, and working on liking going, and being okay to go were flushed down the drain with one visit of hell. I don’t know if I hate this specialist, or if I just hate what’s being done, but I don’t understand why he doesn’t have a gas machine! Every dentist should have one! So let’s all wish me some luck, and hopefully I can get through it with no problems.

My English class that I’m taking is actually a class on writing papers. Are all English classes in college like this? I was really looking forward to like, reading, discussing those types of things, and noooo all we’re going to do is write papers. And the themes of the papers are things that I have to argue. I have to pick a topic and argue either for or against it. I’m not good at coming up with ideas, and then when I argue topics, I only can think of like, 2 arguments to back myself up. Hopefully I can get better with writing as the semester goes on, because so far I am the worst.

LOTOJA

Today, Husband was doing LOTOJA – a bike race that goes from Logan, UT to Jackson Hole, WY. He’s been training for it all summer, and now, it’s here, and it’s time. I took a pic when we got there, when he was ready.

He was ready to go! Then it was his time, and he got going.

I was really excited for him, and we made it to the first feed zone, in Preston, ID, where we would give him some food and water. I wish I had gotten pictures, but there was so much hubbub and trying to hurry that there wasn’t a chance. We then went up to the next feed zone in Afton, WY. We had set up, and gotten all of our stuff out to wait. I had PJ with me, so that would help me not be so lonely. We had been there for maybe 10 minutes, and my phone rang. I answered, and it was a guy involved in the race, letting me know that Husband hadn’t made it to feed zone 3 yet. (I was at 5 – and he was supposed to be where I was in about a half hour) They said they didn’t know where he was, and we needed to come down to Montpelier right now.

Of course, this freaked me out! I gathered my stuff together at top speed, and got back in the car, and consulted the map. We were about 45 miles away from there, and we got going. When we had been in the car for about 10 minutes, when I got another call from the guy. They said they had located Adam. and he was at the feed zone, and we needed to get there still. About 40 minutes later, we got there, and found out, he had missed the last feed zone by 20 minutes, and was disqualified from the race; he was out. His tire had blew on the top of a hill, and he had to stop and fix it, and that’s what ate up his time, and I was really sad for him! He has been training for this for so long, and to have him be out over something not in his control?! But he did awesome, and he is amazing, and I can’t wait for him to do it next year. I’ll be there, again, with posters a-plenty, there to cheer him on.

Weekly Darth

Darth did a few things this week. like learn what flash was on a camera for the first time.

He’s just too cute, I can’t take it.

Up, up, and away!

Snicker’s Cupcakes

For a neighborhood BBQ the other day, I made some Snicker’s cupcakes. Basically, what I did was make a chocolate cupcake, top it with peanut butter frosting, and then put some chopped up Snicker’s on it. Easy-peasy.

And it was really delicious!

Toothache Gone Rogue

Today, my toothache has reached the worst. It got really bad last night, and then this morning, I was in so much pain, and my face had swollen up so much that I almost couldn’t take life. I called the dentist, and got in, and had to miss school to do so. I went in and found out that I had a root canal, done many years ago, that’s decided to go rogue and get an infection. I went to see a root canal specialist a few hours later, and he decided it was prudent to quickly get me in the chair and get it taken care of.

Unfortunately, with all the swelling and infection, we couldn’t really get my mouth that numb, so I felt basically everything that happened, and it was AWFUL. I have never had a worse experience in my life. When I got home, with all that had happened to my mouth and face, it looked like I had been beaten up.

I’ll take it easy, now, and hopefully, this will heal quickly.

Miscellaneous Monday

I got a haircut this weekend, I cut off 5 and 1/2 inches. Almost a half a foot of hair I cut off! It was necessary, it had been a really long time since I went in, and I had much dead hair at the bottom. My hair was too long to cut it sitting down, however, I had to stand up and she cut it that way. That made me laugh, I’ve never had that happen before. Of course, it was so long, that even though I cut that much hair off, you really can’t tell. so nobody notices.

I have had a slight toothache since Friday night. It got so bad on Sunday that I had to call the emergency line of my dentist, and get some stuff for it. I got some antibiotics that have still yet to work, and some pain pills, which aren’t really helping at all. My face has swollen up a little, and this is the first time in history I wish a 3 day weekend would hurry and get over so I could go see a dentist. Hopefully I can get this fixed soon!

Yesterday, I went to 2 different farewells with Chelle. It’s always weird to me, when I go to a different person’s ward, it feels like I didn’t go to church at all. I don’t know why, because when you go to any ward, you hear good messages, you sing, you do all the same stuff, but when it’s not my own ward, I feel like I’m playing hooky. And with the upcoming different church schedule about to happen (conference, temple dedication) I feel like I won’t be going to church for a long time!