The Promise Land Series

As a part of my "Live List", I wanted to be able to read more. So far, I've been doing pretty good with it! I'm still not able to sit for a long block of time and just read, but hey, I'm a mom! When do I get to do ANYTHING for a solid block of time without leaving the house? ;)

I just finished reading the last book in the Promise Land series. Most people haven't heard of this when I tell them I've been reading them, so I decided to share! This series of books is a fictitious back story to the Book of Mormon, leading up to the taking of the plates from Jerusalem. Although it is fictional, there is a lot of historical facts that help create the story. All the historical notes are listed at the end of each book, and they aren't few in number! So, I suppose you would call them historical novels. I HIGHLY recommend these books to anyone who loves to read or has a love for the BoM, or both! Even though I've finished the last book, the author has eluded to more books being published in this series. I hope so! I can't wait to see how the subplots to the story play out!

Live list

So, for a few weeks I've been thinking about all the goals I want to accomplish or things that I want to do before this year is through. I was wondering how I would compile a list of these things, without getting too overwhelmed. I didn't want to call them resolutions, because I knew it would feel like a burden as opposed to something fun. Then I was looking at Rachel and Nick's blog (BTW, they're looking to adopt, so if you know someone searching for a good couple, point them in their direction!) and I realized what I needed to do. I needed to make a "live list", a list of things to help me enjoy life, and LIVE it, instead of just going through the day-to-day motions. So this is my "live list" for 2010:

• Find a new “hole in the wall” (local restaurant, family café, etc.).
• Take a cake decorating class.
• Make a cake for every special occasion. No store bought cakes this year!
• Dedicate more time to reading. My list includes: Glenn Beck’s Common Sense, The Lovely Bones, and Arguing with Idiots.
• Go to a Jazz game.
• Go to a Stingers game.
• Learn to crochet.
• Take a day trip to Park City.
• Take a day trip to Ephraim.
• Make all of Aiden’s baby food.
• Do a puzzle.
• Take Katelyn to her first day of Kindergarten.
• Escape on an overnighter with my hubby ;)
• Go to the park with the kids.
• Go to a laser light show with Nate.
• Go to the beach.
• Go to Oregon and visit family and friends.
• Play a board game.
• Meet my new niece/nephew (aka Bubbles).
• Learn to make jewelry.
• Go on a double date.
• Paint the girls’ toenails.
• Learn to can a new food item this summer.
• Go to the zoo.
• Go bowling.
• Reach my goal weight.
• Get a pedicure.
• Take a picture with my husband on our anniversary.
• Ride FrontRunner to Ogden.
• Go to Frightmares.

"Let us relish life as we live it, find joy in the journey, and share our love with friends and family. One day each of us will run out of tomorrows." ~Thomas S. Monson

This list is subject to change, but only if I have something to add to it! As they year goes on, I will try to post pictures of what I've done, so you all can follow my journey! :)

Chocolate Malt Cake

Because I'm a malt addict, I found myself wondering if a cake recipe existed out there that featured malt. Thank goodness for Google (oh Google, how I love thee), or else I might have never known! So, OF COURSE, I had to try this out and see how it really tasted! Here's the recipe, for those of you who were asking for it!

Batter:

2¼ cups all-purpose flour

¼ cups sugar

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1½ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

1 cup malted milk powder

1 cup vegetable oil

3 large eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Frosting:

1 cup unsweetened butter, room temperature

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

¾ cup whipping (heavy) cream

½ cup malted milk powder

5 cups confectioners (powdered) sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare 2 9-inch round layer cake pans, lightly grease.

Batter: In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; whisk together to mix. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine milk and malted milk powder, stirring to dissolve. Add milk mixture, vegetable oil, and eggs to flour mixture; use an electric mixer and beat until smooth. Add sour cream and vanilla; beat just until mixture is combined. Spoon the batter into prepared pans. Bake 20-25 minutes.

Chocolate Malt Frosting: In a large bowl, beat butter and cocoa powder until creamy. In a small bowl, combine whipping cream and malted milk powder, stirring to dissolve. Add cream mixture to butter mixture, use an electric mixer and beat until combined. Gradually beat in confectioner’s sugar until smooth.

Verdict: YUM! The frosting tasted just like Whoppers, it was unreal! I was a little panicked Saturday night when I baked the cakes because they weren't very sweet at all. Once I made the frosting Sunday afternoon, I knew why! The cake isn't terribly sweet on purpose, the frosting completely makes up for it! I accidentally used a bit more whipping cream in the frosting than I was supposed to, so it made decorating the cake a bit difficult, but it still worked out okay. I took the cake over to my dad's for it's taste testing (since I consider my dad the utmost expert on all things malt related) and it was a hit! That cake was snarfed up in a hurry!

More to come

Hmmmmm...I've been quite the slacker, haven't I? I love keeping all of you updated on everything, but life has sure escaped me these past few months! It's a new year, a new month...so I'm going to re-commit myself to keeping my blog updated. It's a good way for me to reflect on the happenings in my life and also doubles as a way to keep you all updated on our life events!

There will be more to come in 2010... :)

My Best Friend

With mine and Nate's anniversary coming up here in a couple days, I've been thinking a lot about why I love him. Nate is my absolute best friend and I love him to death. I wouldn't have married him if that weren't the case! Here's just a few reasons why...

*Because he drove 200 miles as much as he could, just to date me ;)

*Because he'll buy me a steak dinner.

*Because he puts up with my fascination with reality television (and someday I'll fully convert him to the dark side!)

*Because he's a FANTASTIC dad!

*Because he brings me home a Dr. Pepper when he knows I've had a hard day!

*Because he doesn't think I'm weird because I listen to talk radio. He even set it on the preset buttons in the car, just for me!

*Because I'm the only one who can tickle him!

*Because he rubs my aching hands as we sit in Sacrament meeting every Sunday.

*Because he's a Trekkie (even though I incessantly tease him about it haha).

*Because he couldn't keep an opinion to himself even if you zipped his mouth shut and duct-taped it too ;)

*Because he works so hard for our family, even though his job isn't ideal.

*Because he cooks!

*Because he has the most amazing memory. He remembers things from high school that I have absolutely no recollection of!

*Because he has seen me at my best and my worst, but loves me regardless.

*Because he'll watch sports with me.

*Because he's not a native Utahn (sounds funny, but it's true!).

*Because he loves going to little dive restaurants, just like I do.

*Because he isn't afraid of a little friendly competition (I'm going for a repeat championship win in fantasy football heh heh!!!).

*Because he loves a good road trip.

*Because he understands that I need to have "ME" time every once in a while for my sanity!

*Because I can be 100% myself around him.

I love you, my husband! :D

Wordless Wednesday (but not really...)

So, I was going to just post the picture, but I decided I had to explain what was going on in the picture! Katelyn loves watching cartoons on Nate's Blackberry and was watching one before she was about to go to sleep last night. Katelyn wanted Aiden to lay next to her and watch with her. It was cute to see them snuggling and watching a cartoon together. What makes it even funnier, though, is that Aiden's eyes look like they're about to pop out of her head! Seeing all those colors and shapes bouncing around on that little screen must have been a real trip for her! Haha! My silly girls :)

Organized Chaos

Things have been really crazy over the past few weeks, but I finally had a moment to update the blog and tell you WHY it's been so crazy!

Of course I spent many of the past few weeks still getting used to my little Sqeaker being around and in the mix of things! It's been quite an adventure figuring out how she fits into the routine of our little family! Aiden is getting so big too! She's smiling and cooing like crazy, sleeping through the night, and holding her head up on her own so well! She had her 2-month check up last week and she's 9 lb. 7 oz. and 22.25 inches long! The way she's filled out in the last couple of weeks, I could have sworn she was going to be bigger, haha! After the nurse weighed her, I literally said "That's it?!" I suppose she just seems to weigh more when you're toting her around many hours out of the day ;)

For those of you who don't know, we've moved into a new place! Our 2-bedroom apartment just wasn't working as well as we'd hoped adding a new baby to the mix! We're over in North Salt Lake now, just a few blocks away from my dad's place actually! We're in a 4-plex and we have....wait for it.....3 bedrooms! WOO! It's so nice to be spread out a bit more and not feel like we're living out of a cracker jack box. It's also a whole lot nicer than our old place and bigger, of course! I actually have a real kitchen instead of that imposter of a thing in our old apartment! We're already talking about buying a chest freezer to put in our kitchen, because I've been wanting one for the longest time in the worst kind of way, but now we actually have the space to have one now. I hope we can get it sooner rather than later! We're still in the unpacking phase and it's slow coming since Nate and I are both working again, but someday we'll have all those boxes unpacked!

Speaking of work, I have a new job! After 4 years at IHC, I decided to make a change and now I'm working for Mountain Star. For those of you outside of Utah, Mountain Star is another network of hospitals in Utah and Idaho. The change in employers has been such a blessing! I have A LOT more flexibility with my scheduling, which I was very concerned about with returning back to IHC after my maternity leave was up. I had no idea how I was going to balance 2 kids (especially with Aiden nursing) AND keep the tight, strict schedule they wanted me to keep. Also, with bonuses and what not, I'll be making some more moolah. The money is nice, but my real motivation was the flexibility. It's been a smooth transition too because most of the software is what I'm used to, so I'm already ahead on the learning curve!

A little bit about Katelyn, she's starting preschool in a week! I seriously have no idea where the time has gone. My little princess is growing up and now she's going to be starting school! And boy, is she sure excited to do so! We went to her preschool's open house on Tuesday and she had so much fun playing with the toys and seeing the other kids there. She is already comfortable with her teacher, which is a good thing. There will be no worries about Katelyn NOT wanting Mommy to drop her off at school, she'll be practically sprinting out of the car when I do probably haha! I'm also excited because she gets to go 3 days a week as opposed to 2, which most of the preschools do in this area.

Canning has been the focus for this week, oi! Along with my dad, Melissa, and the kids, we picked apples twice last week up at my in-laws place. The other night night we processed 4 batches of applesauce and we still only used HALF of the apples! It's pretty tasty applesauce, though, so it's going to be worth the work! Last night we did 48 pints of salsa, and tomato sauce, apple butter, and tomato sauce are still to yet come down the pike! Yikes!

I'll have to get some pictures up at some point! Things have been so busy, I can't even remember if I've taken any recent pictures! Regardless, I'll have some updated photos soon!