A Day in the Park

Thank you so much for all the encouraging words! They mean so much to me! I'll re-read the comments when I'm down and overwhelmed!

Saturday, Kathryn (Jay's sister) and I took Ethan to the park. It was his first time.

He didn't like the swing at first.

But then he loved it! (I'd mute your volume because I sound dumb)

Applying for Grad School

As you know, the initial reason for my blog was to find my Christian “talent.” And all along I think I’ve known what it was I was just too afraid to chase it.

I attend a relatively large (450+) conservative church of Christ in Houston that is full of wonderful women (and men). The talents are abundant – teachers, song writers, singers, mothers, etc. In fact, this past weekend we had a weekend devoted to women. We studied women mentioned in Luke. There were four categories – Women of Faith, Women of Promise, Women who Needed Jesus, Women who Loved Jesus. It was an amazing study and I can tell you more about it if you want, but it’s not the point of this post :)

The point is, I was looking around the room at the wonderful women and thought one day I’d like to be a respectable member of this congregation. I would like for people to come to me for something. And then I thought… hmm of a congregation this side there isn’t a psychologist or counselor (there’s a social worker though). Conveniently, I’ve always wanted to be a Christian counselor!

So after Jay hitting me upside the head (figuratively) and saying, “duh! I’ve been telling you to do this all along!” I’ve applied to LeTourneau University. It’s an interdenominational university that offers M.A. in Counseling online! I just submitted my application and they’re supposed to call to ask me more questions, but one of the things I was most nervous about they don’t seem to require – recommendation letters. I have them, but they’re dated 2008.

The only thing I need is confidence. I have it right now, but it’s really easy for me to lose it. So I may ask to be uplifted and encouraged frequently!

Happy (Belated) Valentine's Day!

My husband's Facebook status: "Please be aware....using the abbreviation VD for Valentines Day is probably not a good idea. People will laugh at you."

Hope you all had a great VD!

Jay got me roses and chocolate covered strawberries. It was all wonderful. I got him the yard mowed (well not yet, but it's a long story... well, I guess it's not that long... it's rained a lot).  Allllsooo... I made us this Hint Box!

I got this idea from The Dating Divas. Obviously theirs is cuter, but I'm pretty proud of myself for mixing patterns! I was going to go to Hobby Lobby and buy a paper box like they did, but I remembered I box from Ikea a while ago. Who knew you also had to assemble a cardboard box?! Oh, Ikea.
Here's the idea if you didn't click on the link... you put ideas in the box for things you want... big, medium, small, tangible, etc. I put "Cherry Coke and/or Milky Way, bedroom furniture," etc.

 

We'll see if Jay ever puts anything into the box, but hey, I may get something out of the deal ;)

Sweet Potatoes

After carrots, I have Ethan Butternut Squash, Bananas, and Sweet Potatoes.
Squash - he just kept it in his mouth and didn't swallow.
Bananas - he doesn't like! how can you not like bananas?!
Sweet Potatoes - I think he really likes them! He actually makes eating motions. See below

My To-Do List

If you haven't noticed, I have a "to-do" list on the left side of my blog. I can only mark off one and a half things (make own baby food, and cut down on about 30% of grocery bill). In the past two minutes, I've been thinking about one or two things I can add to my list. Hmm...how about do one fashion post, complete three things on my house project list (it's a long list I won't bore you with right now), and...that's all I got.

Do you have any ideas for me to add to my list? Keep in mind my (lack of) abilities and talents, please :)

Dare I?!

What do you think of these two looks?
Do you think I should try them?

http://www.esprit.nl/nl/women/alle_merken/TOP_PICKS/lentetrends/chinos

http://www.gap.com/browse/category.do?cid=76670&mlink=5646,4497641,main&clink=4497641

Baking is not my talent

I have never been a big fan of baking. Oh, don’t get me wrong, I love the end result! Let me tell you why baking is so difficult for me.

For our Super Bowl party, we were supposed to bring a dessert. “Ok, great! I’ll make something new!” I think to myself. So I searched Pinterest and found homemade Snickers… yes, please!!

I look up the recipe and find the easiest one. This one. 

My sister-in-law, Kathryn, was at my house at the time of my decision, so she suggested we make it together. Our plan was to go to the grocery store and make it at her parents’ house (Jay was watching UFC over there).

Kathryn, Ethan, and I head to the nearest Kroger. Chocolate chips – Aisle 8; marshmallow fluff – Aisle 8; caramels – uhhhh, Aisle 5. They didn’t have Brach caramels in a bag like I assumed they would. So I call my baker friend, Susan, and ask her opinion. She said to get Mrs. Richardson’s Caramel - Aisle 10. They don’t have Mrs. Richardson’s Caramel. They just have Mrs. Richardson’s Butterscotch Caramel. Ugh. Let’s go back to Aisle 8 and make sure they don’t have caramel bars there. Nope. Hmm. Well, it looks like I’ll have to put individual caramels in a bag. Back to Aisle 5. I have no idea how caramels equal a pound so Kathryn and I try to weight it compared to the pound of chocolate chips. We check out and it costs twenty-five dollars!! (minus $1 for the gummy bears)

We get back to her parents’ house and start cooking. Me with my left hand because I’m eating a slice of pizza with my right. Emily, Jay’s brother’s girlfriend is there too. So I ask if she would take pictures for the blog.

Step #1 - bottom chocolate layer
1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
Thoroughly grease you baking pan. Melt ingredients together in a saucepan or microwave, then pour into the baking dish and spread until even. Let cool and harden completely.

PEANUT BUTTER! I FORGOT PEANUT BUTTER! I didn’t put it on my list because I knew I had it at home. Thankfully between regular peanut butter and reduced fat peanut butter, I was able to get what I hope was enough.

As I continue reading the recipe, Kathryn overtakes this job.

(Suggestion: Don’t cook something new and someone else's house.

Why? I made the grocery list based on what I had at MY house. Also, not knowing where everything can be frustrating. For instance, they didn’t have a ¼ cup measuring cups. If you read the entire recipe, almost every ingredient is ¼!)

Step #2 - nougat layer
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
1 1/2 cups marshmallow fluff
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cup salted peanuts chopped, roughly chopped
1 tsp vanilla extract
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in sugar and milk, stirring until dissolved and bring to a boil. Let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add in fluff, peanut butter and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Turn off heat and fold in peanuts, then pour over bottom chocolate layer. Let cool completely.
What do I do? I put the butter and sugar together in one pot. Emily stops me and tells me to reread the recipe. So as I’m doing this, she starts melting the butter. Then I get all the other ingredients together. UGH! I FORGOT TO CHOP THE PEANUTS! Kathryn does this for me.
Also, why would it call for 1/4 cup of evaporated milk when it comes in a can?! What do you do with a whole can of evaporated milk you’ll probably never use?! Yep, down the drain it went.

Step #3 - caramel layer
1 14-ounce bag of caramels
1/4 cup whipping cream
Combine ingredients in a saucepan over low heat. Let melt, stirring occasionally, until smooth – this took about 10 minutes for me. Pour over nougat layer and let cool completely.
OOPS! FORGOT TO UNWRAP THE CARAMELS. As I am standing there unwrapping the caramels, Kathryn is chopping peanuts and Emily is finishing step 2.
WAIT! I GOT MORE THAN A POUND AT THE STORE, HOW DO I KNOW WHAT 14 OUNCES EQUALS?? Kathryn decides to get out a food scale and we figure we need to have 6 oz on the scale to equal 14 oz.
Again, what do you do with the rest of the whipping cream you spent so much money on?! I just put it in their fridge.

Step #4 - Top chocolate layer
1 1/4 cups milk chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
Melt ingredients together in a saucepan or microwave, then pour over caramel and spread until even. Let cool and harden completely.
This should be easy because we’ve already done it, right? Where’s the measuring cup we used? Where’s the spatula? Is this a 1 ¼ cup? I can’t tell!
Basically, this turned into a simple and delicious dessert I found on Pinterest to a stressful and expensive delicious that took 3 20something girls to make.
I couldn’t have done it by myself and I owe my in-laws peanut butter, but I sure loved the end result! Next time I feel like bring Snickers as a dessert, I'm using this one.