Birthday Cake

I really wanted to make Ryan a special cake for his birthday. Garrett, my brother-in-law, gave me a chocolate cake recipe for my birthday and I wanted to try it. But, alas, I cannot find it anywhere!! So I perused my cookbooks and magazines for something else fitting. At first, I was going to make him something out of a Healthy Cooking magazine, but I realized his love and adoration for a healthy cake would be minimal. So I splurged. (I have one recipe that uses 3 sticks of butter in the batter and 6 sticks in the frosting. I came thisclose to making it, but decided against the extra weight on my hips.)

I chose Chocolate Ganache Cake. You can find the recipe here. It was the perfect birthday cake.

My finished product:

Try it. Please. Just know this: the frosting and filling take longer to cool than you might expect. And don't feel bad about eating it. Indulgence is all right, especially if it sends you to mouth heaven.

PS For those of you anxiously awaiting pictures and stories about our trip to Mexico, they are forthcoming. I have started working again and my days are very much not spent lounging around.

On this day...

Today is Ryan's birthday! He is 28 years old. This morning I called him an old fogy (and am now realizing that I'm not quite sure how to spell that word - I looked it up), but then I realized that he's only 18 months older than I am. =/

Aaaanyway....

In tribute to my dashing husband, here are 28 things I love or have learned about him during our 19 months of coupleship:

1. He is willing to help me out when I have something I need to get done. For example, last semester I had to "market" a product for a project. He chose the layout and pictures and actually ended up putting the whole thing together for me. Don't worry, I was sitting there over his shoulder the whole time, so it wasn't cheating.

2. He has a knack for perfection. I love that everything he does is always amazing when he's finished, even if he takes longer to do it than I would. I guess that's part of being a perfectionist.

3. He doesn't give me a hard time for not being a perfectionist, too. After I refinished the banister and noticed there was some drippage of paint on a few posts, I pointed it out and he said, "Yeah, I know. But I wasn't going to say anything."

4. He likes lots of ice in his drinks because he chews it after the liquid substance is gone. While in Phoenix, I noticed that it is a habit he picked up from his mom. Kind of cute.

5. He only sits on the middle cushion of the couch.

6. He likes his bed softer than I do. Amazingly enough, our mattress has one hard side and one soft side. Might be a manufacturer error, but it's worked out perfectly for us!

7. He won't do ANYTHING unless he knows I'm okay with it.

8. He can go almost an entire day without eating and think nothing of it.

9. He has an incredible talent for fixing anything. Seriously. I have watched him fix a dryer, water heater, bathroom fan, a thing hanging from the bottom of his car, the garage door, his bike and mine, tear apart the shower in the basement, his car brakes, the dishwasher, the ceiling, and my computer. Next up: the u-bend under the bathroom sink and my car radio.

10. He understands scriptures really well, and knows the stories from them much better than I do.

11. He is a great teacher! I loved his Sunday School lessons in the student ward we were in together, and I love having him teach me other every day things now.

12. He has the capability of connecting with anyone. Before we were dating, he was the go-to guy for advice and insight. It was kind of scary how he could make people realize things they never knew about themselves.

13. He loves my cooking.

14. His favorite chores are vacuuming and mowing the lawn because of the lines they make.

15. He trusts me to not overlook anything, and I love when he notices that I haven't.

16. He doesn't play video games, at least not addictively. I know of many husbands who enjoy their video games (and if their wife is fine with it, that's awesome), but I am blessed to have one who does not.

17. He has always been really great about contacting me when he said he was going to.

18. He leaves no stone unturned looking for the best deal he can find to fulfill our needs and wants.

19. He does not dwell on things. This makes it easy for me to also move on.

20. He spoils me rotten. We had agreed on not getting each other actual anniversary gifts since we were going to Mexico to celebrate, but he insisted that I pick out a watch while we were there that I liked.

21. He is very thoughtful when it comes to gifts. My first birthday with him he wrote in a card a long message with Michael Buble song titles placed in it. It was a hint that my gift was tickets to his concert. For our anniversary this year, he looked up what the gift for each anniversary was, and saw that the first year was paper. So he got us plane tickets.

22. He has nothing he cannot live without (except for me of course). (Unlike my extreme need for chapstick within 2 feet of me at all times.)

23. He chews on his tongue when he's concentrating.

24. He has found a haircut that he loves and gets sad when a hairstylist messes it up. That's probably why he goes to the same person 98% of the time.

25. He reminds me of my dad sometimes. My dad is pretty awesome, so that's a high compliment!

26. He is a private person.

27. He's not afraid to get his point across, but he always does it kindly.

28. I trust him to always take care of me.

Happy Birthday, Ryan! I love you!

One Year Down, Five Bajillion + Eternity To Go!

Next Sunday is our one-year anniversary. I know, I know, super duper marriage know-it-alls here.

There have been many new encounters these past 358 days that could never have been experienced without the appropriate "I dos". Some of these things have been fun and silly, interesting, or just plain "huh...really?"

I use a lot more flour and sugar than I EVER did when I was single.

I learned how to properly wash, dry, and hang men's clothing, specifically slacks.

Plants were purchased, and are still alive. Ryan had some before we got married, but they all died.

Decisions must be made with "we" in mind, not "me".

Doing everything - anything - together is infinitely more fun than doing it alone.

Cable TV is not a necessary expenditure to have.

Supporting each other in new endeavors is super important.

I have lots of new shoes that actually don't hurt my feet!

Ryan has the pleasure of experiencing the way a married man should eat.

I have a lot of attributes that I learned from my mom. (Mainly that house chores are the wife's job. Which is okay. It's the least I can do while Ryan works 10 hours a day!)

I think the best part about being married is always having somebody to talk to and trust. Ryan is an exceptional husband. He takes care of me in ways that no other person can. I am grateful for a husband who is a worthy priesthood holder, thrifty but not too tight with the pocket book, understanding and patient of my mistakes, funny, reliable, won't settle for less than we deserve, considerate, kind, and loving. When we first started dating I knew that everything I felt was real and that we were in it for the long haul. There are times when memories from high school cross my mind, and I think how I would have never guessed in a million years that I would marry Ryan, but somewhere along the way the stars lined up just right, and our future was paved. I love being married, but I love being sealed to Ryan even more!

Happy Anniversary, Ryan!

Just Because I Can

If you might recall - and you probably will not - last summer with Ryan was AWESOME. We did tons of things, along with planning our wedding. This summer has also been fun, but I have had a lot of down time. A whole lot. And just to make myself feel a little bit better about just hangin' around, I thought I would make a list of things I have gotten to do, either on my own or with Ryan or another family member.

I have....

Read things like this:

I really love Lisa See's books. The characters in her books (that I have read) are Chinese, so they are heavy on the culture of that society. I find it extremely interesting.

Watched things like this:

OK, so Madeline is a little below my maturity level. But who cares when it is nostalgic to a level that is out of this world? I watched this with my sister, and it was wonderful.

I started watching Gilmore Girls during its first season, when I was 16. My mom and I both really like it, so we watch episodes during the day while our husbands are working.

Oh, Harry Potter. You have come to an end. But an amazing one! What a fantastic movie!!! I thought about it for like 2 days afterwards.

Ate things like this:

Fruity Pebbles. Oh my. Such deliciousness. Yes, they may get excruciatingly soggy in milk, but again with the nostalgia. It was mine and Crystal's most favoritist cereal when we were kids, but we only got it for our birthdays. Now that I'm all grown up, I don't get it anymore, and I don't buy those kind of cereals for myself, so I thought a cute little treat would suffice until I have kids that will fall in love with them too.

Barbecued things like this:

Our new favorite way to eat corn.

Constructed things like this:

Before we got married, we made a gargantuan list of things to accomplish around our townhouse. We managed to do a large majority of it, but now there's a few things to do before we move (someday...stupid short sale). Sanding and repainting our upstairs hallway banister was one of those things. Some person who previously lived here took the easy route by just painting over the stained wood. I wouldn't have known better either, but Ryan has taught me that this is bad. Paint + Stain = Smeary Paint - Attractive Finish. Since I am currently technically unemployed, I set to the task of fixing it up. It took 4 days with a total of 5-6 hours of sanding, 3ish hours of painting (4 coats), 1 1/2 hours of removing/replacing the bolts, and 30 minutes of clean up time. It was a little exhausting, and a lot of work, but we really love the finished product. Which is, of course, the absolute best part of doing anything like this. It's also very satisfying to know that I did 95% of the work. I wish I would have taken some before and during pictures, but at least you get to see the banister in all its "after" glory.

Acquired things like this:

Turns out all that sanding (read: vibrating and putting a lot of pressure on my wrist) was not enjoyed in the least by my poor little arm/wrist/hand. It took me a few mornings of waking up with tingly hands, an achy right forearm, and 3 numb fingers to figure out what the heck was up. Carpal Tunnel Syndrome found its way into my life. I borrowed a brace from my mom to see if it would help at all. After not waking up with that weird pain anymore, but still being incapable of gripping things, turning my wrist, or cutting my own chicken, I decided to invest in my own. My dad named my mom's brace "Cyborg Hand" so mine will be "Cyborg Hand Junior".

Saw nature do things like this:

June produced some amazing hail and thunderstorms!! It was my favorite part of the day, and this summer I did not have a huge undying need to lay out in the sun to tan, so I actually enjoyed the storms instead of getting mad.

Those are just a few of my many down-time activities. Now I have this to look forward to!:

This is a shot of the view from the beach resort that Ryan and I will be staying at in Mexico (Playa del Carmen, specifically) August 13-20 to celebrate our one-year anniversary. So if you need us during that time, too bad.

Ta ta!

How rude. Stop getting my hopes up.

I have been applying for jobs.

I have been looking for them on internet boards, including Craig's List.

You know how Craig's List gives a "WARNING!" before you proceed into the actual listing of jobs? That always seemed somewhat of a "geez, can I please just look at the jobs?" sort of page.

But it's true! Over the last two days I have applied for about 15 jobs, and have heard back from 3. Two of them wanted me to upload my resume to some other website, and one wanted me to do a credit score check before they would proceed with an interview. They also made it super special that I had been chosen. "We have narrowed it down to 3 candidates, and you are one of them!" I know I'm awesome, but I'm not THAT qualified for a receptionist job. At least, not anymore than any other person who doesn't have any experience in an office.

I checked out all of their websites, and they are all total fakes. Thus far my gut has been pretty reliable in the matter, so I haven't followed through with any of their requests. Why are people so mean? And what do they gain by my uploading my resume somewhere? It makes me a little uncomfortable that my home address is listed on my resume.... I think I will take that off now.

Summer Baking

There is always a high demand for sweets in our home. Apparently I don't provide them enough, because sometimes Ryan comes home with 2 boxes of cookies, coffee cake, and turnovers from the grocery store. All at once. So I've been trying to keep at least one variety of treats available! Because let's face it, nobody needs that many sweets in a house occupied by just 2 people, and homemade goodies are infinitely better than store-bought!

A few days ago I made some Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumb Pie. You can get the recipe by clicking here. It was a perfect summer treat, even if it did make the house somewhat more toasty than it already was. And the pie crust was very irritating - it took 2 batches and 5 rolls to get it right. In all honesty, Ryan actually assisted at that stage: he taught me how to more easily roll out pie crust. I was humbled as I watched him perfect what had been a struggle for me. Oh well, I guess I can't know everything!

Our favorite part about the pie was that the filling did not gush out and run all over the place. At all! Kind of an accomplishment when it comes to fruit pies. It was a wonderfully tangy and sweet combination, and the crumb topping as opposed to another pie crust was a treat.

**please excuse the ridiculous looking whipped cream on the slices of pie**

Happy summer baking to you!

Bread of the French variety

I like bread. Probably too much. As explained in a previous post involving bread, I also love baking bread.

A couple of weeks ago, I tried my hand at homemade French bread, as I was making some sort of Italian dish for dinner, but really didn't want to BUY a loaf of French bread. I found a recipe for it in my bread maker "cookbook", but still did not feel satisfied at the effort it would involve.

A little over a month ago my grandparents drove through town to drop off some furniture for us grandkids. My grandma knows how I love to cook, and offered me a few old cookbooks that had been owned by my great-grandma. One of them was a Betty Crocker cookbook, which was whipped open during my need for French bread, in hopes that it would offer a recipe. It had a great one, and Ryan and I both loved the results!

For Father's Day I am making my "brain food" lasagna and homemade French bread for dinner for my whole family. The second time around with the bread (which I just finished baking) turned out just as beautifully. I think I will probably use this recipe for a long time, and I love that it makes two loaves, so we can eat one and freeze one for another day!

Here is the before-it-was-baked shot of the bread:

And here is the after-it-was-baked shot:

I love its beautiful golden-ness! And the inside is wonderfully tender and moist. You can find the recipe here. A few notes:

1. This is time consuming. Make sure you have plenty of time to do it - I started the process at noon and took it out of the oven at 4:30. It rises longer to get the whole French bread consistency.

2. There are two baking stages. The first lasts for 20 minutes, after which you brush on an egg white wash. It says to bake it for an additional 30 minutes. Maybe it's just my oven, but I only needed to bake it for 10 more minutes before I got that lovely hollow sound when I knocked on it. I am very glad that I checked it or else all of that time would have gone to waste! Just a heads-up.

3. I did not use any cornmeal. I'm just a rebel like that.

I hope that you try this bread and enjoy it as much as we did! Bon appetit!