an honor

a dear friend asked me to be a guest blogger on her site! an ingenious idea and not just because she asked me. i think i'll be her copycat in the future. K is an extremely wonderful person and i feel our friendship is an exquisite byproduct of working in the temple. when i began my shift, she was our fearless leader, the benchmark to which i held myself. she dazzled me then and still dazzles me now. although she is no longer the head honcho, she is still a person i look to and model myself after each saturday morning. there simply isn't enough chat time with her. click here to read the post.

yum. yum. yum.

a friday or two ago, aaron and i went to the farmer's market near our house after work. charming. the fact they have a stand with homemade salsa, tortilla chips, and tortillas? jackpot. where else do you get tortillas at a farmers market?! we got one of each. each item was enjoyed, but none so much as the tortillas.

after a quick warm up, they tasted just like the ones in mexican restaurants that the cute ladies make. you know the ones forced to wear american-mexican garb that probably doesn't resemble their historical counterparts? the ones that i'm convinced no longer have fingerprints because they've been burned off on the hot plate they turn the tortillas on with their bare hands? yes, those ladies. the tortillas were that good.

i'm also extremely happy to report that i enacted a coup d'état on the paltry corn tortillas that used to dominate our fridge solely because aaron loves them so. these babies are flour and he couldn't be happier. victory. my mouth is salivating for this friday.

fake out

were you starting to wonder if we had been done in and some stranger was acting as us, living in our house, keeping up our blog, just to cash in on the netflix and easy access to the local farmers market? seeing as how we haven't posted a picture in a months, i can understand your concern. not so. we're still here and have the pictures to prove it. enjoy!

julian trip

julian is a tiny, adorable gold rush town in the mountains outside san diego. i've sung it's praises many times on this blog, so i won't go into details again. i've wanted to stay at the julian gold rush hotel for many years and in february i got my wish. it did not disappoint.

from the rocking chairs near the pot belly stove to the piano in the parlor, this place was my dream come true. our room had a claw foot tub and we played games in the parlor at night while listening to songs from the 30's and 40's. in the morning we enjoyed granola and french toast then set off to roam the town (one street) in search of the best apple pie. i still stand by mom's. with no tv's in the hotel and the town closing down by 6pm, it really is the place to come for rest and relaxation. one night was too short for me and hopefully we'll be coming back soon!
sampling the first slice of pie.

february: use it or lose it

disclaimer: please forgive the tardiness. getting used to my new calling has taken longer than expected. i'm pretty sure my learning curve will be years.

february's commandment for my happiness project was 'use it or lose it'. i wanted to learn a new talent and use it, read a book on something new and just expand my knowledge in general. the first weekend in february the ol' gingerbread gang got together and took a cake decorating class. determined to learn tried and true skills rather than be subject to a thick fondant mess, i've wanted to hone my cake decorating skills for years now. i filled and decorated two cakes, lemon and chocolate. the lemon is pictured below, but the chocolate had a ganache and mousse filling. delish.

spreading on the raspberry filling.

adding a raspberry mousse and a layer.
cutting the sides to make it even.

quality control.
applying frosting over the crumb coat.

the finished product. granted, these skills appear paltry and that's because they are. but, i learned many new tricks and have a platform from which i can continue to learn. i'm excited!

as far as books go... i began reading the omnivore's dilemma. oh mama. another game changing book. i'm about halfway through, so the book report will have to wait, but it is amazing and has connected so many concepts for me in the food world. i'm pretty sure i am slowly becoming a hippie and this only supports the cause. read it!

easter candy

is my favorite candy of the year. forget halloween, valentine's day, and christmas. easter is where it's at. 'it' being cavities and stomach aches. the top of my easter list? cadbury mini eggs. oh yeah.

this is what i want to do when i see the bag in the store.
i think this is what i end up doing.
oh, i love those little devils. after 2 i have a headache, but the 2 i eat are glorious. another favorite? reese's peanut butter eggs.

the odd thing is, i don't really like reese's peanut butter cups. just about every 3rd full moon i get a craving, but i can never turn down a peanut butter egg. i think it's linked to some happy memory from childhood and i'm hardwired to eat them. there. you know my weaknesses. i'm currently accepting all exploitations.

(is it creepy that i have some cute random baby on my blog? meh, i'm fine with it.)

it's about time!

check out this article from Time magazine on brandon davies and byu's decision. it is so nice to finally be reading just and noteworthy comments on the church and byu. yea for fair jounalism!

i'll be better, i promise

i know i haven't posted any pictures since, oh, about oct 2010, but i've been thinking about it. actions come from thoughts, right? i have plenty of excuses, but i won't bore you. just letting you know this didn't turn into sole aimee commentary.

IDOS

stands for the International Dutch Oven Society which hails out of none other than Logan, UT. who knew? i am mulling a dutch oven purchase for camping in yosemite and wanted to be an educated buyer, so i turned to the good ol' world wide web. who knew there is an entire society, international mind you, for dutch oven enthusiasts to share tips, recipes, and stories? how cozy. i almost want to join but fear they'll know i don't yet own a dutch oven. something to aspire to. what did we do before the internet?

AARP?

i just received a solicitation to join AARP. either they know i'm an old person at heart or they got my name off a subscription list for the Smithsonian magazine. either way, they're about 20 years too soon. back off.

attention, please.

i just finished this book. amazing. game changing, for me. you can read book reviews at amazon.com. i had a sneaky feeling there was much i didn't know about afganistan and the humanitarian and political issues there. it seemed the media coverage wasn't enough. i was right. malalai joya, born and raised in afganistan and pakistan, began her political life by running for The Loya Jirga (an elected committee to form a constitution) in 2003. you can watch a pbs documentary about it here. since then her life has been turned upside down and sacrificed for her people of afganistan. she is either always with bodyguards or travels in disguise because of all the death threats and assassination attempts. her crime? speaking up for the women, children, and all suffering people in afganistan by exposing their puppet government and countries that back their warlords. she is not affiliated with any political party, so you'll read no endorsements. it's mostly a history lesson, jam packed with heart wrenching facts that consistently brought tears to my eyes. she lets you form your own opinion.

it truly opened my eyes. it completely changed the way i view our government and the war/situation/government over there. i found myself asking what i could do to help a suffering nation halfway across the world. one way is to spread the word and that's why i'm blogging about it. since all proceeds of her book go directly to an orphanage/hospital clinic she used to run, i think i'll buy her book, too. here is her website. check out the book from your library. they don't have it? request it. buy her book to donate money. watch the documentary on pbs. tell a friend. perhaps most importantly? stay educated and vote educated so we can all do our part to end their oppression and help them gain dignity by standing on their own two feet.

childhood flashback

aaron and i are hoping to be safely tucked inside before the storm hits with a movie night. aaron's nextflix pick? teen wolf. oh boy. i'm sure i'll be knitting or baking or doing anything to keep myself occupied. it'll be great!!



have a fabulous weekend!

best night ever

i was home alone on president's day, so i spent the morning making cinnamon rolls. i proceeded to eat way too many and gave about half away. the rest are tucked safely in the freezer for a bad day. anywhoo, aaron didn't have school that night, so he planned fhe. us spending fhe together is extremely rare. like, never happens. i was delighted.

we had dinner at taco bell. now, say what you will but TB was a favorite of mine for years. couldn't get enough. but, after dinner, i'm sad to say, i think i've had enough. tastes yummy, but haunts the tummy.
next he surprised me with bowling and invited some friends! 3 children were in the mix which made it all the more fun. i obviously have not been bowling in a long time because the manager asked if we wanted bumpers for the kids and i was like, 'so, you're going to come out and move the blue blow up things each time the adults bowl?'. i got a blank stare for a minute then my mind realized it's all electronic now. what will they think of next?! somehow i got the high score for the night. either they were letting me win or fate was on my side cause that hasn't happened in about a decade.
we had to stop by target on the way home for some milk and aaron got a mischievous look in his eye and said he'd meet me at checkout. he emerged with another surprise in the bag. he told me to look on the way out and i seriously let out an excited scream and began laughing hysterically while walking to the car. others were looking. i paid no mind. below is an image of what was in the bag.
on a recent weekend getaway (which i have yet to blog about) aaron and i discovered my love of puzzles. i think i have always enjoyed them, but something about doing a puzzle with loved ones and no distractions seems so carefree and fabulous. i know. i'm like a 80 year old. i don't care. after that weekend we had joked that he needed to get me a wolf puzzle. mission accomplished. we started working on it that night and it has haunted our dreams since. we do a little each night before bed. when i married this dude he hated going to bed and wanted to be out and about. now we're completing puzzles before heading to bed at 930. gotcha!
thanks for a wonderful night, aaron!

the end

last week i finished two of my favorite tv shows; the golden girls and monk. i cried for both of them. i still sing both theme songs. it is too much, really.

watching the last episode of the golden girls was the culmination of a multi year effort to see every single episode that ever aired. i'm proud to say i have them all on dvd and will watch them again and again. the final episode did not disappoint. i always wondered how they would end the show. of course it was sad, but the writers did a great job and i couldn't help but be happy for dorothy, blanche, rose, and sophia. here's a shot from a favorite episode where rose, dorothy, and blanche are arrested for mistakenly being in a brothel (while wearing evening gowns no less) and rather than spring them from jail right away, sophia uses their tickets to see burt reynolds backstage and gets a lunch date the next day. love it.

i can't claim i've seen all of the monk episodes, but i can safely estimate i've seen 85-90% of them and now that we have netflix i'll be sure to finish them off. the two part finale was so touching and i was totally sobbing at the end. good thing aaron wasn't around to see it. something about monk just draws me in. i must finish them all, but, no doubt, will be sad when i do.

next up, gilmore girls!

work perk

this baby goat was left in a park and transferred to my work on friday. she made the rounds and stopped in for an office visit before heading to the ranch where she'll be fostered until she's old enough to find a permanent home. all she wanted to do was nuzzle in a pair of arms and fall asleep. too cute! it's not unusual for me to interact with dogs, cats, birds, lizards, rabits, guinea pigs, goats, donkeys, and whatever else we have in our temporary care. by far the best part of my job!