Adventure of Tomorrow

What will I be doing tomorrow? Go on - ask me ... I'll be moving! The manager called this afternoon and had us come in this evening to sign papers, go over the lease, etc. and gave us our keys. We now have an apartment. We would have started moving tonight, but it was raining/snowing, and we were hungry. So we came back here for dinner and will start moving and setting up our apartment first thing tomorrow morning. We were going to take some pictures of the apartment, but forgot. So I'll take and post pictures later. I may not post consistently for the next little while, as we unpack, get settled, and get our Internet connected and so on. Anyway, we're pretty excited.

I would have had a fairly early morning if not for the snow. Thomas had an appointment scheduled this morning to have his heart murmur looked at by a heart specialist. This would have meant driving for about an hour on slick, treacherous roads early in the morning. As it was, it snowed even more last night and made the roads even worse. So we called and canceled. It's better to stay home now and have his heart looked at when the roads are safe, rather than risk going out when, as my mom put it "there are cars going off right and left." So I got to go back to bed.
As an explanation: at Thomas's four month check-up, the doctor thought he might have heard a heart murmur, but couldn't tell because Thomas was squirming and wiggling too much. So the doctor listened again at six months, during which Thomas held still and the doctor could definitely hear a murmur. He says it sounds harmless, but to be on the safe side they set up an appointment for Thomas to see the heart specialist. So we'll go in around the end of February and see what's up. It's probably nothing, but it's good to know for sure.

Pic of the Day #2

This is my mom's family and my dad's family photos sitting on the mantle. Mom is in the left picture, farthest to the left in the back row - the one in the pigtails! Dad is in the photo on the right. He's in the back row, second from the left. Thought it would be a neat picture, the two photos right next to each other.

There are few things better than...

seeing my kids get along with each other and be friends.

The rules: "The topic of this one is "There are few things better than..." and you must finish the sentence. The rules are a little different, though. Read all the way through my post and then go to the comments. If you are the first one to have read it, post in the comments that you are "it" and immediately go to your own blog to post your completion of the sentence. If someone else has already commented that they are "it", follow the trail of blogs through the comments (giving you a chance to read everyone's sentences) until you get to post your own, being sure to copy the instructions for the next person. Pictures are optional :) Have fun!"

First was Calista, then Melinda. Then me!

Exercise!

My sisters, Marie and Janelle, and I have been working together to lose weight. We track our calorie consumption and work out together. After having missed several days of working out, we finally popped in the dance aerobics and Pilates videos yesterday and did some serious exercising. We also listened to some music on the stereo and danced energetically with Zaylee. All in all we got about an hour and a half of exercise in, and it felt so great! Zaylee especially loved jumping around in the kitchen laughing maniacally as we boogied to energetic classical music. She loves it when us grown up people do silly things.

Pic of the Day #1

I'm going to start picture of the day, at least while I can. Once we move it will be picture of the week or something, because we don't have a digital camera; I use Mom and Dad's.


I was struck by the contrast of the scene - the fresh, green life of the houseplant set off by the white snow and the dry, withered rose bushes outside.

Yay, I can post pictures now!

I tried to post pictures using Internet Explorer, and it never had the "Done" that I was supposed to click, so it never worked. I finally got it to work using Mozilla Firefox. Took me long enough!


Zaylee with her typical cheerful countenance and mussed up hair.


This is Thomas making faces at the camera. Isn't he cute?


Here's the pillow I crocheted. I'm working on another one, it will have diagonal stripes. I'll post that when I'm done with it. Mom made covers for the couch in the picture. It was a yucky green, but Mom and I chose fabrics that looked much nicer and Mom put it all together.

Rye Bread

I had the urge to bake yesterday, and this was the fruit of my labors. Thought I'd share it. The rye flour and caraway add a distinctive flavor that some don't agree with, but we all enjoyed it (besides Samuel, who made some very fun faces as he tried to swallow the unfamiliar concoction).

Rye Bread
3 1/2 to 4 cups all purpose flour
2 pkgs (4 1/2 tsp) active dry yeast
2 cups warm water (120 to 130 degrees)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbsp cooking oil
1 tsp. salt
2 cups rye flour
1 Tbsp caraway seed
Cornmeal

In large mixing bowl combine 2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, the yeast, water, brown sugar, oil, and salt. Beat with electric mixer on low speed for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Beat on high speed for 3 minutes. Using a spoon (or dough hook on stand mixer) stir in rye flour, caraway seed, and as much of the remaining all-purpose flour as you can.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface (or continue to use dough hook - I love stand mixers!). Knead in enough of the remaining all-purpose flour to make a moderately stiff dough that is smooth and elastic (6 to 8 minutes total). Shape into a ball. Place in a lightly greased bowl; turn once to grease surface. Cover and let rise in a warm place till double (about 1 hour).

Punch dough down. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide dough in half. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes. Shape into 2 round loaves. Place on a greased baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal. Flatten each slightly to a 6-inch diameter. If desired, cut slashes on top of loaves with sharp knife - makes it look pretty). Cover and let rise in a warm place till nearly double (30 to 45 minutes).

Bake in a 375 degree oven for 35 to 40 minutes or till bread tests done. Remove from baking sheet and cool on wire racks.

Snow is Falling All Around

Update on the whole sleep thing: Thomas slept in the living room again last night, and I slept great until and after his early morning feeding, so I'm doing much better.

The snow this morning has been pretty wild. Samuel (my 7-year-old brother) decided that he wanted to shovel the sidewalks this morning, but it was all in vain. The snow hasn't stopped all morning and within half an hour it had erased all evidence of Samuel's efforts. He wanted to try again, but Mom was able to convince him it was no use.

I feel a bit sorry for Jeff, and the tiniest bit concerned. When he left for class this morning, the snow hadn't started yet, and probably had only barely started by the time he got there. So he'll come out of the building to see what looks like several inches of snow on the ground, and on the roads. He really doesn't like driving in the snow, though he's a careful driver. I can just see his face as he surveys this latest attack on him by Mother Nature. It's kind of amusing, but at the same time I'm hoping he is able to drive safely to get home this afternoon.

I really wish I could post pictures, so I could take one of the snow on the pond out in the backyard. It's really pretty with all the snow.

My fun-filled night

I had a rather interesting night. Thomas sleeps out in the living room at night, so I don't have to try to sleep through his sleeping noises (our room or the living room are the only places where he'll fit, the house is very full of people). Last night however, when I put him down to bed, it felt strange and eery in the living room. The wind was howling and there was hail pelting on the window. The wind blew open the flu as I put Thomas down in the play pen, and it made a really loud sound and allowed the wind to whistle loudly in the flu. It just felt uncomfortable. I had Dad shut the flu again then went to get ready for bed. But I kept feeling like I needed to have Thomas sleep in his crib in our room for the night (we kept his crib up in our room for naptimes). So I went out and got Thomas. He had already fallen asleep, but just as I picked him up, the flu blew open again. It probably would have woken him up and frightened him if I hadn't picked him up then. Anyway, he slept in our room, and slept quite well. He didn't get up to eat until 5:30, then went back to sleep after that. I, on the other hand, slept terribly. Thomas squirms in his sleep, and his nose was stuffy so I kept hearing him sniffling (in hindsight, I should have cleaned his nose out before putting him to bed, but of course I didn't think of that until this morning). I had the bathroom fan on for white noise to drown out the sound of the hail and the wind and Thomas, but that turned out to not help at all. I'm not used to the sound of the fan at night, so it kept me awake as well. Still, despite not sleeping well, I'm glad I had Thomas sleep with us last night, it felt like the right thing to do. I hope I don't feel inspired to do it again though; I really want to sleep tonight!

President Hinckley

After putting Zaylee to bed this evening, we came out to find my parents sharing with the family that President Hinckley passed away this evening. How does one find words to describe the feelings that are brought on by such an event? I will miss him and his quick wit, irrepressible tenacity, and strong testimony. But the knowledge that we possess about prophets is such a help at this time. We know that his mission was done. We discussed in our family this evening the things that President Hinckley left us. Each prophet had something specific he focused on throughout his ministry. President Hinckley encouraged us to try harder. Always do better. Raise the bar. And he set the example by doing the things he taught. What a wonderful legacy to leave.

You know, sometimes it's so much more fun to just look at everyone else's blogs than to figure out something creative and fun to post on my own.

...long pause, trying to think of what happened in the past couple of days that I can actually write about...

Well, yesterday I made some yummy brownies with peanut butter/cream cheese swirls that turned out pretty good. Jeff bemoaned the fact that I replaced some of the sugar with Splenda, but I thought that the reduction in calories more than made up for the slight difference in flavor. (Now he's upset at me for saying that, but what're ya gonna do?)

My visit teaching companion was under the impression that I was going to move a couple of weeks ago, so didn't have me go with her to visit some of our ladies. She keeps being surprised to see me at Church every week. This week after Relief Society she said she's making me come with her this week whether I move or not. Despite the fact that I would like to move on and move out, it's nice to know that I still belong in this ward in the meantime, and there will be people who might miss us, though we've only been here a few months.

Oh Well

We didn't move. The manager didn't call. Jeff tried calling during office hours, got the answering machine, left a message. We're getting really frustrated with the whole thing.
Here's a little background. We left Rexburg in August, so that Jeff could start his CLS program here. We hadn't found a place to live yet, so we moved in with my folks as a temporary home until we could find a place of our own. We expected to be here only two or three months. But it's hard to find a place that meets our criteria - namely it has to be cheap because we have no income, and it has to be safe. In this area, most of the cheap places are in bad neighborhoods, and it would not be safe to have a family there. In the five months we've been here, we found a couple government-subsidized apartments and turned in applications. Only one place has gotten back with us; we're on the waiting list for the other but it could take up to a year or more to move up to the top of the list. So we have to put up with the unreliable management of the first place because we have no other options for the time being. At least we have my parents' hospitality to lean back on - we can stay here as long as we need to, until we can move.
It has been really nice to live with family. There are some things I will miss: unlimited access to the kitchen and pantry, which is better-stocked than ours will be; Mom and Dad's piano; much lower rent (we just have to compensate them for the food we eat); and siblings to play with Zaylee and Thomas so that I don't need to be with them all the time. That said, I'm ready to move on and be autonomous again. I want my own kitchen, though the food in it will be cheaper. I want to spend all day taking care of the kids, without having to sometimes protect them from the over-eagerness of young aunts and uncles. I want to wake up in the morning to quiet, prepare my own breakfast, have total control over housekeeping (or lack thereof...), and just be the queen of my own castle.

On the plus side, not moving yesterday gave me some time to crochet and finish a project I was working on. I made a pillow for my couch, and it turned out great. I'll have to e-mail the picture to Michelle so she can post it for me, because for some reason this computer won't let me post pics.

Will we move today?

This is the magic date circled in red on the calendar, the elusive and tentative move-in date. And we won't know if we get to move in today until this afternoon when (if?) the manager for the apartments calls us. Which he won't unless it's during office hours, 1 to 4. And he might not, because other move-in dates have come and gone with no results. It's sort of an interesting feeling, wondering if I get to move today. Will keep you posted.

Good Morning Mommy

I was awakened this morning by Zaylee, knocking on the bedroom door calling, "Daddy, wake up Daddy!" She came in, noticed it was still dark, and changed her yell to a whisper, "Daddy, wake up. Up up up!" When I turned on the lamp next to the bed and pointed out that Daddy wasn't there (he had left for his job shadowing program a couple hours earlier), she continued without missing a beat, "Wake up Mommy!" So she played on the bed for a few minutes, then was out the door, wandering down the hall calling, "Daddy? Where are you Daddy?" Two guesses as to who her favorite parent is. :)

Jeff's job shadowing: Jeff is currently studying to become a clinical laboratory scientist, also known as Medical Technologist. He'll work in a hospital lab, running tests and telling the doctors what's really going on with their patients. This morning was his first day of a job shadowing program, where he goes to the hospital and follows the MTs around, observing them as they do their job. He needed a little help and encouragement to get out of bed, though. It was 5:30. It was easy for me to encourage him - I could go back to sleep after he left!

Our First Post

So, um, this is Jeff.

So what's the deal with the word 'blog' anyways?

What is it short for, 'bullfrog', 'blue log', 'boys love girls'? LOL

Stephanie wants to type now. I guess this is the end of my blogging. Blog blog blog!


Stephanie here. My sister Michelle talked us into starting a blog, so we'll give it a try. Currently we are living with Mom and Dad en route to getting into our own apartment. We are very close to being able to move in, just waiting on some paperwork to get cleared. We've been waiting all month to get to move, have had three different tentative move-in dates, and are now looking at moving on Friday - yay!