Yeah, so I had a half gallon of buttermilk, don't ask. And I didn't want it to go to waste, so I started looking for recipes. This is what we ended up having for dinner . . .
Onion Rings
Chicken Tenders
Biscuits
And Bacon Mashed Potatoes
I still have more than 3 cups of buttermilk left. Tomorrow it will be aebleskivers . . . mmmmmmmmm.
Just as a side note, should you choose to try these recipes. The onion rings were just plain awesome. I didn't have all the ingredients for the aioli, so I made up a recipe with roasted garlic. The chicken fingers were good, but there was too much paprika in the recipe, and I wouldn't double bread them as there was too much breading in ratio to chicken meat. The biscuits were awesome, but the dough was sticky. And I think I slightly overworked the dough. I'll do better next time. And the potatoes recipe is further down on the page in that link. It's a good recipe, but pretty standard. I did, however, roast my own garlic for the first time. I'll be doing that again in the near future. Delish!!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
Things I learned today at church
First, let me back up a couple of days. Last Wednesday, I went to the park with my new little friend Reagan and her mom, Summer. We met another ward member and her two daughters at the park. It was nice to visit and get to know some of the little people in the ward. Amber brought her 4 year old Reese and the two year old Eliza. Amber also has two kids in elementary school and is expecting another. They are really nice and I'm excited for new friends.
So, when we got the church today, Brian and I sat in the row behind Amber and her cute family. The kids got out the markers and started coloring. Their dad is working on his masters degree in art, and the kids obviously take after their dad in that respect. So, Reese got to work drawing and coloring a very bright butterfly. Her older brother, who is probably about 7, got to work on his stuff. It was his wonderful artwork that taught me invaluable lessons today at church.
Lesson 1: When planning to catch Santa Clause, the first and best option is to set up a lasso around the plate of cookies.
Lesson 2: When building your dream house, make sure the chimney should actually be a cannon and the edge of the roof should be lined with chainsaws.
Lesson 3 (and probably the most important): Never leave your chainsaw on.
I wish that I had the images that he included as he carefully planned for the near and distant future. I'll have to ask Amber if she'll let me borrow the pages to scan.
So, when we got the church today, Brian and I sat in the row behind Amber and her cute family. The kids got out the markers and started coloring. Their dad is working on his masters degree in art, and the kids obviously take after their dad in that respect. So, Reese got to work drawing and coloring a very bright butterfly. Her older brother, who is probably about 7, got to work on his stuff. It was his wonderful artwork that taught me invaluable lessons today at church.
Lesson 1: When planning to catch Santa Clause, the first and best option is to set up a lasso around the plate of cookies.
Lesson 2: When building your dream house, make sure the chimney should actually be a cannon and the edge of the roof should be lined with chainsaws.
Lesson 3 (and probably the most important): Never leave your chainsaw on.
I wish that I had the images that he included as he carefully planned for the near and distant future. I'll have to ask Amber if she'll let me borrow the pages to scan.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Lessons Learned
So, I had quite an unusual experience today. Well, I think it's unusual. I suppose that for some people it would be normal or routine. For those people, I have supreme respect.
I got a phone call and email last night from the relief society president, Sister Wren. She asked if I could help a ward member and her daughter in preparing to move out of their house to another place close by. I thought the request slightly unusual, but as more information was made available to me, I understood why it was being handled the way it was. The woman lives in a home that has come under some disrepair. She lives with her 18 year old daughter who has Asperger's syndrome. Over the last several years, their lives have gotten somewhat out of control, and I was asked to help them pack boxes so they could move out of the house tomorrow morning. I was warned that while things were much better than when the project started about a week ago, there was still a lot to do. And to be prepared because these two women are hoarders. And, they have a bug problem.
Initially, my thought was that I'd like to help, but I don't do bugs. Especially the bugs out here, cause they tend to be on the HUGE side. I told Brian of the request, and he said he'd support my decision to go, but that he couldn't do it. He hates bugs. HATES them. I called Sister Wren and talked through it with her and told her I would be happy to help. The plan was to be there at around 10:00 AM.
I got up this morning and threw on some scrubs. I grabbed my trusty housecleaning gloves, put the address in the GPS and I was off! Upon arriving at the home in Watkinsville, what I expected was more than what I found, which was a relief. I was told that it was 100 times better today than it was when they started. This time last week, you couldn't see the floors or the walls. There was still a significant amount of clutter, but there was room to work. I was shown around by the daughter and started preparing boxes to fill. A fellow ward member arrived and she set to work packing up bakeware and whatnot in the kitchen. I opted to attack the pantry. With my back injury, I can't lift much, so I would fill the boxes and someone would take them off the shelf and tape them up and label them. It was a decent system. I think I felt I could handle the pantry because it was a confined space with an end in sight. I felt like I could accomplish something if I could get all the food packed. When I was done, there were just some 2 liter bottles of soda and a few small appliances left in the pantry.
Now, the bugs. Here's the thing. Georgia has lots of bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. I didn't happen to see any living roaches that are the huge variety, but there were several different looking ones. Now, I don't know if they were all the same kind, just at different stages of life or if they were different kinds. Frankly, I don't want to know that much about roaches. I threw away any food that was open. And anything that might be contaminated. Most of the pantry goods were in cans, so that's a good thing. The cans will need to be cleaned off before opening though, that's for sure. I completed my task in an orderly fashion. When they say that roaches stay out of the light, they aren't kidding. I have been lucky enough to not have to deal with any sort of problem like that. (Thank heaven!) I would take all the cans on the first row, then move to the second and so on. This gave the roaches time to run to the back of the shelf. I have never seen anything like that in my life.
Upon talking with the woman, I learned how bad things have become. She had a piano she was given for her 15th birthday. When they opened the back to check it, the entire inside was covered in roach eggs. The situation was the same for her organ. Both went directly into the dumpster. Most pieces of furniture were being thrown out. They threw out two televisions and a couple of stereo systems, the microwave and many other small appliances. Her mattress was infested, but she had still be sleeping on it, because she has nothing else as of yet. No one had attempted to clean out her "office" because she knew that the roaches were particularly bad in that room. The garage was a giant pile, literally. Standing on ground level, the pile climbs much higher than my head, and I'm five foot eleven inches.
I'm grateful that both women were somewhat willing to let us throw things out as we went. I understand that it could have been a much more difficult process, if one or both of them wanted to see every item that was being removed. It was hard to see that people live that way, and that the food that I was carefully removing from the pantry, as the roaches held on for dear life, was the source of food for them. Part of me wanted to leave everything inside, close the doors and light a match. That would probably have been the healthiest option. But, that is not life.
So, I am grateful that I have a clean home, and a husband who helps me keep it that way. I am grateful for my health, even though I feel crappy sometimes - I am better off than many. I am grateful for the opportunity to help these women move out of their situation and I pray that they will be better prepared in their next home, and that they can live differently from now on. I feel that I have made friends, not just with those I was able to serve today, but with those that served with me.
And the roaches that I OCCASIONALLY see in my home . . . . they are no big deal.
I got a phone call and email last night from the relief society president, Sister Wren. She asked if I could help a ward member and her daughter in preparing to move out of their house to another place close by. I thought the request slightly unusual, but as more information was made available to me, I understood why it was being handled the way it was. The woman lives in a home that has come under some disrepair. She lives with her 18 year old daughter who has Asperger's syndrome. Over the last several years, their lives have gotten somewhat out of control, and I was asked to help them pack boxes so they could move out of the house tomorrow morning. I was warned that while things were much better than when the project started about a week ago, there was still a lot to do. And to be prepared because these two women are hoarders. And, they have a bug problem.
Initially, my thought was that I'd like to help, but I don't do bugs. Especially the bugs out here, cause they tend to be on the HUGE side. I told Brian of the request, and he said he'd support my decision to go, but that he couldn't do it. He hates bugs. HATES them. I called Sister Wren and talked through it with her and told her I would be happy to help. The plan was to be there at around 10:00 AM.
I got up this morning and threw on some scrubs. I grabbed my trusty housecleaning gloves, put the address in the GPS and I was off! Upon arriving at the home in Watkinsville, what I expected was more than what I found, which was a relief. I was told that it was 100 times better today than it was when they started. This time last week, you couldn't see the floors or the walls. There was still a significant amount of clutter, but there was room to work. I was shown around by the daughter and started preparing boxes to fill. A fellow ward member arrived and she set to work packing up bakeware and whatnot in the kitchen. I opted to attack the pantry. With my back injury, I can't lift much, so I would fill the boxes and someone would take them off the shelf and tape them up and label them. It was a decent system. I think I felt I could handle the pantry because it was a confined space with an end in sight. I felt like I could accomplish something if I could get all the food packed. When I was done, there were just some 2 liter bottles of soda and a few small appliances left in the pantry.
Now, the bugs. Here's the thing. Georgia has lots of bugs. Lots and lots of bugs. I didn't happen to see any living roaches that are the huge variety, but there were several different looking ones. Now, I don't know if they were all the same kind, just at different stages of life or if they were different kinds. Frankly, I don't want to know that much about roaches. I threw away any food that was open. And anything that might be contaminated. Most of the pantry goods were in cans, so that's a good thing. The cans will need to be cleaned off before opening though, that's for sure. I completed my task in an orderly fashion. When they say that roaches stay out of the light, they aren't kidding. I have been lucky enough to not have to deal with any sort of problem like that. (Thank heaven!) I would take all the cans on the first row, then move to the second and so on. This gave the roaches time to run to the back of the shelf. I have never seen anything like that in my life.
Upon talking with the woman, I learned how bad things have become. She had a piano she was given for her 15th birthday. When they opened the back to check it, the entire inside was covered in roach eggs. The situation was the same for her organ. Both went directly into the dumpster. Most pieces of furniture were being thrown out. They threw out two televisions and a couple of stereo systems, the microwave and many other small appliances. Her mattress was infested, but she had still be sleeping on it, because she has nothing else as of yet. No one had attempted to clean out her "office" because she knew that the roaches were particularly bad in that room. The garage was a giant pile, literally. Standing on ground level, the pile climbs much higher than my head, and I'm five foot eleven inches.
I'm grateful that both women were somewhat willing to let us throw things out as we went. I understand that it could have been a much more difficult process, if one or both of them wanted to see every item that was being removed. It was hard to see that people live that way, and that the food that I was carefully removing from the pantry, as the roaches held on for dear life, was the source of food for them. Part of me wanted to leave everything inside, close the doors and light a match. That would probably have been the healthiest option. But, that is not life.
So, I am grateful that I have a clean home, and a husband who helps me keep it that way. I am grateful for my health, even though I feel crappy sometimes - I am better off than many. I am grateful for the opportunity to help these women move out of their situation and I pray that they will be better prepared in their next home, and that they can live differently from now on. I feel that I have made friends, not just with those I was able to serve today, but with those that served with me.
And the roaches that I OCCASIONALLY see in my home . . . . they are no big deal.
Friday, September 17, 2010
Random Perks
I realized the other night, well early morning, that being married affords you certain perks. Like, if the air conditioning is set a little bit too cool, and you are curled up in bed with your favorite monkey blanket, but you are still cold enough that you are slightly shivering, you have somebody there to pull the blanket down over your exposed bum. You are then warm and cozy and can sleep so soundly that you snore like the best of them.
You're welcome honey.
You're welcome honey.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Insight
If you don't want to know a bit about how my brain works, I suggest you stop reading the blog entry right now.
If you are the slightest bit curious, this will be a shining example of Julie's inner monologue.
Last night, or should I say early this morning, I woke up from a not very restful sleep. I was laying in bed and my thoughts were just kind of wandering as I was hoping to fall back asleep quickly. First I thought about the primary kids I taught in Plum Creek Ward (See blog entry here) and was wishing I could see them again. I just love those darn kids. That led me to think about one particular child (Tinkerbell) who is just the cutest little princess! (Side note: After I was released from primary, I was put in as a RS teacher. My team teacher was this little girl's mom, and she's AWESOME!) I then began thinking about what calling I might be asked to fulfill in my new ward in Athens. Then I remembered the conversation that we had with the bishop when we met with him a couple of weeks ago. He asked if we knew how to operate Ham radios. (The stake informed him that he needed to have two people in the ward capable of not just the basics in Ham radio operation, but the advanced skills that require some elaborate course and test. We had of course told him we didn't have the slightest idea. He explained how the courses were organized and that the last and most advanced course would teach a person how to bounce a ham radio off of the moon. I responded with "Why would you need to do that?" and he responded with "Well, if there's a disaster, we'd need to get in touch with Salt Lake." Noted.) So I was thinking about the bishop's question about Ham radios, and his statement about bouncing it off the moon . . . .
And I pictured myself throwing a large ham at the moon, and it bouncing off like the moon is a trampoline.
The end.
If you are the slightest bit curious, this will be a shining example of Julie's inner monologue.
Last night, or should I say early this morning, I woke up from a not very restful sleep. I was laying in bed and my thoughts were just kind of wandering as I was hoping to fall back asleep quickly. First I thought about the primary kids I taught in Plum Creek Ward (See blog entry here) and was wishing I could see them again. I just love those darn kids. That led me to think about one particular child (Tinkerbell) who is just the cutest little princess! (Side note: After I was released from primary, I was put in as a RS teacher. My team teacher was this little girl's mom, and she's AWESOME!) I then began thinking about what calling I might be asked to fulfill in my new ward in Athens. Then I remembered the conversation that we had with the bishop when we met with him a couple of weeks ago. He asked if we knew how to operate Ham radios. (The stake informed him that he needed to have two people in the ward capable of not just the basics in Ham radio operation, but the advanced skills that require some elaborate course and test. We had of course told him we didn't have the slightest idea. He explained how the courses were organized and that the last and most advanced course would teach a person how to bounce a ham radio off of the moon. I responded with "Why would you need to do that?" and he responded with "Well, if there's a disaster, we'd need to get in touch with Salt Lake." Noted.) So I was thinking about the bishop's question about Ham radios, and his statement about bouncing it off the moon . . . .
And I pictured myself throwing a large ham at the moon, and it bouncing off like the moon is a trampoline.
The end.
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Preparing to Move
All right, I know I’m in trouble; so much for turning over a new leaf. (Where did that phrase come from, anyway?) I have been horrible about keeping all three of my readers in the loop. And for that I must apologize. And I also recognize that I should be better than I have been in the last three weeks, given that I’m currently unemployed and have big travel adventures to share. But, alas, I prove once again that I am slothful, except that I don’t have the weird toes of a sloth. So, here it begins, and please have patience with me, there’s a lot to share.
So, back in March, we decided that the carpet in our living room and hallway had seen enough and we found beautiful laminate flooring to replace it with. That’s when everything went awry. When we pulled up the carpet, we found water damage, albeit limited, under the wall AC unit that was centered on the main wall. We call the property management company and what followed was three months of chaos and stress.
The water issue was to be remedied by the HOA, and in the process of trying to determine where the water was getting in, three of our four windows started leaking. So, I had no carpet, holes in my walls and furniture piled Tetris style in my dining room. At least the bedroom was intact; I spent a good amount of time hiding in there pretending that the rest of my house was in shambles. Brian's brother Norman was able to give us some carpet tiles from one of the buildings he manages. That helped a ton, cause at least I wasn't having to walk on bare boards. THANKS NORM!!!
Finally, in June, Brian’s fabulous brother Brent journeyed north from Manti to install the flooring. I know it wasn’t an easy project for him, but he was a trooper and got it done all in one long day. It turned out beautifully. When we had originally planned to flooring, we were excited to get to enjoy it for a least a couple of months before leaving the state for school, but we pretty much got 5 weeks of admiration. (Better than nothing!)
Since we had packed up a good percentage of our stuff to install the flooring, it wasn’t too bad to get the rest packed for the move. Brian reserved a moving truck and I scavenged boxes from my office. We spent each night getting more stuff packed and ready to go. Brian stopped working the last week of July and was a trooper about getting the last of it packed up. I quit my job around the same time and got to work, too. There were many trips to Utah County to go through boxes of things that had been in storage since we got married five years ago. There were lots of unexpected treasures in those boxes, and lots of garbage too. It’s a good thing we had a big dumpster at our condo, cause we used it!
The pets were in a tizzy pretty much the whole four months we were preparing to move. Stuff was in boxes; their usual sleeping spots were moved all around. Kronk reached that fabulous point on puppydom where he thought it was good to mark everything. We were just trying to manage it, but realized that any new place was marking fair game for him . . . . so, we decided to get him fixed. Luckily, our vet had a cancellation in their schedule and they were able to get him right in. He did just fine with the surgery and hasn’t tried to mark anything since. Gwen got a haircut, and as usual, she was mad at me for it. We actually took her down to Lake Shore because it’s so much easier to clean up afterwards. When she was done, it almost looked like a professional had done it. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that Brian had found a new calling in life. ;) Finally, the day before we packed up the house, I took all three monsters to the vet for their routine shots and vet checks. Apparently, if you are crossing state borders with an animal and you don’t have a vet certificate of good health, they can take your pet away from you. So, I kept track of that form and got their carriers and car seats ready to go!
We picked up the moving truck Friday night on July 30. We got a 22 foot truck, and it was large and in charge! We took it to Lake Shore and loaded what we had in storage there. Brian’s dad and two of his brothers were there to help and they made quick work of it. My mom came and picked up my car and headed for Minnesota with the plan to meet us in Missouri on Tuesday. We climbed into the truck and headed to West Jordan to prepare to finish loading the next morning.
Saturday we had the help of some ward members in loading the truck. It was very nice of them to come and help, but they got a little over-zealous and packed a bunch of stuff that was supposed to travel in the car with me. We managed to just barely cram everything in to the truck, even though Brian had expected there to be tons of extra room. We finished cleaning up our condo and headed south to spend the night in Lake Shore. I will admit, it was harder saying goodbye to our little home than I had ever thought it would be. It wasn’t the first place we spent our married life together, but it was the first place that was ours. Despite the chaos of the past few months, I was so very happy there.
Yes, that is a picture of us as we left our condo, and yes, I had been crying.
From there, our trip turned eastward. And from here, the blogging of our cross-country adventure will be in a new post, hopefully tomorrow. :D
So, back in March, we decided that the carpet in our living room and hallway had seen enough and we found beautiful laminate flooring to replace it with. That’s when everything went awry. When we pulled up the carpet, we found water damage, albeit limited, under the wall AC unit that was centered on the main wall. We call the property management company and what followed was three months of chaos and stress.
The water issue was to be remedied by the HOA, and in the process of trying to determine where the water was getting in, three of our four windows started leaking. So, I had no carpet, holes in my walls and furniture piled Tetris style in my dining room. At least the bedroom was intact; I spent a good amount of time hiding in there pretending that the rest of my house was in shambles. Brian's brother Norman was able to give us some carpet tiles from one of the buildings he manages. That helped a ton, cause at least I wasn't having to walk on bare boards. THANKS NORM!!!
Finally, in June, Brian’s fabulous brother Brent journeyed north from Manti to install the flooring. I know it wasn’t an easy project for him, but he was a trooper and got it done all in one long day. It turned out beautifully. When we had originally planned to flooring, we were excited to get to enjoy it for a least a couple of months before leaving the state for school, but we pretty much got 5 weeks of admiration. (Better than nothing!)
Since we had packed up a good percentage of our stuff to install the flooring, it wasn’t too bad to get the rest packed for the move. Brian reserved a moving truck and I scavenged boxes from my office. We spent each night getting more stuff packed and ready to go. Brian stopped working the last week of July and was a trooper about getting the last of it packed up. I quit my job around the same time and got to work, too. There were many trips to Utah County to go through boxes of things that had been in storage since we got married five years ago. There were lots of unexpected treasures in those boxes, and lots of garbage too. It’s a good thing we had a big dumpster at our condo, cause we used it!
The pets were in a tizzy pretty much the whole four months we were preparing to move. Stuff was in boxes; their usual sleeping spots were moved all around. Kronk reached that fabulous point on puppydom where he thought it was good to mark everything. We were just trying to manage it, but realized that any new place was marking fair game for him . . . . so, we decided to get him fixed. Luckily, our vet had a cancellation in their schedule and they were able to get him right in. He did just fine with the surgery and hasn’t tried to mark anything since. Gwen got a haircut, and as usual, she was mad at me for it. We actually took her down to Lake Shore because it’s so much easier to clean up afterwards. When she was done, it almost looked like a professional had done it. If I didn’t know better, I’d say that Brian had found a new calling in life. ;) Finally, the day before we packed up the house, I took all three monsters to the vet for their routine shots and vet checks. Apparently, if you are crossing state borders with an animal and you don’t have a vet certificate of good health, they can take your pet away from you. So, I kept track of that form and got their carriers and car seats ready to go!
We picked up the moving truck Friday night on July 30. We got a 22 foot truck, and it was large and in charge! We took it to Lake Shore and loaded what we had in storage there. Brian’s dad and two of his brothers were there to help and they made quick work of it. My mom came and picked up my car and headed for Minnesota with the plan to meet us in Missouri on Tuesday. We climbed into the truck and headed to West Jordan to prepare to finish loading the next morning.
Saturday we had the help of some ward members in loading the truck. It was very nice of them to come and help, but they got a little over-zealous and packed a bunch of stuff that was supposed to travel in the car with me. We managed to just barely cram everything in to the truck, even though Brian had expected there to be tons of extra room. We finished cleaning up our condo and headed south to spend the night in Lake Shore. I will admit, it was harder saying goodbye to our little home than I had ever thought it would be. It wasn’t the first place we spent our married life together, but it was the first place that was ours. Despite the chaos of the past few months, I was so very happy there.
Yes, that is a picture of us as we left our condo, and yes, I had been crying.
From there, our trip turned eastward. And from here, the blogging of our cross-country adventure will be in a new post, hopefully tomorrow. :D
Monday, May 10, 2010
It's Official
We're going to Georgia!
Last week we went to Athens to get a feel for the town and to look at housing. We have picked out a nice town home in a quiet part of town. We were able to attend the ward, and meet the bishop. We randomly ran into one of Brian's college roommates and he's in the ward we'll be living in. It's nice to think that we have ready-made friends already. Below are some quick snapshots of what will be our new digs come August.
Last week we went to Athens to get a feel for the town and to look at housing. We have picked out a nice town home in a quiet part of town. We were able to attend the ward, and meet the bishop. We randomly ran into one of Brian's college roommates and he's in the ward we'll be living in. It's nice to think that we have ready-made friends already. Below are some quick snapshots of what will be our new digs come August.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
He belongs in our family . . .
So this morning, I was in the kitchen making scrambled eggs, and Brian was taking a shower before church. I looked around the corner of the kitchen to see this little guy sitting on the loveseat just like this:
For reference, this is how our living room is set up. So he was sitting facing the TV.
I had turned the TV on just to have some background noise and Brian hadn't liked what was on so he changed it to the Cartoon Network. So, when I turned to check on the dog, he was sitting on the loveseat watching Garfield and Friends. Seriously. I think my brother would be especially proud.
What am I going to do with this little guy?
For reference, this is how our living room is set up. So he was sitting facing the TV.
I had turned the TV on just to have some background noise and Brian hadn't liked what was on so he changed it to the Cartoon Network. So, when I turned to check on the dog, he was sitting on the loveseat watching Garfield and Friends. Seriously. I think my brother would be especially proud.
What am I going to do with this little guy?
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Top Ten Reasons my Cat gets Mad at me
10-Bathtime
9-Haircut time
8-Getting a bath and a haircut in the same day
7-Cleaning her eyes
6-Not letting her sit in my lap
5-Letting her food dish have stale food in it
4-Trips to the vet
3-That one time I accidentally cut her during a haircut
2-Not letting her lick the tuna fish can
1-Bringing this home:
9-Haircut time
8-Getting a bath and a haircut in the same day
7-Cleaning her eyes
6-Not letting her sit in my lap
5-Letting her food dish have stale food in it
4-Trips to the vet
3-That one time I accidentally cut her during a haircut
2-Not letting her lick the tuna fish can
1-Bringing this home:
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
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