The baking bug

So in an effort to eat better, I have started cooking more of our food from scratch using whole natural foods, and part of this effort is learning to bake! I'm using whole wheat flour, which I have never baked with before and I have to say it's a learning process! I have always baked with white flour and yes there is a big difference when you switch to whole wheat! I am taking pictures of my baking goods to show off to you all-oh yes I should feel shame, but I don't! I still am experimenting with recipes and have yet to find the "perfect" one for bread, but I will not give up!

I always have little helpers about, today it was just baker minnie mouse!




We were busy bakers at our house today we made chocolate chip cookies and bread!


Last week I made yummy whole wheat rolls, This one turned out the best, the rest not so pretty, but pretty or not they all tasted the same!


I ended up making 5 loafs of bread, they turned out ok, but not exactly how I wanted them to. I did have a "I love Lucy" moment when I got home from pre-school I walked into the kitchen to find the bread had risen so high it expanded beyond the bowl and spread out onto the counter! It took me awhile to gather it all up and get it back into a ball. After dividing it up I realized I had way too much dough, after all I only have 5 pans! The rest got made into scones, we buttered them up and slathered them with honey, can't complain about that!

Birthday season has ended!

I like to call the time between Feb. and April birthday season for our family. It starts with mine on Feb 13 and ends with Justin's on April 24, along with our girls we have parents, grandparents and a nephews birthday all falling within that time. It is kinda nice to get them all done and out of the way for the rest of the year, but by the time Justin's comes around, I'm pooped, and tired of eating cake. This year for Justin's b-day we first had the girls make him a cake (I'm always tired of making cute cakes by the time Justin's b-day comes around) and they had to decorate the house for their daddy, I love seeing how excited my kid's get for mine and Justin's birthday's I think they like them as much as they do their own! After having a "little family" party for Justin we headed to Long Beach for the day, we ate a yummy lunch on the pier, went on a walk along the shore across from the Queen Mary, then went to a mellow drama theater and had a fun time watching Robin Hoodwinked! After we hung out with Joe and Kristien, always fun times seeing them! The whole day I kept thinking how surreal it is that I live close enough to drive to Long Beach for a day trip! I love the ocean and it put's me in a mood of total tranquility! Now that "birthday season" is done and over with it's time to start focusing on getting a few projects done that I have put on hold. I'm going to attempt re-finishing an end table and a really cool roller desk that Kristien gave me (Thank you, thank you, thank you!) I have recently started making my own bread and rolls, it is a learning process but I'm rather enjoying baking from scratch! I also have a new calling to keep me busy, I'm in young womans and I'm so excited, I have always loved young womans and am looking forward to serving once again!

Life is good

Life is so busy these days, I keep waiting for it to slow down a bit, but it seems just to keep getting more busy!! Although it's crazy I'm loving every minute of it!! I have been thinking about how much has changed for me in the past year, this time last year I was a lonely home sick girl, who would go to the grocery store just to remind herself that there was more to life than Mickey Mouse and The Wonder Pets! I soon came to the realization that if I wanted more to my life, I would have to go and find it and almost that same day someone from the our ward called me and invited me to "park day" I went, scared to death to be meeting new people, something I am not good at nor do I enjoy doing. I ended up having a really nice time, I since have become more active in church and have found it much easier to meet new people. I now love where I live, I feel I belong and have meet so many amazing people! How blessed am I? I have my dream job of being a busy stay at home mom, a husband who loves me for me, a best friend that I believe by the grace of God has been transfered with us almost everywhere we go, and an amazing family back "home" who would do anything for us! I know I am here for a reason and that I'm exactly where I'm supposed be. While my life is not perfect, I have the same daily trials as everyone else, but I feel peace and that I am being guided down the path that I am meant to travel and that is a feeling I have not had in a long time, so right now I'm taking it all in and enjoying this journey called life!

So this is blogging.....

So this is my first blog post, I have no idea what I'm doing but here I go! I have seen a lot of you bloggers explain why you blog, so I think I shall do the same! My reason's for starting a blog vary, first I wanted a easy way for friends and family to find out the lasted happenings in our life, not that I think we are all that interesting, but maybe a few of you will enjoy it! Second I don't journal any more or scrapbook all that often (Justin claims I am a scrapbook collector, but not a doer!) So I hope this will become the place I keep tract of all the little events in our life. Third, if I find a really yummy recipe or read a really good book I would like to share it so this will be the place for that as well! Well that's about it, I have posted my first blog! Now to figure out how to upload pics, get cute back grounds and such if any of you have any tips I would love to hear them!
Melissa