Happy Valentine's Day!

So I still have tons to catch up on…but I thought I would post something fairly recent and work my way backwards J  So yesterday was Valentine’s Day.  Jared and I looked at our calendars and realized we probably wouldn’t be able to celebrate till this coming Friday when he finally gets a day off and we have nothing planned in the evening.  Last night I had my second cake decorating class (yep, I’m taking a class offered by Wilton at JoAnn Fabrics.  I’m loving it and definitely glad I’m taking it because I have lots to learnJ) Anyways…my class is from 6:30-8:30 so I knew I wouldn’t be home till around nine.  I just figured with our plans for Friday, that I would come home, we’d have a quick low-key dinner and things would be great.  But instead, my sweet husband raced home from work and cooked us a delicious meal (one of our favorites: Herb Crusted Chicken, mashed potatoes, and salad).  He even fished out our tablecloth and candles. (Okay, maybe I helped him find those when I got home).  But it was the sweetest surprise in the world to find my sweet husband in the kitchen with a big grin, great food ready to be served, and roses on the table.  Thanks so much Hon for a fabulous Valentine’s surprise!!! I’m the luckiest girl in the world J

Oh and p.s. my cake class is going okay.  Due to a power outage yesterday, my cake went into the oven very late in the afternoon, which left little time for cooling, torting, frosting, and getting ready for class.  I was near tears as I drove late to my class because my cake did not look how I wanted it to AT ALL.  But I was glad once I got to class. I had a great time learning and practicing with my new icing tips and practicing on my cake.  Though my cake isn’t fabulous, I chalk it up to power-outages, being late to class,  and heck, it is my first time J Here’s my cake, it’s nothing spectacular, but it’s my first and I can only improve from here, right? 

Oh and they made me make this cupcake on the top.  It was a pattern we all had to follow.  So…I’m excited to decorate a cake as I want to J

Christmas

So 2010 held some major changes for Jared and me.  (Marriage being a wonderful but very big one) But I am actually referring to our first Christmas together!  It was difficult because we were unable to go visit any family (quite a change for both of us) but on the most wonderful side, we were able to have a very beautiful and quiet Christmas day together.  We were able to run on our own schedule and start our own traditions, or blend the traditions we grew up with J  But first things first…I had had a Christmas project that I have wanted to create since I saw one done by sister-in-law for my mother-in-law last Christmas.  It’s a Christmas wreath made from Christmas bulbs. I found all my bulbs and ribbon at the Dollar Store (definitely the cheapest way to do it) and I found directions with this link: Christmas Wreath

Before...

...After

I was pretty excited about making this wreath and even more excited that it actually worked out! We hung it up above our couch and then hung up Christmas cards and letters we received around it.  It was quite festive J

Christmas Eve was nice and quiet.  We were able to go see A Christmas Carol at the theater downtown which totally brought in the holiday spirit and then that evening we were able to watch Holiday Inn and more importantly read the story of Christ’s birth from Luke.  Christmas morning dawned and we continued to sleep.  It was so wonderful to sleep in and celebrate Christmas at our own pace.  Jared made a delicious late breakfast for us and I think we finally started opening presents at 4pm. 

It was such a great day together and so fun because we were able to talk to both sets of parents and brothers and their families.  It was great to be able to catch up and wish each other a Merry Christmas.  That evening we had a ham dinner with Christmas layered Jello (a Fixmer family tradition that is delicious) and were able to make Santa Face cookies (a Whiting family tradition).

These cookies have been a tradition since my father’s mother; a third generation creation that will definitely be passed on to the fourth.  It was fun to share my tradition with Jared and teach him how to make a Santa Face.

We’re sorry we didn’t do a Christmas card or letter this year and I know it’s a month late but I sure hope all of you had a very Merry Christmas and enjoyed sharing it with those you love.  I know we had a wonderful day J

Fall/Winter 2010

I realize it is 2011, but I also realized I really have not shared any news since Septemberish…so I thought I would do a quick review of our fall/early winter.

September

We were so lucky, Jared was able to take a four day weekend at the end of September.  We spent one day organizing and cleaning our home, but that Friday we left for Nauvoo, IL.  We had the most wonderful time and stayed at a great historic inn just across from the temple.  This is an example of the room we stayed in at the Woodruff Hotel/Zions Mercantile Hotel. 

We didn’t take too many pictures that weekend because we were too busy dashing in the rain from one place to another, but here are a couple.  Sorry the one is blurry.

October

In October we were so blessed to be able to take a week and go visit my family in Utah.  My brother and his family were able to take the same week of vacation and they came up from Arizona as well.  It was so fun to have us all together! We were so busy playing and enjoying each other we didn’t take any pictures at all.  Sad huh?  But some highlights from our visit include:

· General Conference and Music and the Spoken Word at the Conference Center

· My sister Amanda got engaged to Tyler!!

· A quiet night with just Jared up at my grandparents’ cabin

· Going to the Salt Lake Temple with my parents and Steven and Whitney

· Playing with my niece and nephews

·  And some major cooking and baking going on that week….so delicious!!

       (I think we all gained a couple of pounds but it was totally worth it )

· Peach hunting up in Willard (so Whitney could make the most delicious pie)

· Seeing my youngest sister Natalie in her Shakespeare Acts (which she ended up placing in the top ten for her monologue at the Shakespeare Festival in southern Utah-yay to go Sisterhead!)

·Celebrating both my sisters’ birthdays early

· Learning how to make my grandma’s amazing dinner rolls by the master herself J

We are also totally newlyweds and enjoyed celebrating our 6 month anniversary.  (Cheesy I know, but hey we’re in love J )  We made a delicious candlelit dinner.



Herb Crusted Chicken, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Steamed Green Beans

(and Lime Slushies....a favorite at our house) 


November

In November Jared took his Step 3 Boards (a big and important test for his career) and passed. I am so incredibly proud of him!!!

We were also able to enjoy an awesome Thanksgiving. We invited a few friends over and made a feast! I think we still have cranberry sauce in our fridge J But we did the works, because what would Thanksgiving be without everything?! So we made our first turkey (an adventure for sure but it worked out splendidly), mashed potatoes, yams, stuffing (my absolute favorite part of the meal), gravy, cranberry sauce, salad, rolls, pumpkin cheesecake and apple pie.  It was so yummy and we had such a great time hanging out with friends.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we also went hunting for our first Christmas tree.  We had no idea what we were doing or what kind of tree to get but thanks to a local grower, Grandpa Vern’s, we were able to get a fabulous tree!

Looking for a tree

Found our tree!

Jared putting on lights

Decorating the tree

I know there are two pictures here but I think one is better of us and one is better of the tree :) Our star was made by our nephew Ethan.  So awesome!

We loved our tree! We had a small collection of ornaments and found some great deals at Big Lots and JoAnn’s to round everything off.  We had so many incredible experiences these past couple months and have been so blessed.  

If you made it to the end of this, congratulations! Sorry it was so long, this is what happens when I procrastinate.  Hopefully another update soon J

Distracted

This is why I haven't posted.  It doesn't matter how many times I've read the Harry Potter series it always takes over things.  I'm sorry. I will try to do better :)  Post coming soon.

Retraction

So I must apologize for my lies yesterday and print a retraction.  Yesterday I posted that I made my first muffins without a muffin-mix.  This would be incorrect and I accidentally lied.  I'm sorry.  I have actually made my sister-in-law's pumpkin muffins before and LOVE them! So I would like to apologize for my lies and correct my statement by saying that I made my first batch of muffins without a tried and true recipe :)  As a peace offering, here is the muffin recipe for Apple-Walnut Muffin from the Joy of Cooking:
Makes 12 muffins
Allowing the apples to render their juices with the sugar and eggs makes tender, flavorful muffins.

Position a rack in the center of the oven.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Grease a standard 12-muffin pan or line with paper cups.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
scant 1/2 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups packed coarsely grated or finely choppede peeled apples (about 2 medium), with juice
5 Tbsp. warm melted unsalted butter
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts or pecans

Whisk together in a large bowl the eggs and sugar.  Stir in apples with their juices and let stand for 10 minutes.  In a separate bowl, whisk together thoroughly the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt.

Stir in melted butter and nuts into the egg, sugar, apple mixture.  Add the flour mixture and fold just until the dry ingredients are moistened.  Do not overmix; the batter should not be smooth.  Divide the batter among the muffin cups.  Bake until a toothpick inserted in 1 or 2 of the muffins comes out clean, 14-16 minutes.  Let cool for 2-3 minutes before removing from the pan.  If not serving hot, let cool on a rack. 

I loved them, hope you enjoy too :)