Bakin' and Bowlin'

Heyyyyyy thuuurrrrr

I always like to pretend I'm best friends with whoever's reading this.

Update with Grace&James

Today at school, the first half of the day I worked on my doll for my worksheet (two blow-drys; one directional and one round brush. Then I did a shampoo set. In case you wanted to know) And then for the second half of the day the whole school went to the park! The Learning Leaders wanted to reward us for some excellent funraising (yes, they make sure we know it's call funraising, not fundraising). So they barbecued us some yummy hot dogs and hamburgers and everybody brought a side or dessert. Then we played some kickball where the bases were little kiddie pools filled with water. It was pretty sweet and I got a great tan! This week it's finally been consistently warm in Rexburg and even reached 95 today! WoOt.

So the only documented things I've cooked are these:

Homemade Sweetened Condensed Milk. So good, so easy, and surprisingly tastes exactly like the stuff in the can. I use it a lot more in desserts cause it's so dang irresistible.

Recipe:

4 C. Whole milk 

(I didn't have whole so i used 1% and heavy cream)

1 3/4 C. sugar

In a large (very large) pot, bring the milk and sugar to a boil over medium heat. It's important that it's medium heat so that the ingredients can slowly immerse together. 

Turn the heat down to low and let the mixture simmer, very gently, for two hours. (yeah, I know.)

Give it a stir every 5 minutes or so so that the milk doesn't form a "skin" on top. 

(I was preparing and cooking dinner on the side while it simmered so it wasn't a hassle to stir it every 5 minutes.)

Then remove the pot from heat and let cool. It'll thicken up a lot as it cools.

After that, store in jars in the fridge and it's good to go! It makes about 16oz and it's cheaper to make than buy! 

On our honeymoon cruise to Cabo, there were these delectable chocolate melting cakes on the menu when we went to the fancy, dress up dinners (I know, I'm so classy.) and afterwards I searched online for the recipe and found it. A chef on the Carnival cruises had posted it so I decided to give it a try. Here's the second time I made it:

They may look like regular baked cakes but the inside is delicious ooey gooey goodness. I added the link below. Just a warning though, it says to cook it for 15-20 but don't. you. dare. Or you'll have a fully cooked cake. Bake it for 10-15 TOPS

http://www.ehow.com/how_5205252_make-warm-chocolate-melting-cake.html

        James has put his car up for sale; we love the stylish gas-guzzler to death, but we both know it would save us a lot of money to get a cheaper car with better gas mileage :( He's kind of attached to it so it's been a journey on deciding whether to sell it or not. I kind of promised him that when we're more settled and can afford two cars, we can get him the same car, but the latest, coolest version.

Speaking of the future, I've noticed that it's really fun to dream. I know that sounds funny, but starting out new with the person you love, it's almost as if the possibilities are endless and it's so much fun to imagine all the adventures the two of us are going to embark on together. The current ones are (Just so you know, they're not always exactly...practical. They're just hopeful dreams. Remember that) going to Europe when I graduate, going to Disneyland for our one year anniversary, being able to afford tickets for me to visit Arizona every once and while just for funsies, and having a wee little one as soon as... well I don't know about that one. Anyway, James is set and determined to save up and take us to Europe (mainly Holland and France; our dream places) I want him to experience it like I did! They're such incredible places. And I'll admit Disneyland will most likely not happen this year because we're set on having enough money to go to Ohio for Christmas {fingers double triple quadruple crossed!!} I'm really excited to get to know my in-laws better, as usual.

We're both doing well and James has found other, better job opportunities so we're excited to see how they'll play out.

I was asked to be a model for a photo shoot by one of the girls I go to school with. It's a huge competition and she asked me! I feel super honored and a little surprised. You can be a pretty girl but that don't mean you know how to model.. So I'm a little worried. Also, they were asking girls to try out as models for a huge Paul Mitchell event in Las Vegas where there's a runway fashion show and then the big Paul Mitchell hair guru's cut your hair on stage. So if I'm picked, (They pick 10 out of about 100) they're going to give me a edgy bob... crazy right? In all reality though, I tried out for fun and cause everyone was encouraging *cough, pressuring* me to. I don't expect to be picked.

We went bowling for FHE one night and it was actually a lot of fun. I hadn't been bowling in over a year and  I had a blast with James. Love that guy.

There's no such thing as an angry kiss, right? Wrong.

Just kidding.

And yes, we wore matching shirts we got in D.C that say "Ben's Chili Bowl", so we thought we'd trick people and make them think we're on a bowling team and we're that good.

Home?

Where is home? Lately it's been interesting. I love coming home, here in Rexburg, from a long day at school. But sometimes, when I'm home, I miss home home. I miss Arizona. I miss the stinking, stale heat that swarms you as soon as you step outside. I miss the cloudless sky. I miss walking on pavement that burns your feet. I miss going on nighttime walks where it's still 90 degrees. I miss the city, where there's more than two or three things to do. I even miss, even though I never thought it possible, the dry, brown desert that is Arizona. But most of all, I miss the people there dearly. I mean seriously. I stalk my sisters blog and crave information whenever I call. I miss my papa and mama and sisters and brothers and nephews. They know this and I know they think I'm pitiful--even if they act so nice about it. James is my everything--he's my strength and my rock and I wouldn't trade my relationship with him for anything. But... why can't I have both. I just want both. Is that so wrong? Can't I have everything I want??? Ok... just kidding. I'm not a spoiled brat.. even though sometimes I want to be.

Lovely Lately...

Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo...
Lately..
It's been great.
Ok,
Most of the time it's great,
so this isn't really news.
But let me just share a bit, eh?

I gave James a haircut! My very first one. It's called a Eurohawk (in case you were wondering, a Mohawk is where everything is shaved except the very defined spikes all the way down. A Fohawk is a milder version of that, stopping at the apex {top of the head}. And a EUROHAWK is the European version of the two combined. It's pretty much a thick fohawk that goes all the way down the head.)  Let's just say I plan to be really talented.

We went to Jackson Hole last weekend with Heather and Erick and had a blaaaast! Heather had never been and the rest of us hadn't been in a long time, so we decided to make the 1 1/2 hour drive to that awesome city. We ate at a gourmet grilled cheese place, where James got the French {caramelized onions, brie, on french bread} and I got the Granny {tomato, pepper jack, applewood smoked bacon on sourdough}, and it was so fetching DELICIOUS. We walked along the board walk and had a lot of fun looking around the shops. We even went to this elegant chocolate shop and I couldn't resist trying one. They were about 2 bucks a pop but, to me, sooo worth it. I got a Saffron Vanilla Bean chocolate and James got a Orange and Sea Salt chocolate. MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
At the end of the day, we went for a stagecoach ride and saw a live show in the town square. All in all, a fantastic day.
P.S.- The one thing I wanted was a ring; Not necessarily anything nice, but just a cute ring that would remind me of this day in Jackson Hole. James knows I love turquoise. But because it's so expensive, I've never really had anything real turquoise. He was way more enthusiastic about finding me a turquoise ring than I was. So we looked around the shops and found a couple I fell in love with. One was a vintage one, made in the 50's, and it was adorable, but a nice $70 so I said definately no. We found a different one we loved for half that price and it's beautiful. I love my new ring!

James is a little self conscious about his chest in this one... But I still think he's the cutest thing I've ever seen. Plus he's already lost a couple more pounds since then!

He's graduated! This is all the way back in April, but i'm posting it now! Yay James!

Sometimes we go on walks.

Sometimes we go see Bill Cosby.

I want a puppy dog! This is our friends lil puppy. They invited us over for dinner and I fell in love with their fluffy dog.

Sometimes James grows a beard....cause I request it.

Sometimes we take sneaky pictures in church.
That aren't really flattering to either of us.

We go to the Drive In's pretty much whenever there's new movies because you get a double feature for 6.50! It's a steal. This time we saw Snow White and the Huntsman and Battleship. Snow White was really interesting and I liked it except they didn't develop the Huntsman character enough! Plus James knows I have a secret crush on the Huntsman--he's so fine. But Battleship sucked. Except it had Rihanna in it so that was pretty neat-o.

We've created this perfect method of comfort for watching the movie--through much trial and error. What you see here is about six layers of goodness, with our warmest blanket on top. Plus James is our personal heater. And then we each have two pillows. And those pillows are resting on towel-covered boulders that lend support if cushioned correctly. Aaaaaaand a bottomload of snacks to make our bellies happy.

I love this candid shot for some reason. Even though he kind of looks like a puppy.

Well, I think that's enough for now! More later. 

A few more updates for y'all who care:

- I can start cutting hair officially on Monday. Scary...!

- School's going great. Learning, learning, learning.

-I'm looking forward to family coming up in July. I miss them all dearly!

-We got midnight showing tickets to the new Batman movie in July! I"m SO STOKED I CAN HARDLY CONTAIN IT.

-I've been making some dang delicious dinners and desserts lately... like wow ;) I'll have to do a blog post just about that.

-Tonight, with Heather, I went to my first Zumba work out up at BYU and it was freaking awesome! I'm going to be sore tomorrow. And all it is is dancing your butt off..

Well........... peace.