Cinnemon Rolls

During general conference weekend, we usually like to make yummy treats. This past conference weekend, Daniel decided to try his hand in making Cinnamon rolls. In the past I have always made them using my recipe, but Daniel really wanted to use his mothers recipe. I was a little offended, but figured they had to be good if he really didn't want to use mine. We made a small batch, and they turned out okay. But this past weekend, Daniel was determined to master the Cinnamon roll, and try again. I'm sure glad he did.


The dough rose a little more then we thought it would.


Ready to go into the oven. (this is only 1 of 3 batches)
They were so big, we could only fit 6 into a dish. We decided to give some away to the people Daniel home teaches. He was very proud of himself. Seriously the best Cinnamon rolls I have ever tasted!! This is now my new recipe!!

Cinnamon Rolls

1/3 cups warm water
2 Tbsp yeast
2 cups scalded milk
1 1/2 sticks butter
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
6 cups flour
2 Tbsp baking powder

Dissolve yeast in warm water. Set aside. Scald milk in pot, then add butter, salt and sugar until all dissolved. Allow to cool (so you don't kill the yeast). Add the mild mixture to the yeast mixture and stir. Add the eggs, flour and baking powder. Add more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. Let rise for 1-2 hours. Roll out on floured surface as thin as possible. Spread a layer of butter, white sugar and Cinnamon (as much or as little as you want). Roll it up as tightly as you can. Slice it with a piece of cotton (rap around and pull) into 1 inch pieces. Place it in a dish and allow to rise again.
Bake @ 400' for 10 mins or until golden brown.

Icing

1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
3-4 tsp milk or orange juice

Daniel Won For Me

There is this new returant that has opened up in the Memphis area called Humdingers. Their whole idea is to bring healthy food to us Southerners. There menue consists mostly of fish and chicken, and fresh vegetables all cooked on an open fire. (They also have a gluten free menue) Everything that you order is centered around their Peri-Peri Hot Sauce. The Peri-Peri pepper comes from, and grows wild in South Africa. Peri-Peri Sauce is very popular in South Africa. So, even though the resturant isn't a 'South African' resturant, the souce that is used in all their food is.

Yesturday, they were giving away a $25 gift card on the radio to Humdingers. All you had to do was text them and tell them why you deserved to win. So Daniel texted in and said that the guy on the radio ad for humdingers sounds like he is from South Africa (never advertised as such) and that his wife is from South Africa and that he would really like to give her a taste of home. 5 minuets later he got a text back from the radio station telling him that he won. YAY!!!
So last night we went to dinner at Humdingers, and the food was absolutly delicious. Very simple and fresh. The extra hot sauce was a little too hot for Daniel to handle (had to settle for the medium), but it was nice for me to share with him a little taste from home!

We're Number 2

According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, June and July were the hottest and second-hottest months on record in the U.S.

They listed these as the summer’s top 10 hottest cities, based on how many days recorded above-historical-average temperatures:

#1. Louisville, Ky. — 73 days above normal temperature
#2. Memphis, Tenn. — 72 days above normal
#3. Atlanta, Ga. — 69 days above normal
#4. Raleigh, N.C. — 68 days above normal
#5. New Orleans, La. — 68 days above normal
#6. Indianapolis, In. — 67 days above normal
#7. Miami, Fl. — 64 days above normal
#8. Dallas, Tx. — 63 days above normal
#9. St. Louis, Mo. — 62 days above normal
#10. Washington, D.C. — 61 days above normal

This was our first summer in Memphis, so it's nice to know that this isn't normal. Maybe next summer we will make the below average list!

The Delta Fair

Daniel and I went to the Delta Fair this past weekend. I don't know what we were thinking going during the Labor Day weekend, because it was terribly crowded. There was no chance of going on any of the rides without waiting in a long line. Which was fine with me, because it was the shows that I was most excited about.
My favorite, and reason for going.......... the Medieval Jousting! It was so much fun to watch, and they did a really good job getting the crowd excited. We were split in half, and our half had to root for the Black Knight!


Once one of them were unhorsed, it was a fight to the death!

And the winner is....? Not the Black Knight!
Next were the Ostrich Races. Hilarious! A definite must see.

These were the pigs for the pig wrestling which we missed. It would have been fun to watch, but they didn't have a set show time, so we didn't know what time to be there.

The car show. These are only a few, but there were a lot others that were older.

This is the freak show. This guy just hammered a nail 2 inches of the nail up his nose, and asking this girl to pull it out for him. It was so gross. After that I had to walk away.

The horned petting zoo. There were quite a few animals I had never seen before. Daniel made one angry by squeezing a little too hard.

And then there was the Demolition Derby. It was my first time seeing one. It was a lot of fun.

It was a long day, and we walked away nice and crispy from the sun.

Back to the Beginning

Last year, Daniel and I started the South Beach Diet. It went really well, and I ended up losing 38lbs, and Daniel 42lbs. We were really excited about how well we were doing and planned to continue loosing until we had reached our goal.
And then this past summer came. One thing after another went wrong, and we turned to our biggest comfort.....food!! So we ended up gaining back a couple of unwanted pounds.

It's really frustrating how much effort it takes to lose it, but in a blink of an eye, it's all back on again. So we are starting again this next week with more determination then ever to lose and keep off all the unwanted stuff.
So here we go again!!

Apartment Hunting

Our lease for our apartment ends this month. When we moved to our apartments, we got an amazing deal, but with our lease ending, they told us the price would go back up. There was no way we could stay if they raised our rent, so we went apartment hunting. We looked at 10 apartments in all. It was hard because, all the apartments that have the security you want in a place like Memphis, were way too much, and the places we could afford..... well, lets just say they were no good.
We finally decided on the complex across the street from us. We would stay in the same ward, and in the same neighborhood. It would mean that we would move from a 2 bedroom 1000sqft, down to a 1 bed 700sqft. And really, we don't need all that space, because it is just the too of us, and I convinced myself that it might be kinda romantic to be squished in a little space. After much thought, I really got excited about moving, because even though it was small, it really was beautiful. So we made up our mind, and Daniel was all set to go over and fill out all the paperwork, and put down a deposit (I was at work).
Before he went over, he stopped by our apartment office to give them the form for our renters history, knowing that it would need to be done eventually. The managers asked why we were leaving, and when told that we needed something less expensive, they decided to negotiate. So now, not only are they not going to raise the prices on us, we are going to pay less then we already are. CRAZY!! So we are staying in our wonderful apartment for another 12 months.

Lesson: If you want lower rent, just threaten to leave.

Blessings

Yesterday during testimony meeting, a lady bore her testimony about blessings. She said that if we do what we are supposed to, then we will be blessed. That alone would annoy me, but then she said something that I think we often forget. That even though we receive blessings, they aren't always the blessings we want.
Daniel and I have been trying to start our family for over 5 years now. We have tried everything, and doctors don't know why nothing is working. We have prayed every day for a child, gone to the temple, pleaded and begged, and even tried negotiating. It's really frustrating, because we know that the Lord has the power to make our dreams come true, and yet here we are. I know He has a plan for us, but I sometimes wish He would share with us what that plan is. It's really hard sometimes to remember that even though we haven't been blessed with a child, we have still been blessed in many other ways.

I have been blessed with:

• an amazing husband who loves me
• a safe home, with food in the fridge
• a job that I actually enjoy
• a wonderful family-in-law
• a testimony of the gospel
  

Puzzle

Daniel and I borrowed this puzzle from a friend. They had told us about it, and ever since, I have been itching to try it. So we finally asked to borrow it. It's not like a normal puzzle. Do you see that moose in the middle of the picture? Well the puzzle is what the moose is looking at, not you. So it is totally backwards, and it's hard because you can't see everything that the moose can. It took us a long time to get started, because we didn't know where to start. But we finally decided to not look at the picture, since it didn't really help, and just build.
It was really fun! It was a nice way to spend our Sunday afternoon, building a puzzle together!

The end result looks nothing like the cover!

Date Saturday

On Saturday, Daniel and I decided to do something fun, since he is going to start school again soon. We decided to make it a date day. We started by going to an early movie, Inception. It was really good, but it was also confusing. I had to think about it for a while after the movie ended.


Then we went to Shelby Farms for a picnic lunch. We had yummy chicken salad sandwiches. It was 102 degrees, and so that didn't last as long as we had planned. We were totally melting, even under the tree. It was still really fun though.
We went by Farmers Market on our way home just to see what they had to offer. Daniel and I have worked a few summers at Farmers Market in Moses Lake in the past. This was nothing in comparison. It was quite pitiful actually. In Moses Lake, you could make a day of just hanging out at farmers market, because there is so much to look at, and so much yummy food. Here, there was no yummy food, and we were in and out in 7 mins. Too bad!!

We ended the night with some B&J. It was nice to have a day of relaxing and no worries.

Red, White and Blue

It was a little different celebrating the 4th of July this year. We didn't get to light fireworks with family, or watch a 4th of July parade. So we decided to celebrate our own way with some yummy food. For dinner we made homemade bagel burgers. We didn't realize they were going to turn out that huge, but boy were they good!


Then for dessert, we did a little red, white and blue. You can't go wrong when dealing with ice-cream.

Camping

Daniel and I went camping at the Chickasaw State Park Camp Grounds. We left right from work Friday night. It's about an hour east from where we live. It was totally on the spur of the moment, we decided just the day before, but we wanted to get out of town, and this was our solution. It of course is July in Memphis, so it was extremely hot, but it was still so fun.

We had heard about the Park from a family Daniel home teaches, and we are glad we went. There are several kinds of camping areas. They have an RV area, Cabins, a large group area that can hold 130 people (great for family reunions), tent camping, and my favorite, wrangler campers. It's an area for campers who have horses. Have you ever heard of that. It was fun to drive by their area and see all the campers with their horses.

At the park, there was a huge lake where you could swim, paddle boat and canoe. They had hiking trails, and horse riding trails you could go on. It really is a beautiful place, but next time we'll wait until it's a little cooler out!

The paddock where they kept all the horses.

This bridge went all the way across the lake.

The view from our camp site.

Daniel and I discovered the best camping breakfast. Toasterstroodle. We have never bought them for home, but they are amazing for camping. They get all crispy on the outside, and warm on the inside, mmm!!!

Memorial Day

We didn't really have anything planned for Memorial Day. We just thought we would take a day to relax from the stresses of school and work. Well, when we woke up, we changed our mind a little.
We decided to go to Shelby Farms, and take our bikes. They have paved trails that you can ride your bikes on that are really easy rides. We decided to go around one that went around a little lake. It was a gorgeous day, and it felt so nice to get out and release some energy.
After a couple hours, we decided to go home. On the way, I suddenly had a craving for chocolate clusters. I've only eaten them a handful of times, but for some reason, once they entered my mind, it wouldn't leave. So we decided to stop by the store, and pick up supplies to make our own. Never done it before, and had no idea what I was doing. We bought dark and butterscotch chocolate, walnuts, macadamia nuts, almonds, craisins, raisins and pretzels. Once we got home, we melted the chocolate chips in 3 batched. We each had our own bowl to add whatever combination we wanted, and then just spooned them onto foil. It was absolutely amazing. Turned out pretty good for a spur of the moment idea and not knowing what i was doing. Definitely making them again.