Oh what a day!

This photo really sums up how I feel. Jordan and I have slept/watched movies/been lazy AAALLLLL day today.

Last week and this week have been that transition period between jobs and I think my body it ready to go back to work. I've been feeling stuffy and tired and my whole body is really tight....like when you are sick and you just can't get comfortable...yeah that is me today.

Welp, looks like next week I'm going back to work....with Jordan!

Herb Bread

Yesterday we were out of bread so I knew I needed to make a new loaf. I was tired of a traditional white loaf and didn't want a whole wheat loaf....I wanted something different, but yet still functional in the sense that I could make sandwiches with the bread if I wanted to. I was looking around in my cookbook Bread Machine Magic by Linda Rehberg & Lois Conway and I found the perfect recipe...Herb Bread. 

 MMmmmm! It is so aromatic, yet not overwhelming to the taste. It is just the right texture, especially with a little bit of butter. It is just the right bread if you are looking for something a little more tasty than a plain white bread!

You will need:
- 3 tablespoons butter or margerine
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 cup milk ( for Welbilt/Dak machines add 2 tablespoons more milk)
- 3 cups bread flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon dried dill
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 1 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast

First, in a small skillet, melt your butter over low heat. Add the onion and saute 8 to 10 minutes until the onion is soft but not brown. Remove from heat and allow the mixture to cool for about 10 minutes before you add it to the mixing pan.

Put all your ingredients including the onion mixture into the mixing pan. Once all ingredients are in the mixing pan put the pan in the bread machine and select the dough setting, or mix in your mixer. Seeings as I work with a bread machine I'm not sure of the kneading time and/or rise time if you don't have a bread machine. So I would say if you are used to making bread without a bread machine proceed with the process as you normally would. If you don't own a bread machine or know how to make bread by hand it looks like you have a little research to do!

While the dough is rising, grease and flour your bread pan so your bread comes out nice and easy once it is done cooking. When your bread is close to being done rising preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Once your dough is done rising put your dough in the pan and make sure it goes to each side and corner of the pan or you'll have an odd looking loaf. Once in the oven I usually set my timer for 25-35 minutes. When your timer chimes take the loaf out and check a couple of things... does it have good color? does the loaf sound hollow when you tap on the top? If those are a yes then you are done! If it is a no, then go ahead and slide your bread on in for a few more minutes and then repeat the checking process.

Sometimes I'm so excited for my bread to be done I hardly let it cool, but then again sometimes I let it cool for an hour! I'm not exactly sure why they say to let it cool for an hour before slicing...so if any of you know please tell me, but the official recipe says to let cool for an hour before slicing.

Anywho...just as a reminder, I am a novice! I'm sure there are some things I've forgotten to mention in here so if you have any questions please don't hesitate to ask! Enjoy!

How Far I've Come

Today, September 11th, 2012 I think is a day that most American's can identify with. For most it is a day of remembrance. For me it is a day of remembrance.

September 11th has been, for the last few years, a day on which I reflect on my life and ponder on changes made, struggles passed, friendships created, and skills improved. I use September 11th to ponder, not only for the obvious reason of the twin tower attacks, but also for an important event in my life that helped shape me into who I am today. On September 11th, 2007 during the second game of the soccer season I tore my ACL and injured several other ligaments in my knee. Oh man, I feel really silly saying that after the twin tower attacks, but for me it was a huge deal. Many of my 17 year old dreams were ripped from me in literally one second. My soccer dreams were shattered, my goal of being powerlifting state champ 4 years in a row dashed, my track dreams gone in an instant.

As I look back now, I realize that that time in my life was very emotional and I had to learn to cope with a lot of different things I had just been able to hide from within sports before I was injured.

I got my knee fixed and so began the emotional, spiritual, and physical journey to where I am today.

After having surgery, I missed two weeks of school. I slept in my mom's bed every night of those fourteen days. Oh man, that gets me started on something else entirely...my mom. During this period of time, my relationship with my mom was really solidified into something more than just mother and daughter. That mother-daughter bond is strong already, but during this time she really was my everything. She was with me every single moment of this agonizing period. She experienced every single thing with me, by my side, except for maybe the physical pain. She understood how vulnerable I felt needing help to the bathroom, in the bathroom, and then back to bed. She knew how hard it was when my friends kept going about their lives and leaving me in the dust. She held my hand and cheered me on when I had a bad day at physical therapy. My mother was the only one that knew me inside and out, she knew what every tear meant to me, she knew what every step meant to me, she knew what every moment was like as if she was the one in my shoes. She was the one that helped my along my journey until I could bear my own weight again and even then she was and still is no more than a few steps behind me, encouraging and strengthening all the way.

After the surgery I was on crutches for about two months. It got old really fast. I promise I didn't always look like this...

Once I finished 9 months of physical therapy I was outfitted with a knee brace that made me feel like bionic woman. I was able to play soccer my senior year, but to say it was a disappointment would not be giving it justice. Since I wasn't able to participate in sports I got really involved in clubs at school. I really learned to develop my skills as a leader, as a worker bee, as a collaborator, and as a listener. I became more aware of the importance of people and their talents and abilities and how everyone has a place they are needed. My mind was opened and my heart was softened. The things I learned at that point in my life are quite significant because they were just the launching point.

Sometimes I wonder what I would be like had I not gone through such an ordeal. Would I be as aggressive as I was? Would I be as this or that as I was? I don't know, but I do know that although blowing out my knee totally sucked and I would never wish it upon anyone, I learned so much about myself and about others.

Since 2007 I have:
-graduated high school
-graduated college with an Associates Degree
-gotten married
-worked full time
-lived in Idaho and Texas
-managed my own home
-bought a car
-bought a KING sized mattress
-made some GREAT life-long friends
-learned some fantastic tips and tricks for being happy

In a nutshell, I'm leaps and bounds from where I was and for that I give a HUGE sigh of relief. During this time of reflection I am so grateful for the struggles and trials and hardships I have faced. I'm not sure if I could handle someone else's struggles, nor they mine, so for that I am thankful for what I have been dealt. I'm trying each day to be a better person than I was last week or last year. I'm constantly surprised at how much there is to learn in this life, but excited to see who I'll be in another 5, 10, 15, 20 years from now.

Although my small and sports focused dreams were taken from me a few short years ago, I feel like now there are a plethora possibilities and dreams ahead of me that are so much more than what I wanted back then. A real home (not apartment), a child, a successful business, and a blissfully happy marriage are some my goals/dreams for the future. I'm so stinkin excited for what my future holds.

My life is good, no, my life is great! 

Oh what a weekend!

Happy Sunday ya'll!

Oh man, this weekend has been a memorable one! Let's see, where shall I start, oh oh I know.

On Thursday Dad, Del, Jordan's dad, called me. I had mentioned earlier in the week to him that I wanted to come over and help with the backyard work and hang out for the day with him and mom, so he called and we worked up a plan that included, but was not limited to early morning labor in the "jungle" I so lovingly call it, BBQ food, BYU football game, family games, and milkshakes. Family get-togethers are always so fun and this was not going to be the exception. That was how the plan was supposed to go....here is how it really went.

Friday night Jordan and I headed over to Kylie and Mike's house (Jordan's sister and brother-in-law). We met mom and dad (Marlys and Del, Jordan's parents) over there. Kylie made artichoke dip and everyone munched on that for awhile, then we made fried pickles, YUM!, and hot dogs for dinner. Oh man, I know for a fact that I gained five pounds! Side note: for those of you that have never had fried pickles...you need to. If you don't have a fryer there are some yummy looking recipes for baked fried pickles. Anywho, once we finished gorging ourselves we sat and relaxed to The Little Mermaid with Preston, the almost-2-year-old, until it was time for him to go down. Once he was in bed the games began, quite literally. We played a round of Bohnanza, or The Bean Game. So fun. Side note: if you have never played/do not own the game...you need to. It is cheap cheap on Amazon....go now! After The Bean Game, mom and dad went back home leaving me, Jordan, Kylie, and Mike to play games. We played a game called Cover Your Assets. It is a card game in which you want to rack up as many points as possible by pairing cards and laying them over your other paired cards while also battling others for their valuable stacks. Oh man, we played that game for meh....easily 4 hours. We did all sorts of variations and since it was getting late it just got more fun the longer we played until finally at 2:30 a.m. we called it quits. Jordan and I made the short trip over to mom and dad's place and crashed for the night.

The next morning we hear dad working out in the garage so we went to join him and much to our surprise it was 68 degrees out. Oh my heaven! It was the most lovely feeling I have felt in four months. Since it was so cool out Jordan and I put on our work clothes, our bug repellent, our work gloves and boots and headed out into the "Jungle" with dad. We worked and worked and by the time we were done we have gathered 3 or 4 piles of brambles to burn, felled 4 or 5 dead trees, gathered a TON of wood to burn, and had created a forest out of that jungle, a well manicured forest. That was the good news, the bad news is that we only manicured about a 12 sq. ft. area. Darn...good thing fall is coming.

Once we finished up for the day we showered up and headed on inside to make food, snack, and watch the BYU football game. That lasted about 2 hours and then Mike and Kylie came over and it was game time again. We simultaneously watched the football game and played Cover Your Assets for about an hour and then all the focus was on the card game. We played with all different teams with several variations of the basic game and finally ended our game time at 10:30 p.m. That was about 6 hours of playing this time. Of course there were small breaks in there to snack on food and go outside to enjoy the beautiful, gorgeous, fabulous weather, but they were only short breaks. The night ended right with Nutella milkshakes.

In the end this weekend was great. It is really nice to be with great people and further develop friendships with those great people. I'm grateful for Jordan's family and how they have brought me in and made it known that I'm part of the family. They are that type of people with the mentality of "you're in for good so you might as well join us and get some ice cream out of it" and I'm happy to do so. I love them all and am so happy to be part of the family.

Bread Bread Bread

Mmmmm! One of my very favorite things is homemade bread!

Since I don't live with anyone that will cook it for me I have to make it for myself...of course I share with Jordan. Now I'm sure most of you are thinking "Dang, Lexi, how do you find time to make a loaf of break with you busy schedule?" Well, my secret is...a bread machine! Oh, the ease and convenience of a bread machine!

When I first started using a bread machine I pushed the start button and let'a rip! I let the bread cook in the machine and I've decided that I don't like letting the bread cook in the machine. I don't like it for a couple different reasons. 1. The bread cooks vertically and when the bread is out of the pan it is not a pretty loaf. 2. It is semi-difficult getting the bread out of the vertical pan because of the mixer at the bottom. 3. The top of the loaf does not always raise and cook the way it should. So, for those reasons I have begun just using the dough setting and then cooking it in a normal loaf pan in the oven.

With that being said, I have been pondering in the ingredient quinoa. I've been waiting for the perfect recipe and when I found a recipe for quinoa bread I jumped at the chance to use quinoa for my very first time.

I used a very detailed and labor intensive recipe. The recipe can be found HERE. Now, for those of you that have a ton of time on your hands and have the patience to spend 4 hours tending to dough, more power to you! Fantastic! But, I do not and so I shoved it in the bread maker and pushed start. Well, okay, I did a little prep. I cooked and cooled the quinoa and the oatmeal and then put it in the break maker and the dough turned out perfectly. One quick side note...this recipe will easily make two loafs...I deduced that AFTER I made my loaf.

 

My loaf is a large and in charge!! The taste of the bread it really really good, nice and hearty. I like the bread, although I have noticed that it is very soft and so next time I think I won't cook the oatmeal, but rather put it in dry. The loaf isn't crumbly in a dry way, but it is so soft that when you slice it, it struggles to hold it's shape.

Now I'm no bread expert, but I enjoy trying new recipes and cooking healthy foods for my family. I have cooked mostly everyday-sandwich-type breads rather than dessert/sweet or specialty breads. If you have any great recipes let me know and I'd LOVE to try and maybe...just maybe put them in my recipe book!

What an adventure!

The past couple months have been exciting and frustrating and crazy all rolled into one!

As many of you know, Jordan is an entrepreneur by trade. He loves business and money and especially the idea of being filthy stinking rich! Over the past couple years he has had probably seven or eight business ideas including but not limited to a hot chocolate bus, fuel treatment products, insurance investments, party equipment rentals, and baby teethers. His latest idea was called Trash Butler, a valet trash service for apartment complexes. He worked extremely hard trying to get it up and running, but it just was not happening for him, probably for lack of funds, but after three months of nothing he decided to put Trash Butler aside and begin the job hunt once again. After a few weeks he found a managerial position with a pest control company. He was doing really well and quickly picking up the necessary skills and then the unthinkable happened: he was approached with the ultimate entrepreneur's dream of buying a business. What business you ask? Chick-fil-A....okay, not really, but we are going to own a Chick-fil-A one day so we can eat all the waffle fries and chicken burgers we want for free! Okay, okay, I'll tell you! Jordan was offered to co-own a dry cleaner!


Of course we put a lot of thought and prayer into the decision, but we decided that we were all in and we were going to jump in feet first into this dream offer! He ended up quitting the pest control job in June and has been waiting to go to Canada since. Why Canada? He has connections in Canada with a successful dry cleaning chain and so who better to learn from than someone with a booming business? He is training up there for a week, learning all the ins and outs of a successful dry-cleaning business and then will be coming back here to Texas to get started on creating his own multi-million dollar establishment (like I said dream ;) ).

Now how do I fit in the picture?? When we first moved down here to Texas I got two jobs. I was working as a receptionist at Massage Envy and also a part-time assistant at Eldorado Chiropractic. Well in March the receptionist at Eldorado Chiro left, so the doc offered me the full-time position in the clinic. I ended up quitting at Massage Envy, much to my dismay, and taking the full-time position. There were some really fantastic people at Massage Envy and I made lots of friends. I advanced quickly in my position and I was sad to leave, but ultimately the decision came down to what was best for my family. Since March I've been working as the one-and-only receptionist/customer service rep/biller/janitor/errand runner/anything else he needed, but last week I put in my two weeks notice. This is my last week here and I'm so excited. This job has been a real learning experience and a wonderful opportunity to grow in many unexpected ways, but I'm ready to move on. Once I finish with this job I'm going to take some time off, a week or three I'm not quite sure. After I get bored at home I'll start working with Jordan at the cleaners!

I'm so excited for this chance to make ourselves successful and hopefully filthy stinking rich!