On our way

We packed up and left today! We are on our way to California. We will get there tomorrow and choose our house!! I am so excited!! We will probably get to move in on Monday, and then we are taking the boys to Disneyland!!! I am excited that Joe has a whole week off. He has been in training for 11 1/2 months, and now we will be settled for like 2 or 3 years! (I know that doesn't sound like long to some people, but it does to me!) I am excited for new house, a new ward (well, branch), meeting new people, going to school this fall, and so many fun things we are going to do. It has been a tough and exhausting year. We are just ready to settle down and enjoy life together as a family!! I will post some pictures once we get into our new place, and some Disney pics!!

Well, since we are moving on Wednesday (hopefully - long story) So we are eating what we have in our freezer! I am also very busy packing, I don't have long to blog. So here is the short version!
Monday - Steaks
Tuesday - Turkey Burgers
Wednesday - Some version of chicken!

Movies

Tonight we saw The Dark Knight and it was great! Christian Bale was great, but Heath Ledger was my favorite. He did an awesome job as the Joker. I am super excited for the Twilight movie to come out in December. Robert Pattinson plays Edward, and he just doesn't look like the Edward I pictured. Although he probably will play the roll well, He just isn't as cute as the Edward I pictured. Anyway, I am so excited for the movie to come out. I am so going to see it the day it comes out.

Am I making progress??

So, I have been packing and organizing all week and I sometimes feel like I am making no progress. Today I realized it is because while I am in one room packing something, my children are in the other room making a mess. My son took every single diaper out of the closet this morning. Maybe next time I will just put a box at the bottom of the closet, so they can all land in the box!

I decided to jump on the band wagon and post my menu plan for the week! Here's what we are eating this week. I will probably post some of the recipes later, or if you want one, just ask.
Here it is!

Monday - Meatballs, Parmesan pasta, garlic bread, broccoli
Tuesday - Citrus Herb Chicken, rice, corn on the cob
Wednesday - Leftovers
Thursday - Breakfast for Dinner! - Blueberry pancakes, eggs, turkey bacon
Friday - Chicken Fajitas, beans, rice, salad
Saturday - Date night
Sunday - Spaghetti with ground turkey, garlic bread, and some kind of veggie

Glazed Yeast Doughnuts

I made my doughnuts the other day. I usually only make them on New Year's Eve. They aren't that bad for you, but the thing is, it is hard to eat just one. I got the recipe on allrecipes.com about 3 years ago, but I changed it a little bit. Here is the recipe!

Note: I usually make these with my stand mixer and it is so simple. My poor stand mixer is sitting lonely in storage, so I used a hand mixer. It was a little more difficult, but it worked.

Glazed Yeast Doughnuts

3/4 cup scalded milk
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1(.25oz) packet of active dry yeast
1/4 cup warm water
4 cups all-purpose flour
cinnamon(optional)
1/3 cup butter or margarine
2 eggs, beaten
oil for deep frying
extra sugar or powdered sugar for coating

If you are making the glaze:
2 cups confectioner's sugar
6 tablespoons milk

In a large bowl, stir together the scalded milk, sugar, and salt. Set aside to cool until room-temperature. If you want to use cinnamon, combine it with flour in separate bowl. (you could also use nutmeg if you like) Add 2 cups of flour mixture to the milk, and beat until well blended.

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in warm water. Stir into the milk and flour mix, then mix in the butter and eggs. Mix in the remaining flour 1/2 cup at a time. When dough is firm enough, turn onto a floured surface, and knead for 3-4 minutes. Place into an oiled bowl, cover and allow dough to rise until doubled in bulk. This will probably take 30-45 minutes.

On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/2 inch in thickness. Cut into circles using a donut cutter, or round cutter. Or if you are like me, I just use the opening of a cup! Set aside to rise for 30-40 minutes.

Heat one inch of oil in heavy pan until pretty hot. I usually test it by splashing water and seeing if it bubbles. Fry dough nuts a few at a time. Cook on each side until golden, then drain on a paper towel.

At this point I like to coat them in sugar in a large ziploc bag. But you could also make a basic glaze and glaze them while they are still warm.

glaze- mix together 2 cups confectioner's sugar and 6 tablespoons of milk. Dip doughnuts and set aside to cool.
Enjoy!

2 weeks

Well, we are moving 2 weeks from today, assuming my husbands back is ok. (long story) So I have been thinking about getting all of my furniture out of storage and decorating my home, which is like my favorite thing to do in the world! So here are a few things I am thinking.
We need new chairs for our formal dining room table, because our other ones are junk. So on the left is a chair I found at pier one that I love. We are also going to have a nice patio, so I want to get a nice patio set for hanging outside, having drinks, or having dinner out on the grill. I love this black set. I always choose things that are black or red, I don't know why. And then of course a picnic table for the boys. So they can eat, do crafts, play-doh, and all the other messy stuff outside!! Just some things I am looking forward to getting in the new house!

Berry Delicious Trifle

I made a delicious trifle today for my recipe exchange. It is so good!! The whole time I was making it I thought of Rachel from Friends. But just so everyone knows, I didn't add any beef sauted with peas and onions. Here is the recipe!

Vanilla Berry Trifle

2 1/2 cups cold milk
2 pkgs instant vanilla pudding and pie filling(you can use any flavor you would like)
2 cups thawed cool whipped topping
2 cups mixed berries(blueberries, raspberries, sliced strawberries)
1 box Nilla wafers

Pour milk into large bowl. Add dry pudding mixes. Beat with wire whisk 2 minutes, or until well blended. Gently stir in 1 1/2 cups cool whip. Reserve 1/4 cup of berries and set aside.

Arrange a bunch of nilla wafers on the bottom of trifle dish(I didn't measure them, just threw them in). Spoon one-third of pudding mixture into prepared bowl; Cover with half of remaining berries. Top with layers of half of the remaining pudding mix, nilla wafers, and remaining berries. Cover with layers of the remaining pudding mixture, remaining 1/2 cup cool whip, and sprinkle reserved berries on top. Cover with plastic
wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour before serving. Store leftovers in fridge.
The great thing about this is you really can't mess it up, you can place the layers any way you want!

5 Things

5 Things I was doing 10 years ago......

1. I was 14, about to start high school!
2. I was about to go to my first youth conference.
3. I had my own room for the first time because my older siblings had just left to college.
4. I was at freshman band camp.
5. I probably had a crush on a bunch of guys

5 Things on my to do list today.....
1. Pack
2. Get rid of junk
3. Schedule hotels
4. Budget our trip
5. Pay the sprint bill

5 Favorite snacks
1. Ritz and laughing cow cheese
2. ice cream
3. bananas
4. chips and salsa
5. cookies


5 Things I would do if I were a billionaire....
1. Start a business with Joe
2. Take a trip to NYC and buy a whole new wardrobe
3. Go to a poor country and give them food/clothing
4. Buy a Honda pilot
5. Build my dream house


5 Bad Habits
1. Spending money
2. Biting my nails
3. Getting angry
4. Being lazy
5. sometimes procrastinating

5 places I have lived.....

1. San Antonio, TX
2. Corpus Christi, TX
3. Jacksonville, FL
4. Fayetteville, NC
5. Columbus, GA