Cake Adventures

Cake Adventures

This week we were a part of a red velvet cake competition with some friends in Utah. (We love you Jason and Emily!) We were buying our ingredients at the store and decided we weren't willing to get a 1/4 cup of food coloring; that was just too disgusting. So we made the excuse that since originally they used beet juice or no coloring at all to make the cake red, we just wouldn't color the cake at all. I decided it might be fun instead to make a red and velvet cake. We made a layer cake with our velvet (no food coloring) cake on the outsides and a layer of strawberry jello in the middle. I put the jello in a 9" circle pan (the same size as our cake) covered the pan in wax paper and then poured an 1/8th of an inch in the pan. Daniel wasn't so sure that this would taste good or work at all, but since he is a good sport, he tried it with me anyway. (Don't worry, he decided that it was totally worth it once we'd eaten it.) He was happy that we put on some cream cheese frosting either way!

The second part of our cake adventure was to give away our cake! It was a contest with our friends so we also made cupcakes which we gave away. (They didn't have any jello). We thought it was a good excuse to give some people in our ward treats!

Mortagage book

This week we also went to the library. I ended up getting a book about mortgages call Mind Your Own Mortgage. It was a pretty interesting read for a non-fiction book. It talks about America's view on mortgages and how that needs to change or risk another housing crash. Then it gives tips on how to shop for a mortgage, and then a whole section on ways to pay off your mortgage (and why you should want to pay it off early). Anyway, it was pretty good, for a book about real stuff that is.

Design and planning

Daniel is busy designing and planning at work. He says that it is okay, but he doesn't really get to building anything for a while until all the planning and designing is done. He seems pretty excited about the project he is working on though, even if it is just planning. He could be doing much more boring things!

Church Stuff

This Sunday we are teaching our 12/13 year old Sunday School class about how being prepared and righteous brings us peace. It is a pretty cool lesson, and a really good idea. I hope our class decides they want to learn about it too!

We are also teaching a fifth of our ward the fifth Sunday discussion. We are going to talk all about our ward service day that is coming up soon. Hopefully our fifth of the ward wants to do service (maybe before our lesson, but definitely afterward!)

That is our week this week!

We love you guys!

An Uneventful Week

This week was a pretty uneventful week. We didn't do too much, but we'll tell you about what we did do! So Saturday we tried out Chuy's TexMex Restaurant. We ended up waiting for a half hour to get a seat because it was a busy Saturday, but it was fine. They food was Los Hermanos good. Not better, not worse, just the same. Daniel liked it better than me, I think. We just don't like paying for huge portions that we have to reheat later. We would love to pay less for one portion! Oh well, it is better than paying twenty dollars and getting lettuce with a nice dot of sauce on the plate or something. It was fun to try a new restaurant and get out together.

Sunday we made tin foil dinners on our george foreman grill. We weren't sure it would work because neither of us had ever done it, but it was pretty easy. We just wrapped everything up in tin foil, put it on the heated grill, and let it cook for about 15 minutes. It didn't heat up our house and most importantly it tasted good! (Daniel thinks that most importantly it didn't ruin our grill. Probably good too)

We also went to what Daniel has lovingly named "the crazy hippie store." We got lots of vegetables and fruits. They also had hamburger and salmon on a great sale so we got some of that too! All in all we got way more food on our budget than ever before here in Texas. We also got blue bell ice cream so no one would think we were crazy health nuts when we left the store. (Also because it was on sale, but that is a less important reason.)

Hope you all have a great week!

Daniel the Spy and Other Adventures

This week Daniel (with the help of a friend) decided that going to work is sometimes like being a spy. So, now I can tease him about being a spy. Really is it because there are secrets he can't tell people until after a product has been released, and some of them have to stay secrets forever! He has been busily working on his secret projects at work, and I think he is having a good time for the most part. Supposedly the other day he got birthday cake; that sounded fun to me. I think we are both having to get used to Daniel going away all day and me not coming with him -- we used to see each other all the time during the day. I think we are getting better at having our time apart though. Daniel also finished up his mormon.org profile -- he says it isn't that exciting.

This week we decided to make orange chicken and fried rice better than we ever have before! I think we were pretty successful. Since I made the rice later in the day, I put it in the freezer on a cookie sheet so it could cool off before we  got in the freezer. That helped our batch of fried rice turn our really well because the grains of rice were able to be individual grains instead of sticky clumps. Then I decided to try and shallow fry our chicken chunks for flavor. (I've been watching too many cooking shows on Hulu.com, obviously.) That turned out pretty well, I'll make some changes for next time so the chunks have more coating on them! In case you were wondering, we totally cheated and used the bottled panda express sauce. We aren't total culinary geniuses or anything.

I've had lots of time hanging around the house. I've watched lots of episodes as I finished this project. I think some of the colors the designer picked out are kind of funny, but the pattern is pretty cool. ( This is for my Mom and Dad because they got married in the Salt Lake Temple; they just don't have it yet. Maybe I should hold it ransom until they come down to Texas to visit :P ) It was a lot work, but I think it turned out looking pretty good. Hopefully my parents find a cool place to hang it up in their house when they get it.

And that is all this week from our little Austin family. Wish us luck with the heat, and have a good day every day!

Sweet Pork and Other Adventures.

This week Daniel had two days off from work for the holiday! Monday, the 4th, we made sweet pork burritos. They were tasty, and then we made a few more and put them in the freezer so Daniel could take them to work when he gets too tired of sandwiches. We didn't have any fireworks because of the drought none of the cities in the county were allowed to have any fireworks at all. Some kids did play with some behind our dumpster though. (We only know because two fire trucks had to come and put out the fire in our dumpster.)

Tuesday we went to get our new Texas driver's licenses. First we got in a long line to get a few forms and a number so that we could sit in a big group of uncomfortable chairs waiting for our turn. We actually didn't have to wait that long in the seats, but we did laugh that sitting in the line was like waiting for a raffle ticket number to get called or getting called down on the price is right. We think someone should make a short movie about it, but that is just us. We also finally cleaned up our second bedroom where we store all of our things. It now looks a whole lot better! Instead of a bunch of boxes out, they are all put away in the closet!

Finally, Daniel headed to work and seemed to enjoy it. He got to lead a meeting. He says he made some mistakes with the meeting, but it is his first time. He also made design recommendations on the project that he is working on; he likes to have some control over the things that he is working on. I worked on my newest cross stitch project and worked on things around the house.

All in all, we are having a fun time here in Texas! We don't really go outside because it is so hot, but we find lots of fun things to do inside. We drink lots of cold treats and eat lots of ice cream, but that is just to replace all of the brownies we used to eat.

Texas Adventures (and Regular days)

So far in Texas we haven't been on too many adventures. But, this week we did try an "Austin Original," Pizza Paradise. (The name made me think of Pizza Planet, and didn't help that they had a white pickup truck in the driveway to make deliveries.) I thought it was pretty good pizza. Daniel thought it was pretty good as far as I can tell. Coupons are a good incentive when we pick out something to try that is completely new. It gives us a good excuse to pick one new thing over another.

Since moving here, we also tried the famous Blue Bell Ice Cream. My personal opinion is that the stuff in the ice cream is what makes it awesome. If I had to choose, I would get BYU creamery Vanilla, but Blue Bell puts stuff in their ice cream. So far we've tried cookie dough, and dessert trio (it has real pieces of cookies, and brownies, and cake!) Anyway, ice cream is a great treat because it is so hot outside all the time! (It also tastes good). We have also made smoothies and orange julius because our usual treats, like brownies and cookies, make the house too warm.

Our day to day lives haven't been too exciting. Daniel did a little more training, and got his first project to work on. I'm not quite sure what it is, but it's a project for him to do while he is at work instead of more training. (Which is coming, but not immediately, so he gets to work on his project). We also got a pay check, which is better than paying to do work, for sure!

I've been at home mostly. I got lots of fruits and vegetables at the grocery store to eat. I used my skills from home to help pick out corn, and I like to smell all the fruits to decide which ones I want. Basically, it takes forever. (Daniel goes crazy, but he knows that I like to be out, when I get out.) I worked on my newest cross stitch project this week. It is coming very well, as far as I can tell.

Figuring Things Out

So, this is another week here in Texas! Daniel is busy doing work. He set up his cubicle, and his work computer. Today he had his second day of "BYU EE in two days." He is glad that he knows what is going on, but he is kind of bored doing review stuff. We both agreed that it is better than he knows what is going on; instead of him having to learn four years of material in two days. Either way, I think he is having a good time, and it is clear he learned the things to help make him successful at his job.

As for me, I've been home most of the week. I've seen lots of movies, tv, and documentaries now. I even saw a friend of mine on a show that they filmed in Utah. (I know that because they unabashedly used the University Mall in Orem.) Yesterday, I had a Relief Society meeting. We talked about finances. I was in the "investing and making money group." I learned a few things about investing. (the key thing, always take company matching or stock benefits.) Then, we talked about how women are more and more becoming entrepreneurs. I'm still not sure I'm going to be an entrepreneur, but it did tell me that I should find something that correlates my skills and interests.

I also started and finished this little cross stitch bear. That is how much time I've had around the house. Just me and this little bear project.

Graduation

This week was Daniel's second week of training; today he starts "real work."  As for me, I'm still looking for a job. I did apply for a job at NI (where Daniel works) as a technical writer. As far as I can tell they haven't looked at my resume, but that means they haven't rejected it yet! That has mostly been our week this week, so, like the post title suggests the rest of the post is going to be about graduation!

To preface, for anyone who didn't know, Daniel and I didn't walk at graduation because I had a friend getting married, but we did watch the commencement on BYUTV online. (If it is posted on their website, it was a pretty awesome talk by Elder Scott!)

We ended up going back to campus with my parents to take pictures later. (As a side note, it is really nice to take pictures when there aren't thousands of people trying to take the same pictures!) We got a few weird looks from spring term students, but I'm sure they've seen weirder things happening on campus!

Anyway, we took some of the traditional pictures. Here we are, "the world is our campus." We are pretty happy about it.

We also took some less traditional graduation pictures.

We thought it would be fun to have a pictures at the Maeser building because if any building at BYU looks like a building of higher learning, it would definitely be the Maeser Building. It is a pretty awesome building to visit!

Little known facts about the Maeser Building:
(1) the Maeser building is a high ranking contender for "hardest building to get a cart into" (what I learned from work)
(2) Maeser was buried below the basement at one point. (what I learned from New Student Orientation)
(3)One of the most photographed spots for BYU engagement pictures (Complete conjecture on my part)

We also took one of the Clyde Building with Daniel because he spent most of his years at BYU between its walls. I told him he couldn't have "if found, return to the Clyde Buildling" shirt because he needed to be returned to our apartment. Either way, he spent a lot of time there on the fourth floor.

I took a picture at the JFSB because I had a fair number of my classes in the basement (or as I refer to it, the bunker). And, it is a pretty cool looking building to take pictures. Also, the English department in based on the 4th floor, so even though English classes are spread around campus, this would be the department's home.

I had lots of fun in my classes, at work, and doing stuff on campus,  but on the top of my list of awesome things about BYU is meeting Daniel!

So, we had a wonderful experience during our time at BYU. We took fun classes and hard classes. We learned a lot about different topics. In short, we had a good time and the BYU experience was a great experience!