Lil' Wabbit

Mark and I loooooooooove all the fauna that lives around Purdue Village. You may have noticed.

There are squirrels. And Hawks. And wabbits! :-D

This spring, we have got the chance to see more of the lil' baby wabbits since we were taking care of our garden, and we would be out a lot after work taking care of it. When we would come it, it was juuuuust starting to get dark, the PERFECT time to see wabbits!

One night, when I was coming in, I about STEPPED on one. No lie! And the little thing, he just stayed there!

I was amazed.

I ran up stairs and told mark all about it!

Then I went back to the garden to pick up some more tools, and on the way back out! I almost stepped on him again!

And he STILL didn't move!

I ran back and told mark.

It started to rain, but we wen't down stair to see wabbit, and he was still there! (i think he may have been sick :o( sad day)

It was raining pretty bad, and Mark picked up wabbit and took him over closer to the buildings so he didn't get hurt. I help him too. He was just a lil' handful of fluff! :-D

Then I freaked out about germs and ran upstairs and washed my hands. Then I ran back down to see Mark and wabbit.

We put wabbit down, and sat and talked with him for a while, and fed him grass.


I sure loved that little wabbit, he was our friend. I hope he got to grow up.

I went home and looked online, and found out that we probably shouldn't have touched that baby wabbit since it would smell like us after we handled it, and there is chance that the mommy wabbit wouldn't love the baby any more.

I sure hope he was ok, and that he got to live a good life. He was a good wabbit.

Hiking

Well...I don't know if it can actually be called hiking, or if it was more walking...but whatever you call it, me and Mark went out into Purdue's grounds and had a lovely afternoon :o)

I sure married one handsome boy! :-D



There were berries......and trees...

...and flowers...

and...CANDY CORN!! :-D


only its ok if you think these "candy corn" just look like dead leaves. I won't hold it against you.

:o)

Good Luck Elder Higareda!

So! Alex Higareda got his mission call! He is going to Missouri! :-D

We made him a cake for his going away dinner as a surprise, his mommy asked for me to make it look like a big missionary tag (you can see Marks little one in the corner that I used for a model).

It was tres leches, and really yummy they said!

Good luck Alex!

Girls Camp!

I love girls camp! :o) There is something just so wonderful about getting to spend a week with the MJ. You learn so much about them, and you really get to see how they relax and open up. Suddenly, clothes and jewelry and makeup is so less important, waaaay overshadowed by bug spray and sun screen and calamine lotion :o)

I always feel like it is such a triumph to get girls to come camp. I know if they go, they will love it, and it will help them love themselves.

Here is a picture of the girls from our branch before we set of to camp. All of the MJ from our branch were able to go except one, who had already graduated (she decided not to go).


Two of the girls are not pictured here, since they are already at camp :o) This is the OTHER pre-camp sleep over we have, the night just before girls camp!

It's funny when you post things like this a year late.

It makes me realize all the changes that can happen in a year. Some good, some really painful.

Not all of the girls in this picture were able to come back the next year to camp. It makes me think about this talk from President Monson, "Sugar Beets and the worth of a soul."

I wonder how much will change in a year from now...hopefully for the better :o)

Pre-Camp edition two: Finding Firewood and the Sleep over

So! There are lots of things that you need to do before camp to certify: coooooooking, fiiiiiiire safety, first aiiiiiiiiid, surviiiiival.... just the sort of thing to do at a sleep over with a bunch of girls.

So! the MJ came over to our apartment, and we all squeezed in and had a pre-camp certification sleep over. We did the fire safety stuff in the fire pit at the park (lots of fun!)

See, in order to do fire safety, you need to actually BUILD a fire. This involves fire wood. I had never realized what an immense blessing it was to have a wood pile at my parents house. Sure, it was not really all that fun to have to go out all the way to the back yard to get the wood... but when you consider the alternatives, that was a really nice set up.

Let me tell you about the alternatives.

I was thinking with it being summer and so many people camping I would be able to buy firewood at the grocery store. So, I went to Walmart. nope. Payless? nope! Marsh? Meijers? Home Depot?!?...nope, nope nope! ! Turns out that firewood is a seasonal item. A CHRISTMAS seasonal item. :o)

I was so confident in my notion that I could buy wood at the store that I didn't think to call ahead to see if there was any fire wood to purchase at the store. So, on the afternoon of the activity (thank you procrastination) I had a car full of groceries which needed to be cooked on the open fire...and no firewood :o(

So... having exhausted all of the stores in the West Lafayette and Lafayette area, I started asking strangers if they knew any place to buy fire wood :o) I love asking strangers :o) They are always so helpful. The only problem is, I have a really bad sense of direction, and I am too embarrassed to ask for clarification on where to go. Schuyler? Sagamore? Cumberland? Creasy? ... Wha?...

Generally, I just smile and thank the people and then set off in the generally direction they pointed. At one point, I was really excited that I had hit the jackpot:

"sure, there is the store just down the road on the right, they have palates of fire wood, just go on in side and ask for it"

Palates of firewood!? :-D :-D

I kept driving, and driving, and driving, looking "just down the road on the right" ...nothing. Corn to my left. Corn to my right.

I finally see a store on my right so I pull over. It was kind of hard to find the front door, and when I walk in I have the strange feeling that I am not in the right place to find firewood. My first hint? The designer bath tubs.

Anyway, it turns out that they had palates that people could use for firewood, but not to cook over. I think the nice lady could sense that I needed help, because she pulled out the phone book and started calling around, trying to see if anyone was selling fire wood. No luck!

She then said that she thought she saw a "FIREWOOD FOR SALE" sign when she drove to work every day. I was desperate, so I jumped back into my car

2 hours later, I was completely lost... still no fire wood...and now no gas in my car :o)

I seriously considered cutting down a tree.

I pulled into a gas station, and LO!

The blessed sign!!! IS IT TRUE?!?

FIREWOOD FOR SALE! :-D

it was providence.

angles sang.

I was so happy!

I bought extra just in case, and as I pulled out of the gas station and started home, I pulled behind a truck. Guess what it was carrying?!

Firewood.

The universe smiled :o) and the goose mocked me over the phone. he he!

I made it home safe and sound, we had a lovely evening building fires, cooking hot dogs and s'mores, and safely extinguishing them. Thanks girls! It was lots of fun!

Girls Camp!! (Pre-Camp edition one: the first aid kits)

So! Heather (our MJ president) was moving. This means that we wanted to do things with wonderful Heather before she moved away after she graduated from Purdue. So! Because of this, we changed around when we did activities in MJ with the other Lafayette units. Ultimately, this means that we missed pre-camp with the other units. Meaning that I had to do pre-camp, by myself, with all the girls.

So what did I do?


I MADE FIRST AID KITS!! :-D

I don't know why I thought making these would alleviate my stress about doing pre-camp, but that was my reasoning. :o) AND, it was my FIRST time using my SEWING machine by mySELF! And, I had to call my mom on skpye so she could help me load the bobbin...! Bobbins are trixy little things.

The inspiration came from these things my mom makes out of place mats and ziploc bags. They are super cool.

I went to the store and bought all kinds of things to go into the first aid kits (band aids, medical tape and gauze, sheets to rip into cravat bandages, disinfecting wipes, ets). I came home, separated everything into piles, and went to work:



I think the hardest part was that those slippery little ziplock bags would NOT hold STILL! I eventually had to tape them down, THEN sew them into place, then remove the tape. Oye. Oye vay.

This is what they looked like when they were finished! I stuffed all there little things into the little bags where they went, they were SO COOL! :-D





I even put these little ties on the front and back so that you could tie them shut! I was so proud!

I showed them to my mom, and she thought they were a great idea!:

Me: LOOK MOMMMY!!!! :-D I created this MASTERPIECE!!

Mom: WhoA! Great job sweetie!

Me: Aren't they COOL?! Look! Look there is a little place for this, and this, and THESE! (etc.)

Me: SO. What do you think.

Mom: I think they are great! but....are you going to leave them like that?

Me: Ummm, yeah! Why....why, wait, what do you mean?"

Mom: Well, they're...."functional", but...

Me: Oh...Oh, you mean they look kinnda ugly since my stitches are exposed and pretty bad looking?

Mom: Yes :o)

He he!

So, I had some ribbon and some extra white fabric and some fabric paint... and with some brainstorming with mommy I came up with THIS!!



and THIS!!



and THESE!!



Mommy has the best ideas!! :-D

I must say. these were stinking adorable. The white on the front is even a POCKET, so you can keep things in them. I love them. I have the "functional" one still here at the house. The be-dazzled ones went to the girls. Yay! Thanks mommy! they LOVED them! :-D

Panna Cotta cake...in VANILLA!

:-D

So, I might have mentioned that the chocolate panna cotta cake was SUPER rich. To the point, I would say, that it was almost not.....enjoyable. Wait, that is not the right word. Hmmm, it was yummy alright, but it was like CHOCOLATE. like REALLY CHOCOLATE. Still good, but really really CHOCOLATE.

The gooth and I decided that we thought vanilla panna cotta would be AMAZING with a yellow or white sponge cake in the middle, and with fresh fruit.

So. I couldn't wait too long to try it out.

and man were we RIGHT! :-D I made one for the Sociedad de Soccoro activity that we had and it was SO good. I didnt get a picture though :o( Sorry! We devoured it too quickly. And. I must say. I think it was the best cake I have ever had in my life. Period. And I have experienced a lot of cake in my life, you may have noticed. It was light, it was creamy, the panna cotta was not too sweet, and it was so, so good with the fruit. So good.

If you have ever tried my mom's panna cotta you would know: its life changingly delicious. Just imagine it in cake form. SO GOOD!

So good in fact I came home and made mark another one since there were no leftovers. And, since I was lazy when I made the second one (it was, like, less than 24 hours since I made the first one after all and I was out of sour cream) I use pudding mix instead of the panna cotta. *GASP!* I know, I know, but! the good news is it worked out great! I like mixing a box of vanilla pudding and a pox of white chocolate pudding, and using some cream, or less milk, to help it thicken up nice and firm if I am going to use it instead of pastry cream. But listen here: you need to try making it with the real panna cotta, just once. I don't know what it is about that stuff that makes it so good....but it is increadible. You know what, dont even worry about making it into a cake, just make some and stick it into a bowl, and put some fruit on the top. Mmmmmmmm. Paaaaaana coooooottaaaaaaaa......

Anyway, if you do want to make it in cake form, I will tell you this trick: I like making cakes with pudding or cream fillings in spring form pans, but when I bake the cake in my 9in rounds, the cake never seems to fill all the way to the edge of the spring form pan, and then my filling pools in the edged! Totally a bummer! This is also a problem with ice cream cakes, and then the icecream leaks out everywhere. Total bummer as well. So! One day I had a great idea: why don't I just bake the cak in my spring form pan first! Then it will be the perfect size! :-D So, I do now. I will just put the whole cake mix into the pan, and then cut it in half when it comes out. Perfect size! Now you may be thinking "good heavens! that is really got to be THICK!" and you are right. It is. To help it cook better, I take a sheet of tin foil and fold it and fold it and fold it until it is like a thick, squat little rectangle that I stick into the middle of the batter. It helps the cake cook evenly, and it "bakes itself out" [meaning that you wont have a little piece of metal in your cake making a hole, as the cake cooks, the tine foil will rise out, until when its done you will only have the tin foil lying on the top that you can lift out]. ANYWAY, I don't know if it makes a difference or not, but I do it this way when I will be having a layered cake in my spring form that I want the bread to go all the way to the edges. Call me crazy.

After the cake bakes, I let it cool and then cut it in half. I leave on piece in the bottom, put frozen fruit on top, poured on the mostly thickened panna cotta, and then stuck it in the freezer to set for a bit. Then I put the other piece of cake, the rest of the panna cotta, and then fruit on the top. Its TOTALLY yummy!

Marks had just blueberries since he likes it like that :o)



Anyway! Wanted to share!

More on Mothers Day

In the Spanish Branch, they gave us flowers! My friend Claudia wasn't able to make it, and so I got a flower for her that I wanted to take over to her. When we got the flowers, they both looked lovely, and pretty much identical.


So, I put her flower carefully in the back seat in the shade with a paper towell wrapped around the stem. My flower, I proudly carried in my hand holding it out for Mark to smell it every, oh, 5 seconds or so (his favorite part I think ;o) ). We made a stop to visit someone, and I set my flower on the dash in the front seat while we ran inside.

When we came back out, the flowers DEFINITELY did not look the same any more.

Guess which flower THIS is:.....




Lets jsut say flowers don't look quite this good baked. At least Claudia's flower was the one that survived!

It looked this pretty when we gave it to her the next day too :o)

I didn't get a picture of mine, but believe me, it was pretty conclusive proof that flowers are NOT preserved with heat. No, no, no. :o)

Live and learn!

Strangers at the Door

At about 8 this morning, we heard a knock at our door. Mark went to answer it. There was an Asian lady standing there, talking on an ancient cell phone. (picture a cordless house phone).

Asian lady (to the cell phone): "Hello? Hello?"
(to Mark) "Did you try to call me?!"

Mark: "Uhhh..... No." (he has never seen this lady in his life)

Asian Lady: (to Mark)"Oh."...(to cell phone again) "Hello? Hello?" (to mark again) "Is this apartment 140-11?"

Mark: "Uhhhh......Yes."

Asian Lady: Pushing lots of buttons on the phone "Hello? Helloooooo"

Mark: stands there puzzled

Asian Lady: "Oh. Sorry." (turns and leaves)

very very strange.

But! Just so you know it goes both ways:

Once upon a time I was baking cakes at midnight. And I was talking on the phone to my friend Heather who was baking cookies :o) She needed some clear plastic wrapping paper:

"Hey! I have some of that! Come on over"

"You sure? Its pretty late..."

"Well, I'm up. You're up. And, we're both going to be up baking for a while. Just come on over!"

Heather lives about 10 minutes from my house. About 15 minutes later I get a call. Its Heather:

"Hey, what is your appartment number again??"

"Oh, um 140-11?"

"K" *click*

About a minute later, Heather is at the door laughing :o)

"What happened?"

"Well, I thought the next stariwell over was your house. I sure hope you don't know your neighbors very well, cuz I just woke that poor Asian guy up!"

:o) Oops!

It happens a lot around here. Its easy when alllll the apartment stairwells look identical. :o)

I hope that lady found who she was looking for! And that her phone started working.

Mothers Day Meal!

So! As I mentioned, me and the goose were cooking a "surprise" dinner for my mom for mother's day (that she knew about).We had made the dessert earlier, and we were trying to coordinate dinner so that Mom and the goose would make it when they came home from church and they could eat. We started cooking around 6...NM time. Meaning we need to think through the planning things better next time. But it was sure fun!

We decided to make:


Cannelloni! :-D (I didn't take the above picture. It was to late, we were too ravenous)

:o)

Anyway, Cannelloni is Italian, plural of cannellone meaning "tubular soup noodle", from cannello meaning "small tube", diminutive of canna, "reed", from Latin

Isn't google a great thing?

Anyway! These things are great too, and really easy to make. Instead of the outside being a type of pasta that you wrap the meat up in....wait for it...they're CREPES!

:-D

And that being said, they are mostly eggs and milk. And I bet you could even put a flour substitute in for the little bit of flour that there is an no one would be the wiser.

These are so good!

At first me and the goose were worried that they wouldn't work (we were feeling pretty brave you know...after our cottage-cheese-looking-cake-experience and everything) :o) Anyway, they worked great and they cook up really fast.
We have made the crepes a couple of times to wrap around lots of other types of foods too.

HERE is a link to the recipe!

And, we didn't use veal in the recipe. I think we used shredded chicken? Or something else. I don't remember.


HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY MOM! WE LOVE YOU!