Just... stuff

Although the spring grasses are starting to peak through the dirt and the tender bulbs we planted last fall are beginning to reach for the sun, I am reminded that it is still winter. Spring is on the way but regardless of what the calendar says, Spring is still not here yet. We have had snow for the last two nights and they are predicting snow every night this week. The Spring part - it is sunny and in the 50's during the day.

I woke up this morning to overcast skies, fog and drizzly rain. So what to do on a day like this? Luckily our Ward at church starts at 8 so we are done and home early! After church, R started on some boring man chores like changing the oil in the truck, cleaning and oiling our leather boots and cleaning our pistols. I asked him what he wanted me to cook and he responded "Cinnamon rolls and cheesecake..." *said with a grin of mischief* Little did he know that I have the necessities for both so I endeavored to make them.

Mmmm... Cheesecake...



Mmmmm... Cinnamon rolls...












I have made the cinnamon rolls before (the recipe is on our website) and they turned out great, as usual! The cheesecake is another story. Did you know that there are several secrets to making a successful cheesecake? I made one earlier this week and it was awful! I over mixed it and over cooked it so it cracked and crystallized. But this time...? Spectacular! It was great! The crust needs a bit of help since it wasn't really sweet but the cheesecake part was amazing! I'll post the recipe on our website later this week and give the hints I used to make it really good.    

For lunch we had Cinnamon rolls and watched movies. For dinner, we had leftover Sour Cream Noodle Bake. We have had it for 3 of the last 4 nights and every night R gets seconds. It sounded weird when I was cooking it and I didn't hold out any hopes that we would eat leftovers for so long. It is amazingly good! I made 2 dishes and was going to put one in the freezer but after the first night R insisted that I leave the second dish in the fridge for eating :-) I'll post the recipe for that on our website too. *Recipes are on the Recipe page under the Country Life section*

Sour Cream Noodle Bake

I made a skirt last week. It is a super easy pattern and I got it done in one day! I had so much fun; I had forgotten how bad I am at sewing... I have another length of fabric to make a second skirt this week. R asked if I would make a quilt for the living room and stupidly, I said yes. The issue - I have no idea how to quilt real quilts. I can make block quilts but he wants a fancy quilt. So, the learning curve begins! I am researching patterns this week, hopefully to get fabric after my appointment in town on Friday and will start working on the quilt next week. We will see how it goes...

We ordered our new wood stove on Saturday and they will start installation next Monday. It always works that no matter how much you budget, it costs just a bit more than expected! C'est la vie.  We also go a new television. Our old one was from my first semester at college. I won't say how long ago that was but I will say that they have not made that type of television for at least 6 years. Yeah, it was freaky old and ridiculously heavy! I think R went over board with a 42 inch flat screen but it has so many gadgets and capabilities we won't need a new one for a long long time.

Our bedroom is blue and white. I have been trying to think of a nice color to accent it and have been unable to decide. I was stuck on chocolate brown for a while; the walls are Wedgwood blue. But I am thinking that maybe peach would be a better choice. What do you think? The attached bathroom will soon be a light teal, tan and light green.

The adoption front has settled down a bunch. We had 1 back out, 1 scam and 3-4 times where our profile was shown with a few other couples and we were not chosen. It has been pretty quiet. We are still serving FSA and working on praying and trying to ensure that our wants do not control this process. I recently told a newer couple that patience is the only way to make it through this process. We are striving to follow our own advice! So far, so good!!