Please forgive me!

I have a confession...

I'm not sure how to say this...

It's a bit difficult for me to admit, but...I have...

Seen every single episode of "Murder, She Wrote".

Every. Single. One. (Thank you, Netflix)

I don't really know what it is about the show, but I can't stop watching it.  That's right, I STILL watch episodes of it even though I've seen them all already.

I think it may be further proof that I am an old soul, Kelly and I used to joke that I am actually an 80 year old woman trapped in a 20-something's body.

It feels good to get that out in the open though...

Next episode!

Grumpy Gills

Holy Hannah... is it Friday yet?

Seriously, this has been a hellacious week, and I will not be sad to say goodbye to it.

Work has been a bit nuts, school a bit disheartening, church callings have stolen time, wedding planning has been good yet frustrating, I haven't had as much time with Bruce as I'd like due to conflicting schedules and prior commitments...man I'm whiny tonight.

Must be time for bed...

I Jump, You Jump, We all Jump, for iJump

We have a giant trampoline gym here in Idaho Falls.

I'd heard of trampoline gyms before, but had never actually been to one.

Tonight Bruce and I got the opportunity to go for a regional YSA activity, and it was pretty fun.  Though both Bruce and I began to feel our age pretty quickly...he could feel every bounce in his spine, and my equilibrium kept getting thrown off and gave me a headache.  Aren't we fun?  Haha!

I think it would be a fun place to bring kids though, they have these foam pits that you can jump into, and are a blast, of course, then you have to somehow manage to extract yourself from them afterward, which is the trickiest part!

Planning

I've had ideas for Bruce and my wedding floating around in my head for a while.

Now, trying to actually get them down on paper, that's a different story.

All I can say is, thank heavens for the internet.

Though, the internet also makes things pretty frustrating too, especially since I don't follow (or want to follow) most of the traditional wedding ideas.  Turns out that that makes me weird.  But I don't care.  I'll figure this thing out with or without support of the internet and its "helpful" ideas.

Good thing I have oodles of time and a supportive fiance.

Chocolate Truffle Tarts

I am in the process of making a Chocolate Truffle Tart for a friends' birthday tomorrow.

While I am not the biggest chocolate fan, I do actually enjoy experimenting with recipes that call for chocolate.  Chocolate desserts seem to have a way of always pleasing chocoholics no matter how mediocre they actually are.

I am pretty sure this tart will be delightful though, I mean, it's a truffle in tart form.  What's not to love about that?

Here is the recipe, courtesy of Annie's Eats

Chocolate Truffle Tart

Yield: about 10-12 servings

INGREDIENTS

For the tart shell:
1 large egg yolk
1 tbsp. heavy cream
½ tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup (5 oz.) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
¼ cup (¾ oz.) Dutch-process cocoa powder
2/3 cup (2 2/3 oz.) confectioners’ sugar
¼ tsp. salt
8 tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes

For the filling:
12 oz. good quality bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
1 cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. liqueur, such as Kahlua, brandy, or dark rum (optional)  *I just used vanilla

DIRECTIONS

• To make the tart shell, whisk together the egg yolk, cream and vanilla in a small bowl; set aside.  Place the flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt in a food processor.  Process briefly to combine.  Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture; process to cut the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about fifteen 1-second pulses.  With the machine running, add the egg mixture and process until the dough just comes together, about 12 seconds.  Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a 6-inch dish.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 48 hours.
• Remove the dough from the refrigerator.  (If refrigerated for more than an hour, let stand at room temperature until malleable.)  Unwrap and roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface to a 13-inch round.  Transfer the dough to a 9-inch tart pan.  Mold the dough to the sides of the tart pan and remove the excess off the top.  Set the dough-lined tart pan on a large plate and freeze for 30 minutes.
• Meanwhile, adjust an oven rack to middle position.  Preheat the oven to 375° F.  Set the dough-lined tart pan on a baking sheet, press a 12-inch square of foil into the frozen shell and over the edge, and fill with pie weights.  Bake for 30 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time.  Remove from the oven and carefully remove the foil and weights.  Continue to bake until just set, 5-8 minutes longer.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• To make the tart filling, place the chocolate and butter in a heatproof bowl.  Bring the cream to a simmer in a small saucepan (or in the microwave).  Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and let stand 1-2 minutes to melt.  Whisk together until smooth, then whisk in the liqueur.  Pour the filling into the tart shell and chill in the refrigerator, uncovered, until the filling is firm.  To serve, transfer the tart to a serving plate or platter.  Slice with a clean, sharp knife, wiping the blade between slices.

Newsflash!

Bruce and I are engaged.

To be married.

Yep, it's true!

I get to marry the most amazing, wonderful, caring, considerate, handsome, funny, supportive, hard-working, Batman enthusiast ever!  I could not be happier!

Truth be told, I've known for a while that I was going to marry him, and we had discussed it and decided it was happening some time ago, but now everyone knows, and that is good too.

So it is definitely official.

We're getting hitched!  And we're thrilled!

Please just give us time to enjoy it without a barrage of questions about dates/venues/themes, or anything of that nature.

We're basking in our engagement.

Ready...Aim...Blast 'em!

I enjoy weekends, except that there are too few of them.

Weekends are when I get to see Bruce the most.

It's a general rule that we see each other on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.  Not all day on any of them (Fridays get the most love), but really, any time I get with him, I will gladly accept.

My day started out with a trip to Target to purchase a baby shower gift (because I am a procrastinator who has had the invitation for the aforementioned baby shower sitting on her fridge for the past month and has done nothing about it).  Then, after an adventure with GPS and a smartphone, I managed to locate said baby shower.  I'm not going to lie, I have never been a fan of showers (except rain showers, showers in the bathroom, and meteor showers...I enjoy those...but baby showers and bridal showers?  Not so much).  I always find them to be a little awkward and uncomfortable, and it's hard to find an appropriate time to excuse yourself to leave...I'd prefer to be able to drop my gift off and leave right then, but I've been informed that is rude.  Rude?  I just bought you a present!

Anyway, after being at the baby shower for 2+ hours, I left and got a little shopping done before heading home to change and head back out to meet Bruce.

Once at Bruce's we went back out with a trip to...wait for it...Target!  To purchase a birthday gift for our friends James & Courtney's sons 1st birthday party.  It's been a while since I've been to Target twice in one day.

The kiddo was so fun to watch as he devoured his cupcake, and he makes the funniest "excited" face.  Seriously, he is a riot to watch.

After the shindig, Bruce and I went to get frozen yogurt.  Going to Orange Leaf always reminds me of our first date, and that always makes me happy.  I actually always get the same thing too, though I generally add something else new to try as well.

Later, we met up with some friends to play laser tag.  We ended up having to wait almost an hour before we could start, so we wound up back at the frozen yogurt place with everyone before heading back to the arcade place (I guess you could call it an arcade).

So while today was not exactly the busiest day ever, it still wiped me out a bit...I started yawning before our turn at laser tag.  And I am looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.

Notes to future readers

Tonight Bruce and I had our date night.

We went to dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe, which was super tasty, but super filling after about 2 slices...and murder after 3.

After dinner, we went to Barnes and Noble for some entertainment. We brought post-it notes with us and left some fun and funny notes in some of the books for the people who will eventually purchase and read them.

We're hilarious sometimes. I'm happy to have a funny partner in crime.

Posting...Posting...1,2,3...

So I just have to say that I am pretty impressed with myself for posting basically every day since the beginning of December.

Sure there were a couple days I may have missed the mark, but I always made sure to make up for it by posting double one day.  With my success (failure) rate of posting in the past, I think this is quite an achievement!

Grr...

I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I hate accounting.

Abhor it, loathe it, despise it.

I think I've made my point.

I attempted my accounting exam today, and was 4% shy of passing. 4%!  It's times like this that I really am not a fan of the fact that WGU requires students to get a B or better in order to pass a course.

Tue-Wednesday

Tuesdays have a way of throwing me off every week.

I'm not sure what it is about them, but something is amok.

They always feel like another day of the week to me, sometimes (usually) I start thinking it's Wednesday when it clearly isn't yet...leading to heartbreak and disappointment (dramatic much?).  But sometimes I even think it's Friday...and THAT is the worst.

Luckily, it was just a Wednesday kind of Tuesday today, so I should be able to get back on track fairly easily.

Warning! This post contains mushy love stuff. Proceed at your own risk!

Just in case you weren't aware (for whatever reason...maybe you are a super secret spy and somehow lost your memory, or maybe you are just unobservant, or maybe you've failed to read any of the previous postings), I feel compelled to say that I am dating the most amazing man.

I am truly the luckiest girl around, because I have the best guy ever.  He makes me laugh all the time, I cannot help grinning from ear to ear whenever I think about him.  He is incredibly thoughtful, kind and considerate.  He has a crazy memory for details that astounds me every time he pulls out a random tidbit about some completely obscure conversation we had 5 months ago.  He has this way of looking at me with such intense love in his eyes that I go weak in the knees and often forget what I am doing or saying.  He always wants to hug me, kiss me, or just hold my hand, which makes me feel loved and secure.  He trusts me and I trust him, we have no secrets from each other and neither one of us can tell a lie to save our lives, so we have brutal honesty in our relationship.  He has the BEST smile on the planet...I could die in that smile.  He makes me deliriously and infinitely happy, happier than I have ever been in my entire life.  He works hard at his job and in school so that he can pursue his dreams.  He is a fierce and loyal friend.  He is such a dork, but it compliments my own dorky tendencies very well (he actually told me once that when he first met me, that he could tell I was a big dork right away)...apparently I don't hide them well.  He makes me feel beautiful even when I look like crap on toast.  He loves the Gospel and is not shy about talking about it.  He is passionate about so many things, it's refreshing that he has so many strong opinions.  He adores his family, and I really can't blame him, they're kind of awesome.  He constantly takes my breath away and makes me want to be a better person, someone who deserves to be with such an amazing and truly incredible individual.

I once made him a list of 100 things I love about him, and this only scratches the surface because my love for him is honestly immeasurable.  I am truly and supremely blessed to have him in my life, and I thank God every day that I have the opportunity to get to know and love him.

Bruce, you are the best thing to ever happen to me, and I am truly the luckiest.

No battle.

On to the next

So I saw the movie "Frozen" at the beginning of the year (like New Year's Day...that much of the beginning).  And I enjoyed it, I did.  I promise.

However...

Can we all please (PLEASE) get over the insane amount of love that there seems to be for the song "Let it Go" from the flick?  Seriously.  It is everywhere.  Everywhere...  I understand that there are some very talented people out there doing covers of it.  I understand that every voice sounds a bit different.  I also understand that it is their prerogative to record the song if they want to.

But really, does everyone and their dog have to post a link of the song on social media?  Seriously, I'm pretty sure Rover just posted it.  Again.  I cannot get the song to disappear from my newsfeed.  And every time I see the title of the song, it starts playing in my head.  Which means I basically have the words "let it go" running through my head all the time...because I haven't cared enough to learn any of the other lyrics.

I enjoyed the song when I first heard it, but really...I think we all need to just do as the song suggests, and let it go already.

Statistically anomalous

Bruce and I went shooting today with Heidi and Rumel.

Not gun type shooting.

Archery type shooting.

It was a lot of fun! Though I kept hitting my arm on the release, so I've got a pretty epic bruise now.

Bruce showed us all up with his mad skills, hitting numerous bullseyes after the rest of us had called it quits. At least we're safe in the event of a zombie apocalypse...provided we have bows and arrows.

Patron Saint of the Plague??

I've never really been a fan of Valentine's day.

I mean, sure, when I was a kid I enjoyed giving Valentines to my peers in school, making sure to give the mushiest, biggest one to the cute boy that I secretly had a crush on (turns out that all the girls tended to like the same 2 or 3 guys) and we were in elementary school, what did we think was going to happen?

In later years, it lost its appeal though.

It isn't even that I was a Valentine's hater because I was single and alone, many times I was even dating someone, but the holiday was just never something I really got behind.  I'm not big on chocolate, red and pink hearts everywhere give me a headache, flowers die, and I can watch cheesy romantic comedies any ol' day of the week.  I'm not a hater, I promise, I just prefer other holidays...like Arbor Day...or Star Wars Day...now THOSE are holidays I can appreciate.

Anyway,  today, Bruce and I went rock climbing at the indoor climbing gym here in Idaho Falls.  It was fun, though I got a little vertigo, got a little nauseated, and couldn't go up too terribly high.  It was fun though.  I will say that belaying for Bruce proved interesting since he is a bit bigger than I am...which resulted in me being thrown across the floor and into the wall at times due to the weight difference, but really, how often do you get to fly through the air?  It's just another part of the adventure.

There was a little kid that was climbing with his parents (or whoever the adult figures he was with actually were), he couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old.  He was a lot of fun to watch, he kept grabbing the rope, hoping to just be pulled up the side of the wall, and he actually yelled out that Bruce looks like a vampire.  It was hysterical!  Made my day.  We decided that when we go again, we should get a group together, hopefully this would ensure that I would belay with someone a bit closer to my own stature, who won't send me flying into walls.

I love that man though, and I couldn't be any luckier to have him as my own.  I am completely and deliriously happy to be his, and I couldn't love him more.

Winning

Yay for girl night.

My friend Stefanie came over tonight and we ate Chinese take-out, watched a movie, and chatted.

Now I'm sitting in front of my heaters watching a movie on Netflix.

A winning evening!

Temple Time

Bruce and I went to the Temple together for the first time tonight.

His ward goes every second Wednesday each month, so we went with them and had a nice meeting before breaking off to do either baptisms, initiatory, endowments, or sealings.

We opted for (or were rather assigned, as it were) doing sealings, but first we stopped for a quick dinner in the cafeteria.

It was fun to go together, and Bruce's bishop and his wife are super nice and enthusiastic every time I see them.  Hopefully we can go to the Temple with more regularity.

Warmth

I am super duper excited about the fact that it's slowly getting warmer, the days are slowly getting longer, and that Spring is not too terribly far away!

My apartment hasn't been as cold as usual the last couple days, and that in and of itself is a huge deal.

MFEO

Bruce came over for dinner tonight, and we watched Sleepless in Seattle.

He had actually never seen it before, and I must admit, it was a lot of fun watching him watch it.  He reacted perfectly to every moment, and it was really fun to experience it with a newbie.

I grew up watching it, kind of a necessity when you live in the Seattle area, so I gladly overlook the crazy aspects of the plot, and I find it to be charming and enjoyable...I can probably quote most (if not all) of the dialogue.

I love that he was willing to watch it with me though, he's amazing like that.

Waking up

I have been really tired lately.

I usually wake up by 5:00 every morning.

Weekends, I'm usually awake by 7:30 or 8:00 at the latest, and I typically don't go to bed before midnight.

I know that there are plenty of people who get up earlier, go to bed later, and generally just get less sleep than I do, but since this is my blog, I'm not focusing on them right now.

Anyway, I think I may have caught up on my sleep a bit this morning since I didn't actually wake up until 10:30, which is WAY later than normal.  Usually I can only sleep that late when I'm sick, but I was happy to revel in it this morning.

A Shoot

Tonight I took some pictures for a group of kids who were attending their Valentine's Day dance this evening.  My friend Allie is the sister to one of the girls in the group and she asked me if I would take some couples pictures for them so they wouldn't have to pay to have photos taken at the dance.

I have to admit, it has been a LONG time since I have been around high school kids.

Some of the pictures turned out well, but the kids kept moving so much, that I fear many of them will turn out to be a bit blurry.

Oh well, you get what you pay for, right?  And I am a couple notches below "amateur", so hopefully their hopes aren't too high.

Duplos Destroy

Last night, Bruce and I went to see The Lego Movie.

I've wanted to see this movie since I first saw a theatrical trailer for it a while back, and figured I would have to see it alone.

Then, Bruce and I saw another trailer for it on Sunday, and it was discovered that we were both equally excited to see it.  Can I get a "hallelujah!"?

The movie was hilarious!  So well done!  And I've had one of the songs from it stuck in my head ever since.  Or, rather, I've had 2 lines from the song running through my head.

If you ever played with Lego's, I highly recommend that you go see this movie.  It will not disappoint.

Crossing my words

I have this app on my phone that lets me do crossword puzzles.

It's pretty nifty  neato, and comes in handy when I need to entertain myself for any period of time.

Like I did tonight while Bruce was making dinner. He was actually able to help me with one of the answers that I was not figuring out too.

I think I'll keep him. And the app.

Bartemus

So my apartment has a mind of its own.

Or, rather, the heaters in my apartment have a mind of their own.

My heaters have been turned down to the lowest setting (basically, the suckers are off) for months, but they still have a tendency to turn themselves on when they decide that it's colder than even the lowest possible setting the heaters will allow.

Anyway, I have flipped the breakers for all the heaters so that they don't turn themselves on arbitrarily.  All of them except for the bathroom.  Because it's on a different system that doesn't allow me to JUST turn off the heater.  So it still turns itself on.

It must have been much colder than usual today though, because instead of the normal "once"...the heater has popped on 4 or 5 times today.

Yay for winter!

I am so ready for sunshine and warmth.

Week 5 (3 days...whatever)

Here are the results from the last days of my January photo challenge.

I know it's no longer January, but I got into the habit of posting on Tuesdays.

Day 29- Window

This is one of the windows on the Idaho Falls Temple.

Day 30- Best Invention Ever

This is one of my crock pots.  You read that right, ONE of them.  I seriously love crock pots, I love being able to set it and forget it...seriously one of the best inventions. Ever.

Day 31- Polka Dot

This is a polka dotted giraffe.  Yep.  Because I can.

Anyway, that is the end of the challenge, and I have decided not to pursue the challenge into February, largely due to the fact that I already have enough on my plate as it is, it turned out to be a bit of an inconvenience at times trying to make time to actually photograph things (which I understand is part of the point in doing the challenge in the first place).  I may do another challenge once I'm not working full-time, going to school full-time, serving in a Relief Society presidency, and trying to maintain a healthy relationship.

Death & Taxes

I was finally able to do my taxes today.

I normally like to have my taxes done in January, so it was bugging me a little bit because I didn't have all the forms I needed to file everything until the other day.  I know that y'all are like, "Dude, it is 3 days into February, stop being so crazy about your nonsensical timeline", but I don't even care.

I have no complaints about my return, though the state of Idaho did deem it necessary to have me owe them money.  First time I've owed on taxes. ever.

Happy Groundhog Day!

For some strange reason, I have always liked Groundhog Day.  Always.

Maybe it's because I was supposed to be born on that day, but probably not.

Anyway, after church today, we went to Bruce's parents' house for dinner and some Super Bowl watching, where the boys were kind enough to explain football to me (because honestly, it confused me).  Once halftime rolled around, we put on the movie Groundhog Day, which is a classic, much beloved flick, and something I watch every year on this day.  I'm glad everyone was okay switching over to the movie, because frankly, it was apparent that the Seahawks were going to cream the Broncos, and because even though I now understand football a bit better, it is not something I find terribly compelling to watch.

After things wrapped up, we sat and chatted with Bruce's mom about some of the crazy things the kids did when they were growing up.

I am seriously amazed that these kids are even alive with some of the insane things they did.  It definitely gives one pause about what kind of hijinx the next generation will get up to.

Lots of fun

Bruce and I made an indoor fort out of sheets this morning.

Or rather, Bruce made an indoor fort out of sheets this morning while I made waffles.

Then we got a bunch of blankets, ate waffles and watched Batman cartoons.  Pretty much a great way to start the morning.

Later, we had a funeral to attend for his roommate's mother, it was a touching service, and she sounded like an amazing woman.

I then met up with Bruce's sister-in-law for dinner and a movie.  It was fun to chat with her and get to know her a little better, and her son is adorable to boot.

Now I'm back home, sitting in a fort, watching Netflix, cuddled up in blankets...I may just stay here all night, it's quite cozy.