Call me Betty. Betty Crocker, that is!

Call me Betty. Or, Betty Crocker :)

As many past roommates know, I don't cook... or cook very often. If it can't be done in the microwave, or boiled on the stove very quickly, it's just not for me to eat by my own efforts.

Well, to celebrate my new couches, and that I finally have enough supplies in my kitchen TO cook something, I thought I would invite people over for dinner on Sunday! 

This meant I had to spend time thinking about what to make, finding recipes, making a grocery list, buying the food, and then the actual cooking process! Oh my word - so much work! But, it was a success!

And, I just had to celebrate 

and post this for my posterity :)

I was introduced to "Dinner in a Pumpkin" last year by my home teacher, Kaleb. I thought it was the coolest Fall tradition ever, so I have adopted it as my own as well. That was on the menu. Then, just in case my attempts at this failed, I decided to make a pumpkin chili and cornbread! I also made a chocolate pudding pie. (not pictured, but I did take a picture of another dessert I made!)

Because of time constraints, I made the chili on Saturday as well as the cornbread because I knew I could just reheat them before dinner the next day. It was the perfect cooking weather  (overcast, cold, rainy... the kind of weather where you dread going outside). So, I got in the mood by turning a DVR'd "Ellen" on in the background and faced the challenge in the kitchen.  Ellen made me laugh and not think about how much I don't enjoy cooking!

Gutting a pumpkin is not my most favorite thing to do, but I succeeded. I followed the directions to the "T", but the rice and cabbage never cooked in the end and the pumpkin bottom started to burn in the stove so I took it out on time. Now that I think about it, the same thing happened last year when the rice didn't cook. Maybe next year I'll remember and put in rice that's already been cooked! 

 

The chili and the cornbread got good reviews (and I have to say I will def make both again!)... and people didn't say anything negative about the extra "crunch" when they ate the dinner in the pumpkin with the uncooked rice! (I had warned them ahead of time as well :)

But, the evening was a success and now I can rest my desire to cook for another couple of months... or maybe a year! :)

 

 

 Cornbread... so yummy!

 Dinner in a pumpkin & pumpkin chili

This is the yummy dessert I made (but not for the dinner)

Chocolate cake with marshmallows & cherry pie filling

Definitely will make again!

It's official! I am finally an adult!

My brother declared it official yesterday. 

It's only taken me 31 years and 2 months. 

I am an adult!

And, are you wondering what makes it official? Well, I moved in to my own apartment 2 months ago. That wasn't part of my original plan, but became a necessity as events unfolded quite rapidly at the beginning of the summer. 

As soon as I returned from being on Nantucket for a month and officially moved in, I quickly realized I was not prepared for this step in my life. I didn't own silverware, matching plates, a table or furniture, or anything that was required to cook anything besides pasta. I've always had roommates that already had everything so I never had the need to buy it.

This is a picture of what it did look like. Thanks to time in Boston, I had my free blue recliner that my mom and I dragged a few blocks home  after finding it on the sidewalk when we were out for a walk. The TV is on loan from my mom. The Italian end tables were purchases dating back from my days at the Kennedy School! This Fellow from Italy brought them over and quickly realized he would not be taking them back! (They are heavy!)


So, needless to say, if I had anyone over, one of us would be sitting on the floor.

Well, after moving in, I immediately went out and bought some of the essentials and over the past two months have been filling in the gaps. Two months ago I also went and purchased my first set of REAL COUCHES. They weren't used or hand-me-downs, and I got a GREAT price on them. The only thing is that they took two months to arrive!


And, yes, THIS is what my brother said made me an "OFFICIAL" adult.

My couches arrived this week! 

And, I LOVE them! 

I was pretty picky on what I wanted. I knew I wanted a chair and a half with an ottoman, but they're not easy to find. I knew I also wanted another couch to match, but wasn't sure whether to go for a 2 or 3 seater. I must have sat on a hundred different ones, and dragged my mom to ten different stores until I found exactly what I wanted. And, was even able to get them for less than the already discounted price! They've got the right amount of "sinking in" when you sit on them and the pillow top for the arm rests. 


The ottoman is still on back order... but I can't ask for too much at one time :)


Anyway, they arrived this week and my apartment is FINALLY coming together. I found a nice dining table on craig's list and ordered a runner/tablecloths for it as well. I updated the pictures in some of my frames and my brother came by to help me hang them yesterday. He was disappointed that my TV was still from the 90s, but that didn't seem to affect my "adult" status.

 Still have the TV on loan, but at least I organized that area a little better!

 I walked in today, and looked around, and my apartment finally started to feel like my real home! 

Living on my own has been an adjustment. There are pluses and minuses to it, as with anything. However, one of the things I love the most is that everything is MINE. I can decorate how I want, put pictures of my family/friends, Jesus Christ and the temple, etc., wherever I want. AND, I am the only one making the messes and cleaning up after only my mess! I also love that I have my own garage parking space!

So, now that I am officially an adult, does that mean I have to act more responsible too? If so,  I will decline the adult status. I am not ready to take that step yet!

Fun times with the Huber Family!

General Conference weekend is always GREAT!

Hearing counsel and advice from our prophet and other church leaders helps me to re-focus myself, my priorities and where I spend my time!

But this weekend was extra special because Bekah and I got to spend part of it with Tami and her family!

They recently moved to a town outside of DC and Baltimore. It was a very pretty drive out there and I was tempted to stop at one of the many fruit and produce farms I passed along the way... but it was raining... like it has been every day since the beginning of December!

Sad to say I had not seen Tami since BYU, never met her husband, and therefore, definitely had never met her beautiful girls - A. & K.! They are very entertaining! The little girl I nanny for is definitely not a "girly-girl" so it was fun to be around two very sweet girls who reminded me of when I was little... pick high-heeled dress up shoes, princess wands and dresses!

Bekah's taking a picture at the same time on her computer, and that was more attractive than my camera, so. K. was looking in the other direction! But the girls had put on pretty dresses for dinner and they looked awesome! Note: they each have a wand as well!

We all watched the 2nd session of conference together and I was very impressed by how well her girls kept busy coloring some children's General Conference activity pages, while accurately recognizing some of the speakers when they came on the screen! They also seriously impressed me by their cleaning up and listening skills! I could have these girls give some kids I know some lessons in how to do this!

We had a yummy, yummy dinner and then were entertained more by the girls! We tried taking pictures, but as you can see there were some "candid" moments! Some of the pictures were taken by the girls, and you never knew which direction the camera would be facing when the camera went "click!" Thank goodness for digital cameras and the ability to delete ones that didn't quite work out!

Bekah got a little cut off in this one!

One of my favorites of Bekah.
A. was taking the picture at the time :)

A. taking our picture again.
My head got slightly chopped off :)

Tami and Bekah

A. taking our picture. This one worked!

It was such a fun time! I am so glad they moved closer to us and that we'll get to see each other more often! Oh - and we didn't get to play cornhole because it was raining. I don't even know what that game is, but I'm excited to learn! We did have yummy homemade ice cream and apple pie though :)

Welcome Holland Fitzpatrick Sept 8, 2011

I wish I could claim her as my own,
but at least I can claim her as my BEAUTIFUL niece!

So tiny, so precious

So peaceful

Having recently left the presence of Heavenly Father
and Jesus Christ, she must be now wondering what
is now happening to her in this earth life!

And, getting a little tired thinking about it :)

The proud parents THE NIGHT she was born!
They don't look tired at all!
That is yet to come :)

Another family portrait

One proud aunt holding her at 3 days old.
More pictures to come!
But, I am so happy they're so close by for the next few months!

One last adventure... Great Point Light House

One of the things to do on the kids "Bucket List" for the summer was to go out to the Great Point Light House which is at the very tip of the island. This is a little bit of an undertaking because you need a special beach permit in order to drive out on the sand, and it takes about an hour to get there because you can only drive about 15 mph on the sand.

Well, it just so happens that this is where Amanda worked all summer and invited us to come out to "volunteer" for a morning! We were able to follow her out (and avoid paying the $150 beach permit fee!), get a personalized tour inside the lighthouse (which isn't usually open) and then help to pick up trash along the beach. It was a beautiful day and a very cool experience.

I had never driven on sand before. Did you know that you have to deflate your tires to about 13 psi's instead of the usual 32 or 33?

Here's our lovely Jeep who did well on the sand!

We also passed some beautiful ponds along our
drive and saw some ducks and geese which the
kids told me I had to take a picture of!

When we arrived, the first thing
we did was climb up the lighthouse!

Amanda & the twins

Smiling.
Not something she does for cameras very often :)

OK - So, these are shacks without
electricity, water, etc. But, people come
and stay in them for glorified camping.
Ummm... no thanks.
I'll drive out to the tip instead!

This is the light inside!
Nice and Big!

After we climbed down all the steps,
we got ready to gather some trash!

Sadly, it was INCREDIBLE the amount of
trash we were able to gather in only a short
distance. I think in total... over 100 pieces!

One of the very cool things about Great Point is that this is where a lot of the seals are located. This one got very close to us, and I have to admit, I even stopped to watch it for like 10 minutes! It would surface... have a staring contest with us and then dive back under and pop up a minute later in a different location. The kids had fun trying to figure out where it would pop out next!





And, finally, me. At the very tip of the island! Or... as far as humans could go. They did have the last few yards blocked off to preserve the area for the seals and the birds... pipping clovers, I believe!

It was such a fun morning!!
Thank you Amanda for letting us come out with you!

The next day we left Nantucket... It was a very, very fun summer. Nantucket is absolutely beautiful and I am glad I got to experience a summer on the island! I met some amazing people, enjoyed being a member of the small LDS contingent, and look forward to a future visit in a few weeks when I fly back to pick up their mini and drive it back to DC... with a few stops along the way, like Boston and my dad's!

Please touch! Ummm... No thanks!

Since the kids didn't have any camp options as the summer wound down, I was the camp director. Luckily, the Mariah Mitchell Association still had some things going on. Mariah Mitchell Association, for lack of better words, is the science and preservation organization on the island. They have a small aquarium, two observatories, a natural history museum, etc. The kids did a few of their camps during the summer and LOVED it. They would go digging in the beach or the marshes to find creatures!

Well, I took them to the aquarium and on one adventure where they sorted through some ocean creatures that were found. This is NOT my forte. Quite gross, I think. But, glad there are other people who enjoy this type of thing. And, the kids I nanny for LOVE IT!

At the aquarium... digging in the tank
I didn't put my hands anywhere near it!

This was our next adventure. The two people below worked for MMA and went out to collect whatever was in the water in to their net. Then, they brought it back and all the kids could sort it! Again, my hands stayed on the camera :)

Hmmm... a crab and oyster

Don't remember what that was,
but he's so happy he found it!

Another crab.
How can they pick it up?!!

The twins really learned a lot at the camps for MMA and new the actual names of so many of the different types or sand and water creatures. I was so impressed!

Prep for the Hurricane... that never came

Growing up I lived through Hurricane Bob one summer while I was in RI. I wish we had digital cameras back then because my dad took the coolest picture of me after I had just run out to my front yard and stood there in the wind. My crazy, frizzy hair was completely blown at a 90 degree angle and I was tilting to one side because of the strong forces of the wind.

So, I was kind of excited to hear that another Hurricane was coming our way. I wasn't as excited knowing that I was on an island this time, but we lived mid-land and I felt pretty safe. All week long I had seen people taking their boats out of the water, the basics at the one grocery store were completely gone, and it was the talk of the town!

Well, some areas of the eastern seaboard got slammed with the hurricane. But, we got clouds on Saturday and then a very strong wind and sun on Sunday! No rain even.

People went to lots of work though preparing their house. I guess you can never be too prepared, although I thought this was a bit over the top considering we were never on the "direct hit" line of the hurricane.

On Saturday evening I went to go look at the beaches and the waves. I couldn't see very far because of the clouds, but the surf was rough! It was pretty to watch and it made me think about the power of Heavenly Father controlling the elements!


On my drive back to the house, I had to stop and take a picture. I had passed this many times before all summer long and it always made me laugh! This house had these tin statues in front of their yard. They were very bright and very unique!
But, this one always made me laugh. It's some kind of "person" but it's offering advice for 5 cents! Ha! I just thought that was really quite creative! I asked it a question about what I should do with my life/career, but since I didn't have any change on me it didn't answer. Advice doesn't come free these days :)