Bread #5 - Pretzel Bread

I am behind the game on breads, and Kathleen had been dying for me to make pretzel bread.  So since it was her birthday I made it.  The dough seemed to be waaaay to dry using the recipe I added about a 1/4 of a cup of extra milk to make it more dough like.  

And then when I boiled it - the boiling water was bubbling over.  

The bread seemed waaaay brown too.  

But you know what this was the best bread yet it was delicious!  

The recipe is so simple it's very forgiving, perfect for Easter.  

Everyone here tried different toppings with it and enjoyed it so much we have just a slice or two left.  I am pretty sure I will make this again maybe in bun form.

PS acceptable toppings include butter, ranch dressing, cream cheese, cream cheese and strawberries, and cheese.  Other toppings we wished for beer cheese, nacho cheese, honey butter, and garlic butter.

Here's the link to the recipe note I added the extra milk and used sea salt rather than regular salt.  

http://m.reviewjournal.com/life/food-and-cooking/pretzel-bread-twist-old-standard 

14 on14 April

This month taking these was a challenge.    Dustin was gone, I spent most of the day in meetings but I got them in.  In retrospect I think I should have done 6-8 picture a day not 14.  But here they are.  

1 - my ridiculous hair and sunburn to start the day.

2 - breakfast water + bagel

3 - mailing taxes ick 

4 - post office

5 - my tulips about ready. Luckily they hadn't bloomed because it snowed Monday night.

6/7 the squirrel that ran up my leg then mocked me.

8 - glasses at dinner

9 - Julie and Maya 

10 - paper scraps from a project 

11/12 - Kathleen ice cream and envelopes

13 - gathering hangers for laundry

14 - glasses off good night

Book 33 - 7 An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess

What's that?  Yes I am on a reading roll.  Probably because I have a lot of spare time to myself thru the week with Dustin gone or working late.  But regardless I just finished 7 - An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess by Jen Hatmarker.  I thought this was a book about purging when I started it.  It's actually not.   

It's actually more a book about fasting from several things that are excess and using that time to draw closer to god.  It was a quick read.  I am not sure I am ready for the 7 month long fasting challenges anytime soon but many of the ideas within the book can be done in smaller chunks so perhaps I will start small.  And it's also still a good reminder on things I need to work on.

I started book 34 the other day "Lean In" by Sheryl Sandberg however I am not enjoying it like I thought I would,  but we'll see how that goes. 

WIP Wednesday - #babyburfs room

This week I have made no progress on quilts.  I already posted #babyburf book I started so the only other work in progress is his room.  Which is very much in progress.  

This is because I ripped out the carpets Friday night.  What a difference this makes.  

The carpets have been here longer than me so 10+ years and while I have cleaned them once they were still gross.  This was a big debate for Dust and I as he still feels strongly we should have carpet for the baby - I could not disagree more.  

I won by just ripping them out while he was man timing.  And luckily they are in good shape.   Extra good.   I was very pleased.   Kathleen helped me remove the tack strips and staples and soon they will get a good thorough cleaning, followed by a new coat of seal.  But for now I feel extra lucky they are not rotted or damaged.  I consider that a major win.  

#Babyburf's baby book

I debated making a baby book for #babyburf because we already have project life.  But I figure if we have more than one kid I'll want to give them each their own book.  With that said I knew I didn't want a traditional one where you fill in the blank.  I also didn't want a traditional pastel baby scrapbook like I have seen with a bunch of firsts and goofy stickers.  So instead I bought a Sn@p album and dug out paper and embellishments in blues, greens, black and white that I already had.  This is much more me and it goes together super simply.

I made sort of a fake "Polaroid" for the front cover and I plan to add a photo of him when he's born matted on the star paper.    I also want to include the date somehow maybe with a date stamp.  It was a pretty simple design but I didn't want to much busy-ness.

The pages inside will be a combo of pockets, sleeves and 6x8s.  These first two are 6x8s slid into a protector that came with the album.  

This one is our social media baby announcement (it's brighter in real life).  I also have some personal journaling I have been writing that goes with this but I haven't determined how I want to do that.  Perhaps with an sealed envelope for him to open when he's old enough.

This is his first baby photo aka ultrasound.  I have had that bingo card for like 6 years and when I saw it had a 6 and 16 I knew I should finally use it since that's his due date.

That's it so far aside from that personal journaling.  I figure at some point we'll put in a baby bump photo or two but then I am waiting to fill pages until he's born.  I also might include the pregnancy test photo but it's really kind of a horrible photo so maybe not. 

WIP Wednesday - Arrow Quilt/Nursery/Sushi Quilt

So I finished the quilt top for the arrow quilt.  However I have no place to pin it up right now due to the nursery projects in progress.   So I laid it on our bed which makes it hard to photograph.  But here it is.   I have been envisioning the backing in some kind of tangerine orange but alas that is not available in my stash.  So I haven't started it yet.  I might have a yellow vintage sheet that will work but the new gym equipment is blocking that part of my stash.  So it waits.  

The nursery projects - I have been reducing my craft supplies in the nursery so they can move into my closet.  My purging has reduced the active stash from 3 bags to 1 of stash.  And it's organized by project.  Winning. And tomorrow after work - I hope to start ripping out the carpet in the baby's room pending Troy or Dustin getting home early enough to help me swap beds and move the bins around in the babies room tonight.  

Sushi Quilt - I actually started the back of this based on dimensions I estimated (no place to pin fabric up see arrow quilt update).  I am hoping to get this one ready for quilting by the May IMQG event.

(ps I wrote this yesterday but never hit post).

#myweekinscraps

Because I needed a new project like I needed a whole I my head I started one back in Feburary. I have been following this artist adamjk from adamjk.com on Instagram for a while now and I always love his paper bits from each week.  

And since I already was saving many paper bits for project life I figured this was up my alley.  And now I when I forget to put in my paper bits I can have them in photo form instead which takes up much less space.  

Basically here's how this documentation project works:

1: I save my paper bits each week (I actually usually save them in my phone case and bigger bits in my purse).

2: On Monday (or really whatever day I remember I snap a picture of them).

3: I then Instagram said photo with hashtag #myweekinscraps

That's it.  I actually love seeing my scraps.  I save them all for Project Life however I find sometimes I still forget them and when I do into the trash they go. These are neat little additions to my efforts to record daily life.  If I was still doing a year in a jar I would add these there but that was last year.

2014 Best of Life Video - Winter 2014

Instead of creating videos for each month I needed to downsize this year and with that I decided I would do them quarterly.  This way we'd still have these videos which I actually really do like but we'll have less of them.  They'll still include the everyday but will be hopefully slightly less boring.   Here's the first one for 2014 - the song is Send Me on My Way - By Rusted Root.   If the below preview won't work you can find the video here on youtube.  However with this reduced approach I took a whole lot less video but I'm sure that will change in the next few months as Jono and Lo get married and we have a baby. 

One

We have been married for one year (as of Sunday). We went to Bluebeard to celebrate. We still agree Black Market is tops.

We have been preparing for being parents. 
We bought things for the baby. 
We really started to see the baby move and grow. 
We painted and purged to make space for the baby. 
We discussed the idea of possibly (later) adopting a foster kid or two.

We spent one month focusing on saving. 

We actually saved quite a bit. 

We also spent money on things like a new home gym, a new dishwasher, a baby rocker, crib, and a new photo printer. 

We started tracking all our spending. 

We gave more. 

We went on a babymoon to the Pacific Northwest. 

We discovered we like Oregon and Washington even with their whacky weather. 

We ate many fun things. 

We saw many fun things.

We learned maybe we aren't so bad at comprise. 

He started a new job. 

She continued to reap the benefits of work from home. 

We got sick - 2 rounds of the flu, one of food poising. 

We cared for each other. 

We got a new roommate. 

We bought a second car.

We had people over. 

We went out with friends.

We had quiet moments as two and as one and one. 

We got thru what seemed like the never ending winter and did result in two ridiculously high gas bills. 

We started new small groups.

We began watching Lost together. 

We spent more time together in the last three months than probably the entire first 9 of our marriage. 

Dustin - 

 One year has passed. Each day we is a blessing even when there are challenges. Many things have changed in this year. Many adventures have taken place. And daily we work on the struggle of marriage. You constantly say it's not easy, and my easy going nature finds that it's not really that hard. I have found that even though I can't stand dishes left in the sink, and clothes not put into the hamper, washer or at least your spare room, that being married is a joy. I love waking up next to you, having discussions with you, going on dates, seeing you care. I'm still as much if not more in love with you as I was one year ago or when we had our first date of planting tomatoes. Soon we'll be welcoming our first baby and I eagerly await this new challenge and new dynamic in our relationship. In year two let's get out of our comfort zone, let's go someplace new, and let's start raising a child of god. 

 Love Katie

(on a side note, I clearly need to work on taking more photos of "us" I have about 1000 of Dustin from this last three months and just these with me). 

The Girlfriend Scrap Quilt

Let me just say I adore this quilt.  Luckily I adore the recipient as much because otherwise I would struggle with giving it away more than I do.  Before I started this it occurred to me that my gf Lynley has been my constant and loyal friend for over 13 years and I have not yet made her a quilt.  She has listened to me complain about dates, my family, struggles with my faith and oh so much more.  And then I considered why I had overlooked such a great friend why had I not made someone I love like I do her a quilt and it struck me because she has not yet married nor had a baby not had major life traumas.  When that thought popped in my head I immediately wanted push this idea away, and I instantly knew I had to do something about that.  That is not the me I know - I want to celebrate and cherish all my girlfriends whether they want to get married and have babies or not!  I want to give quilts because they are like an extension of me they are essentially my art. 

So I set aside the sushi quilt to start this quilt intending to give Lynley it for her birthday.  Well I missed that date but never mind that it can be the it's not your birthday anymore girlfriend quilt.  I started this to get out of my comfort zone with prints.  This quilt is extra special,  it's extra special because it has pieces of all these other quilts I have made or am making.  

I also super love the binding the newsprint I bought waaaay back in 2008 for the stash and the black pearl 2014 the really worked on this project too.  Anyhow don't be surprised if I start making more super scrappy quilts because I love this.  

PS and now that I have given her the quilt I must add she's getting married this October!