Christmas Wish List

Since I am making everyone else start pondering what they would like for Christmas I thought I might do a little online shopping myself to gather my "Wish List". Wearing boots makes winter more enjoyable so I am always dreaming of new boots to add to my small collection (three pairs). Oh the joy of the internet so you can dream right at your desk!!! These are some of them:

Amish Friendship Bread ...........the Real Story

I had never heard of Amish Friendship Bread till Andrea dropped by with a bag of starter, directions and a few muffins to try. As she was explaining about Amish Friendship bread she was saying that a friend of hers loves it and couldn't find the recipe anywhere and eventually had to purchase the starter becuase supposedly "only the Amish know how to make it". Then I was talking with my mom about it and she was saying that some starters were really old like hundreds of years old. I of course just went along with these assumptions, until last night when I discovered that Amish Friendship bread is ALL over the internet!!! I found at least ten sites that not only tell you how to make the starter but the detailed and labor intensive (okay not really labor intensive but it sounds good) 10 day instructions that you can print off. So all my fantasies about this ancient Amish secret have been dashed and crushed and I am not sure how I will go on. I will make more Amish Friendship bread and next I am doing a sourdough starter, which interestingly enough I discovered that Amish Friendship Bread starter is a Sourdough starter sans the milk. I have discovered a lot about starters last night through my accomplise Google. Thanks Google for making me a bit smarter last night you always come through. Oh and here is a funny article about Amish Friendship Bread.

P.S. If anyone would like a Amish Friendship Bread starter I will have about 7 to give away, the bread is yummy to eat an excellent treat just let me know.

We've Expanded

I have finally found a kitchen table and chairs for a good price and that fits in our tiny little kitchen area and that will fit more than 2.5 people comfortably!! So now we can invite people over to eat or play games without cramming them on the tiny table!!! We got the whole set for a mere $135 and will be refinishing it eventually. So be looking for your invite!!

Does Anyone Know....

of a drycleaner that picks up and delivers in the Orem area??

Neighbor Kids

(Disclaimer: This is just a google search picture not the real children)
I would like to just share a great story about my neighbor's little girls. I had a few hula hoops left over from our garage sale that I thought they might enjoy playing with so I told them to come over so I could give them a surprise. Since little kids are always very reliable when they are going to get something they came over one evening to pick up their surprise. I gave them the hula hoops and then asked them if they knew how to hula hoop and both assured me they did and that they could even jump rope with! They then gave me a wonderfully humerous demonstration of their jumping and hulaing skills and instructions on how to properly hula hoop. Luckily I have many great neighborhood kids that always put a smile on my face and brighten my day with their funny sayings and amazing talents!! Thanks for having fun children that I get to enjoy!!!

Holiday Shopping

As the Holiday Season comes close I am starting to plan on what I am getting everyone and how much everything will cost so we can budget it in. I get soo overwhelmed with christmas shopping becuase I hate trying to figure out what someone wants and when I do finally decide on something then I am worried someone else will get them the same thing or that they hate it and return it. Thus, I try to avoid purchasing gifts for anyone and leave it to the last minute. This year I am working on it being a bit different but we will see how it pans out. So far I have Jesse bought for (becuase he picked out part of it) and that is all!! I have to come up with something cool for my sister and her husband that will hold up on the way to Thailand with our's and Thailand's amazing postal service, all of my immediate in-laws (which the lovely Jesse is absolutely no help whatsoever), my parents (which as most kids feel with parents that they have everything and what they don't you can't afford and they always say "whatever you give will be wonderful") and a few friends (not as hard here becuase most will just give me a straight answer). So yes I am feeling the anxiety building up slowly and starting to push it back as far away as I can but hopefully I will get my act together and start the present shopping!!

The Grocery Store

Last night I ran over to the grocery store to pick up some items to make this Amish Friendship bread. As I was perusing the aisles and chatting on the phone with Celina a thought came to me that the whole grocery store should be alphabetized by product. This may seem strange but hear me out, think of a movie store things are sorted alphabetically within their food groups. If all the frozen items were sorted this way it would make finding those obscure items on your grocery list a lot easier to find! For example, the produce section would all be sorted starting with A and down to Z if there were any Z products. I would like to see a store done in this fashion becuase I would spend a lot less time there!

Sewing Project 2

I finished two aprons and then a knitting needle holder for my intro sewing projects and have found my next project to undertake. It all started with my mom being worried that Charlie will be cold in the winter if he is outside while I am at work. So I googled dog coats and found some but it was a minimum of $40 to get a nice warm water resistant coat for Charlie. I found a free pattern on the internet and am going to try it out. If it is ugly then it doesn't really matter it is only going to be seen by the dog and he doesn't care one bit what it like!

P.S. Celina you know you will be heavily involved in this endeavor so get lots of rest and eat up so you will not be nutrient deprived!!!

Annie M. Design

If anyone is interested in attending my cousin's amazing jewelry boutique show it is going to be held Thursday November 13th and Saturday November 15th. I have a great necklace from her and love pretty much everything she makes!! Check out her blog for more information.