Kim got MARRIED!!!!

March 19, 2009 

I moved from Denver Colorado, to Logan Utah my senior year of High School. It was a while before I found my little group of friends. initially, Kim and I actually really didn't like each other. I have come to realize that it is not out of the ordinary for a 17 year old to feel threatened by a new girl moving in to a small High School in a small town that rarely get new kids. Anyways, after soccer season started in August of 2005, Kim and I started actually conversing. We soon realized that we both apparantly "hated" eachother for no valid reason! Haha, after we got over our initial fight over nothing, we became such good friends!I am so grateful for her friendship that year, and our friendship that has remained in tact over the years! That was a really hard year for me, and it was so nice to have a good solid friend to turn to. 

We both graduated and I went to BYU-Idaho, and she went to Iowa Western Community College. Then last year we both transferred, Kim ended up at the University of Iowa, and I was accepted to Brigham Young University Provo. Kim met Traegan and I couldn't be happier for them! Traegan is so sweet and treats her so well!

The weddding was such a fun reunion of old friends, and everything and everyone looked beautiful. Kim's mom Jane Olsen sewed all of the Bridesmaids dresses, and even Kim's wedding dress! They were married in the Logan Temple on a fairly fair weathered Thursday. The luncheon was great food, and me and Lindy were smitten with the rasberry spritzer ;) hahaha The reception was a blast, especially when all of us soccer girls were together on the dance floor! hah, anyways, I really do love you Mrs. Kim White and I am so happy for you and Traegan!!!!!!!

Cinnabons... Looking for a healthy cinnamon roll recipe?...You should probly keep looking.

Tonight I made a heavenly masterpiece that I dare say has roughly a week's caloric intake in ONE...but I say GO BIG OR GO HOME! especially in the sweets dept. There is no use in making something that is supposed to be really UN-healthy, HEALTHY. (sorry sis, I disagree with you on this one...) I discovered this recipe, and found it valid! 

The experience was not my first attempt at making cinnamon rolls, but it was indeed the first time at THIS particular recipe, which is always a bit of a gamble.... Considering I usually have a hard time even with a reliable recipe, tring a new one can definately be some risky biz. I got off to a rough start, but I didn't give up, and they turned out AMAZING. 

ONE TRIP TO SMITHS, AND THREE TRIPS TO THE CREAMERY later, the finished result was well worth it! Haha, so just to give you a..."flavor" if you will, of Monica in the Kitchen.

1. First I seemed to think pudding was made with water. FALSE! It indeed gets it's delicous-ness from milk. Once you mix water with pudding mix, I testify to you that it is GONE. You can't strain, in any way, the water, from, the powder. 

2. Yeast is mixed with warm water, not milk. .. no questions asked. just for your own knowledge, I didn't do this.....

* These two errors were my first, and only errors, and they definately required a trip back to the creamery for more yeast and another package of vanilla pudding. I had already gone to the creamery for those two things minutes before, because I had forgotten them at the grocery store, about an hour before...haha I'm sure the clerks at the creamery were laughing amongst themselves...haha oh well, they were soooooo good!!! Here is the recipe! ENJOY!!! 

CINNABON' STYLE CINNAMON ROLLS :) 

Dough: 

1/2 cup warm water 

2 packages dry Yeast 

2 Tbs. sugar 

1 package vanilla pudding 

1/2 cup melted butter 

2 eggs 

1 tsp. salt 

6 cups flour 

Filling: 

1 cup melted butter

1 cup light brown sugar (haha make sure you go with the LIGHT if your watching the calories!! wait whaaaat? hahaha please just enjoy them, and be me, fight yourself from from trying to calculate calories on these-- save yourself a guilt trip! They are well worth a splurge!) 

4 tsp. cinnamon 

1 cup granulated sugar 

Cream Cheese Frosting: 

1 8 oz.  package of cream cheese softened 

1/2 cup butter 

1 tsp. vanilla 

3 cups powdered sugar 

1 TBS. milk 

 

mix water, yeast, and sugar til dissolved. set aside. prepare pudding as it says on box. add eggs, butter, and salt; mix well. Add yeast mixture and blend well. Gradually add flour (make sure you have a big bowl, 6 cups is a lot of flour!!) Transfer to a floured surface to knead until dough is smooth. Put in a greased bowl and let double in size. After it has doubled, punch it (love that part! haha) and then let it double again. 

Roll out and make into two large rectangles. Butter the surfaces of them and then pour the filling inside. Roll and cut with dental floss, it's easier to do it that way. Put on a greased pan and let them rise again for about 20 minutes. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes. Put the cream cheese frosting on them to make them DIVINE!! 

People raved about these. Seriously, way legit!!! 

The Wilk Womens Restroom remodels and goes on an "Automatics Overload" !?!?!

OVERLOAD ON THE AUTOMATIC-NESS IN THE BATHROOM??? I THINK YES!!!!

So a few weeks ago I was taken back while using the restroom in the Wilkinson center, when all of a sudden I'm reaching for some T.P. and it starts beeping at me and automatically dispensing. Wow. Ok, so this is alright I guess, definately a new sensation, but I can get used to it. 

 Accompanied by the automatic flush, there is a lot of stuff going on here without me doing a whole lot of anything. Then I proceed to the sink where there is automatic soap dispensers AND automatic water faucets. It doesn't end there, I'm starting to feel a bit distressed and over whelmed as I go to search for some paper towel dispensers, but all I can find is this giant silver boxish thing. I am pulling any sort of lever on it I can find, when I see someone else working this thing. K, so there are two small holes where you insert your hands, and then you pull them out as a massive wind of air blows them dry on the way out. INTEEEENSE!!!!! and a bit frightening I might add!!! No joke!!!!!

You exit this bathroom with an automatic squirt of suck the moisture out of your hands anti-bacterial soap. I don't know what they were thinking, but it almost makes for an inter-galactic restroom experience. I suppose they are attempting to make it as "restful" and "effortless" as possible, because I feel like I'm just giving things the o.k. signal to go, the entire time I'm in there. I'm not sure how comfortable I am with all this "automatic" nonsense. It's so very foreign to not even be able to control home much toilet paper you want to use. How much TP I use should be up to me, not some fancy machine. I'm sure it's just an attempt to not waste as much paper, but it's definately a new phenomenon that has taken me some time to adjust to. In all honesty there is nothing wrong with a good old fashioned bathroom... I miss being able to control my bathroom experience, not having it control me. Has anyone else noticed this? I don't know what sparked this change, but the bathroom in the Wilk is just not the same as it once was. There is a comfort in knowing you are in control of your time in the restroom, but they are just trying to get you in and out, just like everything else now days. Nothing like IN N' OUT though...that's just fine. 

Baby Daegan's Visit!

     It was so fun to have baby Daegan come visit last week! Brock had to come down to BYU to take a test for one of his Independent Study classes, and so he and Amy and Daegan came over later on to just hang out. Daegy  is getting so cute all the time, and the rolls just keep coming! The more the merrier! Brock and Amy are such great parents, it's crazy how fast it all happened! Sometimes I forget they have a baby, because I go a few months without seeing them..but I am reminded whenever I see Daegan, what a blessing and miracle he was to all of us! 

     I have started something new to help me with my Spanish. Every night before I go to bed I listen to a talk from General Conference in Spanish. I think it will be a good thing to do to help me gain more gospel vocabulary. 

MC HAMMER/VANILLA ICE