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Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Happy Housewife

Since getting married, I have become very interested in cooking, and baking and crafting and creating.  I want to become the perfect wife and (one-day) mother.  
I am slowly learning and in's and out's of domesticating.  
Pinterest makes my life easier somedays, 
and somedays a little harder.
It's like this giant to-do list. Everything I want to do now and in the future.  Not only recipes I want to make this month, but pictures I want to take with my family 12 years from now.  Sometimes it is disastrous. Other times, inspiring.  Anyway, I have been whipping up a lot of new recipes lately, this first one.. to die for.
These lemon blueberry muffins were so good.  I got the recipe from Smitten Kitchen and 
adapted it a little bit to my liking. 
I used a glaze of one cup of powdered sugar and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice.  Such a good choice.
The contrast between the sweet blueberries 
and the tart lemon glaze was prime.
Perfect sunday morning breakfast.
The best part about this was that I had left over batter so instead of getting a self-induced stomach ache from eating all the excess batter, I poured it into muffin cups and froze it.  Last night I remembered them in there and let them defrost for about 15 minutes.
Be sure you let them defrost in the muffin tray.  They will freeze pretty flat and need the support of the tray when they defrost or they will spill out all over the counter.  
And I don't know if it was just me, but they seemed even better the second time around.  I have already decided that I am going to make them again this weekend for conference!

I've been obsessed with muffin tin meals lately.  I don't know what it is about those little perfect sized portions that make them so cute.  My first attempt was muffin tin lasagna.  Quite delectable I might add.  Unfortunately, I didn't snap a picture of them.  My next experiment was breakfast one morning.  
These turned out so delicous.  I put bread crumbs in the bottom, wrapped some ham strips around each cup then filled with hashbrowns and poured an egg mixture on top.  Popped them in the oven for a few minutes and voila! Instant breakfast cups.
Last saturday I took the dare.  I got up early to make these little babies.  They were pretty time consuming.  They seemed to take forever, especially since I was hungry and could smell them baking but didn't want to spoil my appetite.
I Intorduce, Home Made Pop-Tarts
Half way through the filling process.


They even look like cute little pop tarts!
 Icing and Sprinkles make them more realistic (:

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Happy Campers

I know it's a little overdue, but better late than never right?
Labor Day was a blast. We had a Ruesch Family Reunion and went camping up Provo Canyon. Too bad Brittney and Clayton were in Puerta Vallarta Mexico, (let's keep it simple)
and couldn't enjoy the fun with us.
I am sure they would have much rather been in the mountains,
Sleeping in a tent, than at an all-inclusive resort getting to "know each other".
(;
Just Kidding!
Regardless, we had a great time and it was so fun to
spend time not only with my immediate family,
but with the other Ruesch's that we don't see very often!
And mostly, I love camping at camp grounds with showers!
Stefan and I had our own tent and we slept in it the first night, but we had no air mattress, just sleeping bags. The aches and pains in my back reminded me of this ALL the next day.
So night #2, My gracious parents insisted that we sleep in their tent which consisted of:
Mom, Dad, Sydney, Brooke, Chris, Cousin Chad, Stefan and Myself.
It was a great bonding time! Especially since everybody in that tent had gas from dinner.
They had air mattresses = I slept like a baby.
Nestled between Chrissy and Stef.
Presh.
So like any other Ruesch planned activity, we obviously had to camp close enough to some sort of civilization because we ALWAYS seem to forget something, or think of something that would be convenient at the last minute. I think there were probably 9 trips to the Heber City Wal-Mart, conveniently located 30 miles away, that weekend. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

My cute Brother

Sydney Sue, Brooke ditched me for her cousins all weekend
The Many Stages of Stefan




































He cooked the most amazing dutch oven dinner, yum!
He also got very acquainted with this guy over the weekend...
Every time Stefan was nowhere to be found.. He was hiding in the tent playing Angry Birds on Chris' iPad.
And it has been my worst enemy ever since.
But overall, the trip was so fun! I miss my family already!
We made lots of good memories though, and for that I am so thankful.
and STILL working on his camera smile. we will get there one day.





Monday, September 12, 2011

Itchin' for an Infant

As I mentioned in my last post.. I am baby hungry.
1. baby hungry



adj. bay·bee hun·gri
An idiom most commonly used in America - used almost exclusively by women, to express an overwhelming desire to have children and become a mother. Although it's not something that all women go through, it is most commonly seen to occur between ages 23 through 35. This is something both single women and women in committed relationships can experience - partially due in part to maternal instinct and the so-called biological clock; social norms/expectations for a majority of women that in that age range; and on occasion also due to religious perspectives on family life.
I think they are a little off on the "affected age group". At least in Utah, we see girls of a much younger age group being affected by this so called syndrome. Me, being one of them.
This was not my plan. When I got married, I was certain I didn't want children for at least 3 years. But the elements of a married student ward set in and I started to crave.
I tried to put on my brave face and pretend that I still didn't want little tykes, but the truth is, I want a little one so bad I can taste it.
I know what the responsible thing to do is... wait. And logically, this makes sense to my brain. But my heart has a different opinion. My biological clock is telling me it's time!
Stefan and I joke about being pregnant, but I know deep down inside, we both really wish it was the case!
Disclaimer: If you are of the Male species, I suggest you stop reading at this point. The contents of this post may be a little too informative.
---------------------------------------------
So my period was a couple days late, like 4, this month. So on Friday night, Stefan and I walked across the street to get a pregnancy test. All smiles and giggles, joking about "what if". Really, this was all for fun and I was almost 95% positive I wasn't pregnant. I am on birth-control for pete sakes. But the desire for that little test to be positive doubled, tripled, and probably even quadrupled in those next 20 minutes. We walked back home and I did my duty. A very surreal experience by the way, peeing on that stick. Never thought of the day when I would pee on a stick, and here it was. Magical to say the least. Especially with the bathroom door wide open and Stefan standing there with a grin from ear to ear. We waited the long 3 minutes. And then it was the moment of truth.....
Negative




P.S. If you are not familiar with pregnancy tests and their results, this means:
Hi, you are not cool enough to have a baby growing inside of you. Go cry now.
And that's what I did.
Not really, I handled it very maturely. But I couldn't help but be sad. I know that children will come in due time, and probably at a better time when we are better prepared for them. I just can't wait. Literally, I want little Stefan's running around the house naked and yelling and throwing food. I want to start our family.
But I decided that for now, I am thrilled to have more "us" time with my favorite person in this world, Stefan Paul Ericksen.
I love you.





Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Wedding Weekend

With weddings comes stress, anxiety, sleepless nights, expenses, etc.  But most importantly, it brings family.  It was so great to have all of our family in town for the wedding.  And with it not being my own wedding, I was able to relax and enjoy their company.  I rarely get to see my Mother's side of the family.  They are all over the country and seldom get together.  Seeing them and all their kids was just what I needed.  

Seeing my own family was great too.  They're far away and we see them occasionally, but it is never enough.  My sisters are basically doubled in size every time I see them.  It's crazy how fast they grow.  Sydney is such a sweetheart.  Stefan told her on the phone a few weeks ago that we had chosen her to spend the night at our apartment.  My mom said she was going around telling Brooke that she wasn't allowed to go to my apartment. Then she says, in her adorable little deaf-person voice, nanner nanner nanner.  Her personality is so strong and it's the cutest thing, you can't even get mad at her when she's being snooty, it's so funny. 
Brooke actually ended up staying at my apartment the night before the wedding cause Sydney wanted to play with her cousins.  She was scared to sleep on the couch all alone so I let her in the bed with Stefan and I.  Needless to say, I didn't sleep more than 10 minutes that night.  
She is so sweet... especially when she is sleeping (:
I just have to say, I have the absolute most wonderful husband in the world.  He is so adorable too.  He loved seeing the family, but he especially loved all the babies! He is so baby hungry... me too a little bit. 
Shh, don't tell anybody.  I'm not supposed to want kids yet.
This is too cute.  Basically, he is my life and I love how weddings remind me of the way I felt on May 6th, 2011.  Just 4 short months ago.  I am so blessed to have found the most selfless, loving, and caring person to be my companion.  My love for him has not only doubled, but quadrupled for Stefan. 
He is the apple to my pie
We are still working on his camera smile...
We got to celebrate our 4 month anniversary yesterday.  What a weird thought.. we have been married 1/3rd of a year! Holy cow, where does the time go.  
I surprised Stefan with dinner at Happy Sumo.  It was something different and fun.  I blind folded him and MADE him keep his eyes closed while I drove to sushi.  He said he would have never guessed... Duh.
Happy Fourth at Happy Sumo!