KOLOB

This was actually up where Colten proposed, i think just before he did?

These are last summer's photos, but we didn't take any for our first trip this year, but that's cuz it was a work trip i'll tell you what. haha. Colten and Kelby had to put up tons of fence, and Kathie and I attacked the cabin, mice tend to reside there over the winter no matter how good they close it up, so we have to clean everything up, but now its all clean and ready for all summer long! I love Kolob. I don't think I went up there once while Colten was gone though, I didn't really have anyone to go with, and its not the same without Colten. It's a beautiful place no matter what though, and I can't wait to spend weekends up at the cabin with my hubby!

In other news, the work on the house is officially beginning today folks. Today! Colten is going to begin the digging/whatever to get our lot ready. I'm excited!

Ticked

positivity leaving for 2 seconds...





i'm pretty sure a denny's employee jacked my phone. my brand new phone. my brand new smart phone that i was having so much fun with. i need to get over it, and i'm almost there, but i'm still bugged and resisting the urge to just drive over there and search all of their things till i find it. i went to verizon though and put it on the 'lost or stolen' list and so they can never use the phone, they could try and sell it though so i'm keeping my eyes open on ksl or craigslist to find it.



ok bringing positivity back...


our house plans are finished. and they are going through the city and should be reviewed on wednesday and hopefully pass the requirements. :) i'm excited! it will be good. good good.

relay for life was this weekend, and i sang at it, but i'm not sure if it sounded good or not because of the wind and idk the music was really loud but i think it went ok...

we went to vegas and listened to an older couple that colten knew on his mission give their non-homecoming talk/homecoming talk and they were an awesome couple, colten loves them and i can easily see why.

well, this is whats happening in the iverson home. sorry no pics. have a good day. watch your phones so they dont get stoled.

Honey Oat Bread Recipe

I don't have pics, but just trust me on this- this is yummmmmy bread. It's gone before there's time for pictures! It's quoted by my brother-in-law to be "unreal" and my sister-in-law as "delicious" I can promise you, you won't regret trying this out. This is the bread that I make regularly. I love it, Colten loves it, and I haven't found anyone yet who hasn't thoroughly enjoyed it.

And it's easy.

Start out with about 5 cups of flour, though you might use about 7 cups altogether
Sift the flour! even if it says presifted, i sift it anyway
2 eggs
3 Tbls of soy lecithin OR dough enhancer (can be found at leavitts kitchen center) both work
1 cup oats
1/2 cup of honey (darker the honey, darker the bread will look)
2 Tbls of veg. oil
1 Tbls of salt
2 active dry yeast packets, or about 41/2 tsp of yeast if going out of a jar
2 1/2 cups warm water (actual recipe calls for 2 1/3 cups...i've done both it worked each time)
1 tablespoon sugar

I hope i don't make this sound too complicated, because its truly easy. if it were hard i wouldn't make it as often as i do, and i don't have a breadmaker.

First, get your water, it needs to be warm. my sister Jenny taught me the best trick or explanation for just how warm, "it's the right temperature when it the water doesn't feel like it's pinching your skin" ---that is the truth, test it with your pinky, there is a change in temperature where the water stops pinching. just make sure its not too hot. then add the sugar into the water, and the yeast. Stir with a spoon every once in a while to "proof?" it i think its called...

Then, sift the first 5 cups of flour mixed with the dough enhancer/soy lecithin into a big bowl. And throw everything else in there! What I do with the eggs- i crack the first one into the bowl, but the second one i crack into a separate bowl, whisk it, and use most of it for the bread, but I save a enough to brush the top of the dough right before it goes into the oven to help it look brown and beautiful when it comes out.

Once the yeast is ready, and added to the other ingredients, mix all together until it becomes hard to mix--then dump onto a counter that has flour (lots) on it and start playing with it! or kneading it--for technical terms. it starts out feeling like its not gonna turn into real dough, but just keep adding flour, getting your hands dirty, and kneading that dough like your life depends on it... when it feels a lot more sturdy, put it in a clean bowl and let it rise for around 45 min, it might rise fast, if it isnt then just give it time. (mine rose for an hour yesterday or more and was still grand)

Then punch it down and knead again! add flour obviously to make it less sticky, but you wont need as much flour this time. (if its really sticky, keep adding flour, I've never added too much flour and i've added a lot before) when its ready, separate into 2 or 3 loaves. i usually do 2 big loaves, but this is a alot of dough and would be fine for 3 medium sized loaves. Put in greased bread pans, and let rise a second time for 30-40 min, (this is a good time to preheat oven and leave the pans on top of the oven so they will rise even better) and then stick in the oven at 325 for 50-60 min. top of bread will look done a little sooner so make sure and go the full 50 at least because the browning created by the eggwash can be a tad deceiving.

I hope this didn't sound too crazy- it takes time, but I like it because I can start the recipe, then go do something else while it rises, come back and finish. I've experimented with this bread a couple times and it seems pretty fool proof. the texture has come out slightly different as I've changed the recipe, but I believe i've got it pretty much perfected. it's super delicious. just the sound of Honey Oat bread makes most of us go, "ooooo..... aaaaahhhhh" so for fun just try it out and see if ya like it.:)
Also- I usually make the full recipe and wrap one loaf in tinfoil and put it in the freezer, its still good when we thaw it out and use it. I'm not sure how long it would last in there...cuz we use it pretty quick, but I'd say it freezes pretty well.

Today.

Today is, what i like to joke as, housewife day. why? because i get to feel like a housewife a little bit more than usual. Today i do not have to work. Today i do not have school. Today i will make bread (because i haven't made it in a couple weeks now and we don't buy it so we've just been lacking) and i have decided to try my first attempt at homemade chicken noodle soup. Today i will have dinner prepared by the time my hubby is home. (i think...) Today i will not change from pajamas to regular clothes because i do not need to. Today i will be doing a lot of dishes. Today i will vacuum, clean the bathroom, wash our sheets, and do loads of laundry that are currently piled on the floor. Why all today you ask? because at my job, I do the scheduling for about 30 people, and yet I still ended up needing to work for the next seven days. Some double shifts, some late nights, and some making $ is in store starting tomorrow. So today is a precious day. a special day. Here I come bread- chicken noodle soup- and empty sink- although you three do not exist yet i am going to create you! yay!

I might leave the house for one thing, because today is pay day...and thats just uplifting no matter who ya are or where ya from.

Oh Susannah. I only have one ya know.

This fella, Forrest Barnard, is who my lil sister is marrying on Friday, April 22nd 2011. I only have one little sister- i spent most of my time being a little sister too so to have one that i could torture and yet be best friends with was so great. p.s. nana you know im still sorry i was such a bum to you at times growing up. i wuv you. this post is for you.

these are my most recent pics- obviously from our weddin day. but its hard to get pics when they live in idaho. we just needa be better at carrying a camera.

i love this picture. i just love it. sisters are sisters forever ya know? forever. and i'm like tearing up thinking about this lil sis. i love her. i'm so happy for her. i'm gonna bawl this weekend. she looks so pretty in her dress- refer to my cousins blog on the left hand side click on "Amy & Drew" and you will find some of her bridals.

random photo i had on my comp. funny- susannah and i sometimes (especially now that its even more special when we get to see each other) like to sit really close. hence, this is a small recliner, we both are in this recliner. and of course our cutiepatootie niece grace is sharing with the love. nana and i are nerds.

obviously you cant see her face, but her camo jacket, john deere hat w/flames, and her big ole shades make it impossible to not know its her. :) hahaha. this was us trying to figure our way through utah on a little road trip adventure in which we had to go pick up one of my good friends. this was fun. just fun. we needed that trip. nana, lets do this again sometime.

this was just another random pic- us at general conference last april i believe. its a pic from a phone which explains why it kinda looks weird.

i just wanted to dedicate a post all to my lil sis. because you know, she is my buddy for life and even after. i forget sometimes that there is one other person in this world who really does think a lot like me, talks like me, (cant tell the difference between us on the phone) laughs at the same exact stuff as me, and even laughs at my dumb jokes, and idk- someone to tell me im pretty when im feelin the opposite. she's always made me feel like i'm important. even when we were little she always wanted to be my twin (which drove me completely insane) it still made me feel good to know she wanted to be like me. but see, she was always the loving sister who wanted to go around and give the world a hug. and secretly i really wanted to be like her.

ya probably didnt know this, but when nana was little (im not gonna get into alll the details) she got really sick. we almost lost her. i still remember being a little gal laying in my bed and crying cuz i didn't want her to leave me. i knew my life wouldn't be the same if i didn't grow up with her. somehow, thanks to a loving Heavenly Father who answers prayers of little girls and of loving mothers (and everyone) susie q is still with us. and is doing awesome. i'm so lucky to have a good sister like her. i love my whole family- they are all amazing, but this post is dedicated to the baby of the fam- the caboose, the little gal who we tricked into believing bum was spelled bumb. (that was me and jesse who did that, still funny, high five jesse!) but it just goes to show how trusting she was and still is, and her innocent and loving spirit will always show us all up.

Forrest is about to be sealed for eternity to an angel. I couldn't have picked anyone better for her to spend the rest of her life with. I love these two amazing people. I am so excited for this weekend-most of all to be there to see my little sister get married in the temple. wow...it will be an incredible experience. I love you nana! Congrats on gettin hitched! :)

last of all, a poem, i wrote this for susannah December 12, 1008. she was feelin down and so i decided to throw somethin together quickly and it turned out great.

Dear Susannah,

You Rock My World.

Your just that kind of girl.

Rainbows are not as pretty as you

Thank good you have a normal size shoe.....................(if you know me you know i dont)

Lifes gonna get better i promise dude

I hope the laundry detergent i bought works for you..(i know, but it rhymed and i did buy some)

I love christmas-i know we'll have fun

even if this year isn't the 'best' one.

Life will keep goin after this new year,

everyone will be talking about how samuel killed that big deer (i am sooo random sometimes)

I love you sister don't ever forget

I promise that life will be good ready, get set!

You are a hottie no matter what anyone says

But even on the inside your prettier than flowers

This hard stuff ain't your fault

Don't hold up your feelings in a vault

Be strong---you go girl

Simply because you rock my world.

Love, Sammy

it made her laugh. thats what its purpose was. so there ya go people i have the best lil sister in the world. just sayin.

Little Addition to the Family...

Did I scare ya? cuz i not prego. no no no. and the addition to our fam is littler than most of its species.

We got a 2004 Honda Rebel. size: 250. (all i know is that means its a small motorcycle, and i know that for sure cuz the guy who sold it to us said the reason for selling it is cuz he was too fat for it.)

This is not the motorcycle, but ours looks exactly like this. We got a screeeeamin deal on it, and long story short- the bike only had 24 miles on it. ya, the guy also didn't know anything about motorcycles in general...including how to read the trip odometer vs actual mileage.

its been fun cruising around on this here and there. i'm not gonna get on it till i get me a helmet tho- and i need to get a helmet that i actually LIKE- so im gonna be a stickler about that. we're actually trying to sell it- see if we can't make a little extra money on it, but i kinda wanna keep it... normally i'm not a fan of motorcycles, but this one has a hard time goin over 60 mph so i'm not too worried.

oh blogger blogger.

well, i want to i guess its called, "export my blog" but my sis tells me it dont work right, and i dont wanna pay to make it a book, but eventually im planning on saying goodbye to the blogging world...

until then....

here's whats up.

House Plans. That's whats up! i am getting excited! i am lookin and lookin and believe it or not i keep turning to Mexican Style anything! ya know the beautiful awesome tiles such as these:

this is where the tiles would be placed, backsplash of our kitchen. this is just an idea. i dont love the white cupboards though, i'd go with something else. ivory with a rustic/brown wash to em, most likely. i want to paint my own tiles, but seeing how brushfire pottery no longer exists (sadface times ten) i prob wont do that.

here's the conclusion i came to, i love rustic cabin looking homes/decor, but they lack color 90 percent of the time, i like color. not crazy crazy colors, but i like color. so somehow in the mesh of color and cabins, i have found how much i love mexican style. cuz they bring everything together beautifully. but then there's the touch of Africa that i want somewhere in our house with all our stuff from Ghana, and there's just lots of ideas running through my head. people are gonna think i'm crazy for trying to mix Africa, Mexico, Cowboy, and a little bit of contemporary into one home. However, many thought i was initially crazy to do an African themed wedding with animal prints gallore- and i think with the help of an amazing mother-in-law it was very successful. i think i can do a sweet looking house. i really believe it. even with all my likes. oh and ya wanna know what other country has awesome style? Greece! Mamma Mia! thats what i'm talkin about.

i like dark wood, pretty much across the board (that was kindof funny how i said that) so idk i just have lots of ideas. hope i can figure it all out! haha pretty exciting tho.