Secret ingredient...

I have a new recipe. It's a really good recipe and I've just learned how to make it better! At first, I thought it was a fluke. But after doing it twice...I know it wasn't! I made the Lion House Rolls recipe. And man, they are GOOD! I can even make them look just like on the cover of the Lion House Bakery book. Who knew?!
So, you want to know what the secret ingredient is? Well, I have to tell you the story first! Can't tell the secret ingredient without the story!
It all began on Thanksgiving Day...lots of baking, lots of cooking and lots of work. I was feeling a little bit overwhelmed but extremely proud of how well my rolls were rising. They were beautiful. But I needed to put them in a warm damp place to rise even more. And the "Lion House" head baker suggested running your dishwasher for 5 min. and then placing them in the dishwasher (after turning it off of course) to finish rising. Well the first time I did it, I asked McKenna (my daughter) to turn of the dishwasher and then I put them in. But all the water had drained when I put them in. So I was a little bit upset at her for draining it. I told her just to turn it off. She said sorry, and she DID just turn it off. Hmmm....ok. So the next time (when I had shaped the rolls) I told her to not turn it all the way off but to let the water stay in there. So she did. I put the rolls in there and shut the door. OH MY GOSH! It turned the dishwasher on!!!! My beautiful, pride-filled rolls were ruined!! They were soaked!! (I'm not gonna lie! I yelled at McKenna and had to apologize later.) But I digress, I had to quickly dump the water and put them on a dry cookie sheet. They came out beautifully.
And then comes 2 days ago. I now know how the dishwasher works. I now know how my rolls work. And I'm making a beautiful Thanksgiving Dinner for Kelvin and Laura's Birthday. I hadn't done anything for their birthday yet and it was on the 27th of Jan. Bad wife! Bad Mother! I worked ALL day. I was cooking Turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, 3 homemade pies, jello salad and "Lion House" rolls! And these rolls were gonna be the best rolls that I had EVER done! I knew it they were! Cuz I was getting better and better at them! I made them in my lovely Bosch, put them in the dishwasher to rise. And man did they rise! They rose right out of the bowl and all over the dishwasher! That's ok! There was still a lot in the VERY large bowl! So I took the dough and did my thing to shape them. Of course they came out perfect! So I put them BACK in the dishwasher to do THEIR thing! And for the next hour told everyone NOT to push the door of the dishwasher in! My brother in law and my sister came in with the turkey which I cooked in their oven and I was helping him with the draining of the juices out of the oven bag. I had to lean over and do it. And my hips PUSHED THE DISHWASHER DOOR IN AND STARTED THE DISHWASHER AGAIN!!!!! (You have got to be kidding me!) I snatched them out of the dishwasher and tried to put them on a new cookie sheet like the last one. The only problem is, they had already risen and when you touch them they kind of let all the air out. Like a flat tire. But I persevered...and put them in the oven anyway. (Quietly went to another room and cried for about 2 min. because I can't be in the kitchen without some sort of kitchen fiasco happening) and came back in the kitchen to finish the mashed potatoes. (I have the best recipe for mashed potatoes if anyone should want it. Seriously...)
So, back to the rolls. They came out gorgeous and yummy! So the secret ingredient is dishwasher water! I know! I was just as surprised as you! But it's true! Dishwasher water makes the rolls the lightest, fluffiest, yummiest tasting rolls that you've ever had.
Who knew?! =D

I AM SO EXCITED!

Wow! This is the best day ever, and it started being good at about 8:00 pm! My daughter Laura was accepted into BYU-I!! I am so happy for her! She was so excited she was walking into walls! I feel like I'M going to college! I wanted to go to BYU so bad. But back then I didn't know about college loans. I didn't have the money to go so I didn't! So if anyone knows of any great dorms or apartments let me know!! Holla!

Seriously?!!! Since JULY!?????

Wow! I had NO idea that it was over 6 months ago that I posted on this blog! I can't believe it!
A lot has been happening though. Seriously, a whole lot.
Where do I start?

Well...number one on my list is that Kelvin does have lung cancer and the watched it for about 9 months or so before they conceded that it WAS cancer. It was really weird too. Kelvin had an appointment one day and they wanted to do surgery the next week. No warning. They just said, "Well, we think it's cancer and we want to do the surgery next week." Really? Ummm....we need a little more time to prepare here! My husband asked if it could wait till after Thanksgiving. (He works on Thanksgiving and the day after for overtime. It pays for Christmas. Huge deal with a family of 12!) They said ok. Since it was only about 3 weeks longer.
Kelvin had surgery on the 29th of Nov. and they removed 5 lumps or nodules! They thought there were only 3. SURPRISE!!! They tested them and each one was the cancer that they thought they had gotten out from his kidney. (Guess where your blood goes after it goes through your kidney?) Yup, your lungs...
He was home recovering for 4 weeks. It was nice to have him home after he recovered enough to do things. I look forward to retirement and having him around all the time! The other lung has 3 (maybe) more nodules and they are waiting because they are VERY small and might not be cancer.(Who knows?) So that was EXTREMELY stressful. And I don't know, but I get really weird when I'm super duper upset or depressed. I kind of shutdown with the talking. I don't know why. I'm fine if someone calls me. But I generally don't reach out when I should. I'm weird...I know.
Ok, that's not all that was happening at the same time. My sister who was pregnant with twins was put on bedrest due to her cervix being GONE! She had to be on COMPLETE bedrest. Not even able to take a shower. She could bathe but not shower. She couldn't even sit up in a sitting position. So.....I was helping her a lot since she had a little 1 year old turning 2 in Dec. When Kelvin went in for surgery, I had a break of about 3 weeks. Well, not really a break. I was taking care of Kelvin. Wow! It was really hard. I don't mind doing it at all, but it was hard. And taking care of Christmas for 10 kids at the same time was difficult too. It was just plain HARD! And I know that other people do SO much more. I really do know that. And I'm truly grateful to the Lord for the blessings that we've been given, I'm just sayin' that it was difficult. There. And right now...? Well, two days ago, my sister gave birth to her twin girls Bayley and Brooklyn. Weighing 4'1 and 4'3. Born at 32 weeks. They are doing amazing! One of them was on a ventilator for the first day but the next day they took her off of it. Wow! She's a champion! They just need to get their milestones in. You know, the breathing and eating at the same time stuff. And the gaining weight part. Kind of important...
So, I'm sure there is going to be some helping with the twins when they come home. And of course watching Aaron while they visit the hospital. I love Aaron. And Brynleigh loves having him around. So a bit more work and then I can concentrate on the house that has been neglected. By the time I get home all the kids are getting home and the chaos begins. Can't wait to get caught up on laundry!! My laundry room is a mess!
Ok. So here's the good news! I'm a couple lbs. shy of losing 70 lbs. I know! It's AMAZING!! I am SO exhilarated. I still have 50 to go. I would like to get to my prepregnancy period. We'll see. I'm hoping to do it in 6 months. I lost very little weight between August and January. A little blip in my progress.
Anyway, I really miss blogging and getting comments. It makes you feel good. Like you have a little support group all to yourself. So hopefully I'll be doing the blogging a little bit more. And I'll post pictures soon.
Oh! I forgot! I'm going out for some awesome adventures! I am now an advisor for "lia sophia" jewelry AND a demonstrator for "Stampin' Up" Nothing like doing to much right? HaHa! I love it!! Buttons on the sidebar coming soon!! lol

Check out these Beautiful Dolls!!!

 

Christine has opened up for business!  Here’s the link.

These dolls are the cutest dolls I have ever seen and she customizes them for you too!!  So go check them out!!

Worst Mom in the world!

 

Yesterday started out being a great day!  I went to lunch with my sister Becky at Cafe Rio at around noon.  And we had a great time, talking till I had to leave for my appt. at the Gym with my trainer.  The workout was good too.  I was pretty tired and ready for a  shower and then a nap!  On the way home though I  read a text from my husband who had written that Joseph and Emma’s kindergarten graduation was IN PROGRESS!!  That was a half an hour ago!!  I have NEVER missed a kindergarten graduation!  And I also didn’t have their costumes ready either!  I thought graduation was next week!!  Oh my gosh, seriously, I thought I was gonna have a nervous breakdown.  I was fighting tears the whole time when I got there.  I had missed the ENTIRE thing.  They were just leaving the stage area when I arrived.  If you could’ve seen Emma’s face when she saw me…it was just so sad. I tried to pretend that I’d been there the whole time, but I just couldn’t.  Joseph didn’t realize I’d been gone, but Emma knew.  So on the way to the car I ‘fessed up.  And, of course, I lost it.  I just started bawling!  They kept telling me, “It’s ok Mommy.”  But it wasn’t ok.  I missed something special.  Something REALLY special!  They were looking forward to it so much and they made me promise to be there.  They were the only ones there without their costumes!!  I’m not over it…I don’t think I will EVER get over missing that.  I’m still crying about it as we speak.  I cried, I sobbed and I mourned all day yesterday.

Today is a new day, so I decided to take pictures again and you can tell me if you see any improvements.  I don’t really see any, but I’m biased.  I’ve lost 50 lbs. now.  I’m really proud of myself.  I know we’re not supposed to proud, but I can’t help it.  I feel like I have done something HUGE.

I know the photo on the top looks a little weird but I was playing with it and I like how I look like that. Ha Ha!! It brings out my eyes...lol.
60lbs. to go...

Oh my goodness, I am really hurting….

 

I haven’t said a lot about this, but I’ve been trying to lose the weight that I’ve packed on in the last 20 years.  And I actually did it without any aids/pills/surgery.  Just good old-fashioned hard work.  I’ve lost 35 lbs. so far and I feel SO much better.  I can move around so much better.  My body doesn’t hurt near as much as it did before.  I’ve actually been really worried about myself since I could see myself ending up like my mother whose health is not the best.  Her body hurts her everyday.  She doesn’t have much energy and is really tired.  And that was me.

So, even though it’s a little bit embarrassing to put pictures on here, I’m going to do it every month.  I would like to journal my journey.  I still have 75 lbs. to go. ( I know, I can’t believe it either.)  I never had a weight problem growing up.  I just became sedentary while I was having kids.  WHAT WAS I THINKING!?  This has actually been the hardest thing I have EVER done.  I am counting calories and working out.  Neither of which, I like to do.  Bleh!  But I DO realize that if I don’t do this, my later years will just be a lot of pain.  I want to have some fun when all the kiddos leave the house!  Do some traveling, hike some mountains, ski, take long walks and spend some time at the beach!  I can’t do that if I feel like crap!! So I hope you don’t mind hearing about my little journey of rediscovering “Julia”.  I kind of forgot to take care of myself and got a little bit lazy.  So here’s my picture at 30 lbs. lighter.

It’s so funny how you think to yourself, “Wow, I look pretty dang good!  I’m gonna take a picture”   And then you take the picture and realize that you look pretty dang bad!  Oh well, I’m 35 lbs. lighter and I’m still working at it.  I’m taking it 1 month at a time.  I tell myself that I will lose 10 lbs. a month.  I can do this!  Only 10 lbs. a month.  But holy crap!  I worked out too hard yesterday and today my body hurts SO much.  So I told myself to go back to the gym and walk the treadmill and stretch out those muscles by doing the incline higher.   NOT a good idea.  I pretty much want to die right now.  Try sitting on the toilet when your legs are so sore that you have to hold on to the wall and ease down!  I wish I had those handicap bars…

Should I be laughing?

Well, I don’t know, but I thought this was hysterical!

Last night, Kelvin and I were lying in bed (No this isn’t a TMI) and my little Joseph (age 6) came out of our bathroom and announced “Mommy, when I go pee I feel Jesus.”  

Ummmm….Okkaaaaaay…where do I go with this one.  Because for just a moment I thought “That’s a little freaky”  Not gonna lie…why would you feel Jesus when you’re peeing? 

But that was just a split moment of thinking.  And so I asked, “Why do you feel Jesus when you pee?”

And he says, “You know. When you go like this (insert whole body shiver) when you pee.

Me: “Oh yeah, sometimes you get the shivers or goosebumps when you feel Jesus, huh?”

Joseph: “Yeah!”

Me:  “Oh yeah, sometimes I  get  goosebumps when I feel the spirit too. Ok, goodnight Joseph.  Love you sweetheart.”

Joseph: “Night Mommy!”

(Oh my gosh please leave quick before I start guffawing in front of my sweet boy!)