Muffins

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups flour
6 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
4 tablespoons oil

DIRECTIONS:
In mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center. Combine egg, milk, and oil; add all at once to flour mixture. Stir just till moistened. Slightly grease muffin cups or line with paper cups; fill 2/3 full. Bake in a 400 oven about 15 minutes or until golden.

Options:
Fill muffin tins 1/3 full. Top each with 1 teaspoon of jam. Then top with enough batter to fill each muffin 2/3 full.

German Pancakes

INGREDIENTS:
3 eggs
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter

DIRECTIONS:
Heat a glass pie plate or a cast iron pan on lowest oven shelf until very hot at 400. Meanwhile mix eggs, flour, milk and salt in blender and beat until very smooth, 1 minute. Remove pie dish from oven and add butter. Return the dish to the oven until the butter melts. Add the batter and bake 20 minutes until golden. Serve with powdered sugar, jam or syrup. Applesauce is the traditional accompaniment, however the others are equally if not more tasty.

This may be doubled and put into a 9x13 dish.

Option: Add 1 cup of pie filling to the pan right before adding the batter. When it cooks the batter surrounds the pie filling.

Crepes

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/4 cups flour
4 eggs
1 cup milk
1 1/4 cups water
3 tablespoons oil or melted butter
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS:
In a blender mix all ingredients at high speed for 30 seconds. Scrape down sides and blend 30 seconds more. Refrigerate at least 10 minutes, ideally an hour.

In a non-stick skillet over a medium heat, spray, and then ladle in 1/4 cup of batter. Tilt the pan around to spread the batter into a crepe. After a few minutes, take a heat proof rubber spatula and peek under crepe, if barely brown in spots it is ready to turn. Take a big pancake turner and flip the crepe. Cook for 30 seconds more and slide out of pan onto plate. Separate each crepe with napkins or waxed paper.

Fill with jam or berries and powdered sugar.

.006

That is the amount of points I am lacking in order to get my scholarship.

Hat and Door ditchers

First off, this is a hat I got in California when we were visiting Lizzie. It was only like $7 I think! Anyway, I've never worn hats like this before. I wear beenies often enough, but actual hats, not so much. But I LOVE IT! I know I look kind of silly in these pics but oh well.

Now for the Door ditchers. So we are just sitting at our couch, watching TV and eating Pizza, when someone knocks at the door. You have to know- we never have random guests. Usually we know if someone is coming. It is RARE for someone to come over that we aren't expecting. So we usually pause a second...look at each other with serious faces (like- how DARE someone come over to OUR place without letting US know!)...and then one of us opens the door to see who it is. Well...we open the door to see this on our doorstep.


At first we were like- oh my gosh...someone is really nice. We will have food for a month! Then we noticed the details of each box.

Why would we need a HUMONGO bag of potatoes and a TON of rolls?

If you zoom on the presents picture- you will see names such as...Jessica, Laura, Sarah, Melissa...hmmmm...yeah. If you forgot, those are NOT our names...and we do not have 4 daughters either. So suddenly we are realizing...okay, this is not for us. So we seriously start laughing...a lot...and then feeling awkward because we are like.. Great, someone went to do a good deed to a family that really needs it...and they messed up and put it on OUR doorstep. What do we do?! We were thinking- okay, if they realize they made a mistake they will feel really bad and probably wont want to come knock on our door and say..."uh...excuse me but we accidentally gave you a bunch of food and presents. Can we have it back?" And of course all the presents said they were from Santa, so of course we couldn't take them back to him. So we decided to call the Elders Quorum President....no answer...Relief Society President...no answer...Relief Society Secretary...no answer...counselor in the Bishopric...finally an answer! We read him the names on the presents, and he realizes it's one of the families in the ward and that it was someone's job to take these things to random families in the ward and they must've messed up. It was simply one of the trailers down the road...so we offered to take it. So we drove to find it, carefully sneaked the boxes on the doorstep...I got in the car and drove off while Clay would knock and run away. Well, I was waiting around the corner and it was taking a long time. I thought- I know he's not THAT slow of a runner. Well, I guess he had some problems. As soon as I drove away Clay turned around to the door shutting. He guessed they couldn't see him because he could hear their voices and they were saying things like "I thought someone was at the door....no one was there? huh..." But they didn't notice the boxes. So Clay was like....GREAT, that's the whole point. We have to do this right. So he creeped around the back, creeped back in front, shoved a box closer to the door so they'd see it, knocked, ran to the next trailer and hid so they couldn't see him, but he could see them. No answer for a while, then the man poked his head out, saw the boxes, looked around, and then took them inside. Whew! THEN, Clay ran back to the car. What a night!

Anyway, we still can't stop laughing about it. We didn't think we put off a "can't give my kids presents for Christmas" kind of vibe at church. hahah....Anyway, it made for a good night.

Hair and Skirt

Here is my new hair done by Stephanie Mitchell. I LOVE IT!
I can leave them all to the front like above, or kind of sway them to the side like below...


Here is my skirt that I made in my sewing class. I LOVE IT!



I wore it with the belt to church- this is without the belt.


This is what Clayton likes to do...he is kind of funny- the headset is to talk to his friends online while they are playing. A lot of times I here, "OH MAN! WOW! GOOD ONE MAN! OH DUDE- DID YOU SEE THAT?!" Other times he is simply having an everyday conversation while shooting robots repeatedly until they die. I actually tried playing with him- HALO- it's like the most famous video game in the entire world...anyway- I was better than I thought I'd be. Don't get me wrong- completely AWFUL- but better than anticipated. I could only take like 10 minutes worth. I don't like killing...even if it is a robot that is taking over the world:)


Here is our Christmas Tree. Again, I LOVE IT!


This is below our tree. It is so a dvd christmas. I'm not even going to fake it. I could've "hidden" or fooled Clay with wrapping, but he already knows basically everything that's under there... so why put in the effort? It was amazing, every movie that Clay loves had AMAZING deals the past 2 months. So amazing I was able to get him 5 dvd's for under 35 dollars. Crazy cool.

Well, since I've posted...Idaho has been snowed on excessively. Serious blizzard-like snow. Serious freezing temperatures. This morning when we came home from church, it was 8 degrees. Guess what I said to Clay, "Well it's doubled in temperature since this morning". Yep, that's right- it was 4 degrees when we left to GO to church. It was a little scary because I went this morning to start the car...about 20 minutes before church...and when I opened the door (which by the way took me a minute to get open- it was frozen shut) my hands got wet from the snow. When I went to touch our screen door to get back in the house, my hands started to freeze to the door. I quickly took them off the door before it actually happened, but it made me jump a bit! Needless to say, it's cold.

I keep thinking I should take a pic of the outside of our house..but everytime I think that, I just don't want to go outside. So maybe you'll see it in the spring.

Sorry it took so long to get pics and I never have pics lately. We don't have a camera. We took all these pics with Patty's camera. BUT, we will soon have a camera...wait no- I will have a camera soon and there will be lots of pictures! Yay!

Merry Christmas! I love the Savior and I love this time of year when more people are giving and trying to love each other. I hope we can all be even more loving and kind to each other than usual. I love you!!!

Cold...cold....cold...cold...COLD!

So...it is currently 11 degrees. A few days ago it was 8 degrees. My fingers are just barely thawing and I've been indoors for around...20 minutes. Also, the freezing process occured from being outside for just over 1 minute. Walking from one building to another. And I froze enough that I needed to thaw. It is just too darn cold. This morning, I drove to school, right? Right. Well- I'm wearing my big boots. The ones that are fluffy and you wear over jeans? Well...my toes still felt like they were going to fall off. EVEN WHEN I WAS WEARING HUGE BOOTS! I drove to school without Clay...lucky duck, he got to sleep in. But the whole way to school, literally at least a minute long- I was screaming at the top of my lungs "IT'S SO COLD! I'M SO COLD! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!" I'm not exaggerating. This is actually what I did. Don't ask why. I'm guessing it was just my bodily instinct to try and distract myself from the wretched death cold I was experiencing.

On that light note, school is basically done. I have one more test to take, and then all I have to do is show up for classes. Oh yes, and I need to make crepes for lunch. Yes- that is an assignment from my cooking class. I love assignments like that.

So I know everything I'm getting for christmas pretty much, and I am so stinking excited I can hardly wait! I just want it to come now.

Speaking of Christmas. I'm soooo excited to go home. Firstly, to see my family. Secondly, to relax, eat good food, and watch lots of movies. Thirdly, to get OUT OF THE COLD! Yeah yeah, you Oregon folks may think you have it bad with your 30-40 degree weather...well, let me tell you...that sounds like hawaii to me. Seriously, yesterday I was thinking- hmmm it's not that cold today. It was like 37 or something.

This is what you get for living in Rexburg, all you can think about is the weather. So boring...I know.

Welllllllllll....I suppose that'll be all. Till next time. MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Snow...Christmas Devotional...

Well, today it has officially snowed. Or last night I guess. Rexburg is frosted white. It is always so pretty the first few days...then after a week or so- I'm pretty sick of it. But I will soak up the awesomeness of it for the time being. YET- the first days are always the most dangerous. We passed like 3 cars on our way up the hill today that couldn't move becuase it was so slick. We were barely moving ourselves. You probably could've walked faster than we were going. BUT- we made it! That is the important thing. We were walking to class, and I was holding on to Clay's arm...and I said, "Man, a lot of people's bums are going to be soar today" and I kid you not within 2 minutes I fell on my bum. Thank GOODNESS I had my strapping husband to hold on to. Otherwise it would've hurt! I really only felt wetness...rather than hurt. Anyway, I thought maybe Heavenly Father thought it'd be funny to have me slip right after I say that...give me a hint of irony.

Side note- I am in a computer lab, and the classroom next to us has a bunch of men singing at the top of thier lungs with not much musical prettiness- "NOEL, NOEL, NOEL, NOEL....BORN IS THE KING OF ISRAEL!!!" Random. People are always singing around here, but usually people try to sound pretty...

Well, I got myself, Clay, Patty, Paul and Makayla tickets to see the First Presidency's Christmas Devotional last night. I've never been to live general conference or anything like that, so I really wanted to go to something- so I tried for the devotional. We go the tickets, and went! It was so wonderful. All of us, when we walked in the conference center were in awe, and literally were saying things like, "wow...". It was HUGE! It seemed way bigger in person than on the TV, and as a result, made the tabernacle choir seem rather small. We were in the second row of the very middle of the balcony. We loved it. I seriously recommend going if any of you get the chance. The sound and power that comes when the entire congregation sings is amazing. We were just sitting there you know, and then everyone began, "Joy to the World!" and it was amazing! It gave me chills. All of us turned and looked at each other because we weren't expecting such a sound. I couldn't help but smile, and I turned to Makayla and she was smiling too. It was wonderful. Then, when the choir closed with "Silent Night" with the congregation joining with the last verse, that was quite wonderful. That brought the tears on. You could tell the spirit was present when the prayer was said, as there were many many sniffles, if you know what I mean:). I loved it, it was so worth the hours we drove to get there. Then of course, they decorate temple square so beautifully. I felt so blessed to have been there. I couldn't stop thinking, "I'm so grateful for the gospel. I'm so grateful that Jesus Christ was born." Everytime I thought those thoughts I got watery eyes. It was just a powerful thing. It's true that you should get the same spirit and message whether you're there or not- depending on your spiritual preparedness, but I truly think there is power where some 20,000 odd people are gathered together to celebrate the Lord through song and prayer. And then the talks were wonderful. I loved Elder Eyrings stories about their Christmas pageants, and how they eventually had Samuel the lamanite preaching, with mobs throwing foil ball weapons at him...and him having to remind them that Samuel couldn't be touched, and that it took courage for someone to step up to the part of Samuel. I loved that. I also loved President Monson's stories of the widows he visited. They are such good men. I love to hear them speak.

Well, this weekend I got my hair done by Stephanie. It is AWESOME! Clay and I LOVE IT! We tried to go for the same color as Rory, and Anne Hathaway...she did perfectly. Then I also got front bangs and a little trim with the front a little longer than the back. I love it! I would have a pic, but I forgot to have Patty take it...Anyway. It will come soon enough.

Well, that's it for now. Merry Christmas!

HSM3

Okay, seriously? I loved this movie. I want to see it again, today! I won't...simply because we are poor college students- but if I had a million dollars, I think I might see it two or three more times before it comes out on DVD. I LOVED IT! The dancing, the singing, the story line, the acting- all better than the first two and all heart-warming and hilarious. There were really only a few cringe-moments where I thought, okay that is really just WAY too cheesy- but quite honestly, most of it was just wonderful. I loved the songs...I just loved it all. You know what I love as well? I love that Troy and Gabriella are together in real life. It just makes things so much better. Anyway- if you like the first two- SEE THE THIRD! You'll love it!

The going on's of Danielle and Clay...

Well, I just woke up from a long nap. This is the third nap this week I think! Maybe 5th actually. Not sure- Clay has convinced me to take naps with him lately. Both of us have been SO TIRED. I think it is school overload catching up to us. I finally have time to take a nap, so it's really quite nice. I really only have one big project left, and one big test- but the rest of my classes are pretty much smooth sailin from here! Thank goodness.

Yesterday and Today were filled with funeral-type settings. Clay's Grandma passed away on Saturday and because her and her family are catholic, we had a rosary last night, and a funeral today. I never really knew Clay's grandma because she had a stroke about 4 and a half years ago. Since then, she hasn't really talked or responded much to anyone. From the last two days, I have become so excited to meet her, and get to know her on the other side. I already knew she had to be a remarkable person by just knowing Paul, Clay's dad. He is one of the kindest people I've ever known. Also, all of his siblings are just like him! And get this- there are 12 of them. Seriously, from what I can tell...not a mean one in the bunch! Anyway, from the people who spoke about her the past few days, I can just imagine the type of woman she was, which sounds incredible. She was always serving and always loving everyone. The priest who talked today, who was also her nephew, shared with us a note he found in her house that she had scribbled on. It said, "God first, neighbor second, me last." She had little notes like that all over her house. Anyway, I feel like I know her just through stories and from knowing her children and grandchildren- and she is just wonderful! Though funeral's are sometimes so sad, the whole time I couldn't stop thinking of how excited I was to see her in heaven and thank her for the family she gave me, and the lessons she taught me without ever even speaking to me herself.

Oh- one more thing I wanted to share about her that was really funny. Her daughter spoke today- and just as a background- Paul and his brothers are MAJOR hunters. They love to hunt. So anyway- she said that her mom always wrote sick notes for her sons to get them out of school...but didn't want to lie, so she wrote, "If my son doesn't get to go hunting, he will be sick. So he won't be in school today." Something to that effect. I just thought that was so funny.

Well, I better get to some homework and some house duties. I am so grateful for family and for how blessed both Clay and I have been to have such amazing people in our lives. We both came from wonderful families and are so grateful for everyone! We love you all! Both family and friends.

Another tag...

So I started this tag like....over a week ago- but got sidetracked I think- then I got tagged AGAIN. So I figured I'd come back to it!

10 Years Ago....

1. I was 10 years old! In 5th grade.
2. I DESPISED my teacher. He totally made us late for the jog-a-thon and always made me stay inside for recess. Seriously.
3. I was super excited for middle school. Steph and Jenni were in middle school and so....pretty much I was out of the loop!
4. I thought my sisters and their friends were the coolest people in THE WORLD. Constantly listened quietly through their shut bedroom doors.
5. Had a crush on a boy with a rat tail that was braided all the time. Yuck.

5 Things On Today's List Of Things To Do....

1. Eat (yes, I have to put that on my to do...otherwise it sometimes doesn't happen)
2. Clean stuff...living room, bathroom, kitchen, sewing room, office....any will do
3. Do my Teaching of the living prophets homework
4. E-mail my English group...they still haven't emailed me their work like they were supposed to.........
5. It's the end of the day...so there really isn't much left to do...

5 Snacks....

1. Saltines
2. White bread (homemade)
3. Chocolate Chip Cookie dough
4. Frozen raspberries
5. Top Ramen (uncooked)

5 Things I Would Do If I were A Millionaire...

1. Buy or build a house
2. Buy a second car
3. Invest in real estate
4. Go shopping- buy amazing shoes and wonderful dresses- and tights
5. Buy Clayton a big screen TV and an even better sound system...and both of us blackberries because we think they are cool.

5 Places I've lived...

1. Springfield, OR
   
2. Yachats, OR
   
3. Rexburg, ID
   
4. That's it!

5 Jobs I have had...

1. Insurance Examiner
2. Tax Accountant
3. Sales associate-Artco(I was so lucky- I sold Christmas Cards in July...let me tell you- so many people were happy to hear from me!.........................right.)
4. Sales associate-Excel Drug
5. Bookkeeper (I worked for my Dad on this one)

5 People I Am Tagging...

I've seen a lot of people do this tag before....sooooooooooooooooo whoever wants to can.