3 years later

Oh, how I miss this man!

Church History Trip

I had a work trip in upstate New York, and it worked out perfectly to make our way to Palmyra for a few days. It was so fun for H to come with me this time. We checked out all of the classic Church History sites.

Peter Whitmer Farm

At the Smith Family Farm.

The sacred grove.

Smith log home.

Hill Cumorah.

The weather was so perfect, and the views from the car were so beautiful. Like this one:

We loved the finger lakes region, which is just gorgeous this time of year. There were some great hiking spots. This is at Taughannock Falls--so beautiful!

Ah, the life of a student...

H just got word that he got accepted to graduate school!

Making Bread

My mother in law gave me the best recipe for bread for people like me who make bread by hand...without a fancy mixer. I've made it twice, and it has turned out both times!

Warm wheat bread makes H so very happy. Not to mention, I feel so satisfied after successfully making a batch of bread. We also made cinnamon rolls to eat during General Conference. What better than warm cinnamon rolls and some great conference talks?

Speaking of bread, we watched a Walter and Gromit episode this week that made me laugh called "A Matter of Loaf and Death." It's pretty amusing.

Wheat Bread

4 C. warm water
1Tbsp. yeast
1C. honey

5-6 C. all-purpose flour

5-6 C. whole wheat flour

Mix and let sit until bubbles form (approx. 15 minutes)

Add: 1T. salt
1 C. oil

Alternate flours until it pulls away from bowl. Cover and let stand 1 hour, or until rounded over bowl. Then roll out on a board, well floured, and knead until smooth (approx. 5-7 min.) Spray 4 bread pans; divide dough into 4 equal sections. Slam each piece down on counter and put in pans. Cover and let rise again ( approx. 30 minutes) Bake in cold oven 30-35 min.until brown and hollow sounding when tapped @ 375. Make sure the pans are not touching. Take out and cool (5-10 min.) then run knife around edges and remove from pans to cool completely, covered with a towel. Wrap in saran wrap/and foil and store in refrig. Freezes well also.

Re-Store and Our Apartment

Let's just say that when we got married we had very little furniture. I really lucked out of the arrangement, as I acquired a futon as a result of the deal! We've fallen in love with a Habitat for Humanity resale shop called Re-Store that sells household items and a lot of furniture. We seriously went to Re-Store every Saturday (and sometimes also at one point during the week) for the first three months of our marriage. Anyway, the result is a mostly furnished house!

H is the Re-Store king. He can find the best pieces of furniture even if they are taken a part, somewhat hidden, or really dusty or dirty.

Here are some pictures and stories about our furniture. (I'll also brag about some of the prices we got too, as that's a really fun part of it.) Oh, and I've added some pictures of our home, for those of you who are interested.

Here is our living room. The green chair is from Re-Store, and is H's favorite reading chair ($5). We got the "entertainment" center on the left of the photo at Re-Store too ($40).

We found these chairs at Re-Store for $5 each without covers, and covered them ourselves.

We love having a real medicine cabinet (yes, also from Re-Store $15)

The kitchen hutch on the right we got from Re-Store for $25, and the table (sorry, under the table cloth) for $30. H refinished the table, and it looks really great.

Professional Photos

We were so pleased with our professional shots from our wedding. Our lovely photographer had a family emergency and wasn't able to shoot for our wedding day, so we opted to take our photos a few days early. It turned out to be the best, because unlike my wedding day I was well-rested, calm, not rushed, had some flowers to hold, and happy to be in front of a camera. The only issue was that it we took our photos on one of the windiest days of the year. Our photographer was so patient and my hair was done so well that you can hardly tell that my dress was blowing every which direction nearly the entire shoot.

The Reception

We held our reception at a local chapel here in the area, and had to do a little to spruce it up for the occasion. =)

My mom is pretty much amazing. She had quite the vision for the evening, and wanted a sit-down dinner, but, not any sit down dinner, she wanted her homemade Italian Lasagna and Alfredo pasta. Oh, and she also made my dress. Have I said that she's amazing yet?

My mom also made my beautiful cake, donned with the flowers her friends put together.

Hugh's Fam.

My bridesmaides and me...I really liked this one.

MMM...yummy icing!

I wanted an "impromptu" dance at the end of the reception. So, my brother brought a dance mix, and then we all kind of got into it (ok, mostly the kids--but it was fun!)