homemade artisan bread

It wasn't until I got married that I realized that cooking was not a talent I had been given nor had I put the time into developing the skill. So, thanks to the fact that my husband will pretty-much eat and enjoy anything and the fact that I'm willing to keep trying to cook, we're getting along ok.

However, I also learned that I have a real love for baking. Specifically, baking

BREAD

I used just stick to rolls, breadsticks, cinnamon rolls and wheat bread loaves. But then a while ago, a friend of mine who's a fabulous cook gave me this book called "Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day"...and it's changed my life. (Thanks Mandy!) Seriously, this bread is soooo yummy and the dough recipes are fool-proof! I've never had a loaf not turn out (and I'm good at accidentally putting too much or too little of something in, or forgetting about one little part of the directions). It's so easy because it doesn't require kneading and the dough can sit in your fridge ready to be cooked for up to two weeks.

And hey, it looks fancy doesn't it?

These are just pictures of the plain french bread, but I've also made the Italian Semolina Bread, which is super yummy too. There are recipes for herb or cheese breads that I'm going to try soon. But they all stem from the same basic recipe that you just add extra ingredients to.

Just wanted to put in a plug for this book because I've found it to make baking bread even quicker and more fun! It's written by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois...in case you want to check it out. Oh, and you don't have to use a baking stone. Before someone gave me one, I used a cookie sheet and it worked just fine.

jobs that go unnoticed

Today I'm blogging about a job that would otherwise go unnoticed. No one is to blame. It's not that anyone else even should notice it. It's just one of those jobs that needs to be done, but won't be acknowledged...until it needs to be done again. Kinda like dusting.

We got this awesome spice rack for our wedding...over 2 years ago. I noticed last week that the bottles were coated. Not sure exactly with what, but we keep it next to the stove, so I guess the vapors just deposit film on them.

So, here's what they looked like before I cleaned them. Notice, the glass is cloudy.

Here's after I cleaned each bottle. Notice, the glass is not cloudy.

But see, you probably wouldn't have noticed it until I devoted a whole post just to that.

Such is the life of a homemaker I guess, eh? That's ok. I know that they're clean now.

Tah duh!

25 weeks

I'm beginning to have some serious word-finding issues...

So I really loved this comic.

21 weeks

Sorry, these don't make the most exciting posts, but I have some friends and family who are away and keep insisting that they be able to see baby bump pictures. This week you can for sure see growth!! Those are the ultrasound pictures in the background. So fun!!!

I love BOYS

We had our ultrasound, which was soooo fun! I've always loved boys and I'm so excited to have TWO of my very own (Darin and baby boy, that is...no, we're not having twins=).

soon to be the Johnston trio

So, remember how I’m a little behind with blogging?  Well, today I’m officially 18 weeks pregnant, but we took this picture last week.  Just thought it was time we share the great news via blog for those who don’t know yet.  The due date is April 18 and no we don’t know gender yet, but we will find out in two weeks.  Darin “knows” it’s a boy.  He even had an awesome dream about our baby the other night and got to hear his laugh!  He’s such a visionary man. =D  Who knows…we’ll take a boy or a girl. 

Pregnancy’s been pretty great for me…I haven’t hardly been sick at all and I’ve been able to keep up with work and school.  It’s been fun to feel the baby moving around more.  I heard several kicks while the doctor was listening for the heartbeat this week and I actually felt one last night.  Incredible!  At first being pregnant all seemed so surreal to me, but now that I have a little “pooch” and know there’s movement in there, it’s so exciting!!

For those who are wondering, this is the real reason why Darin didn’t apply for dental school this year.  We realized be could start our family sooner if he could stay home while I completed my fellowship year (working full-time) to get certified as a speech/language pathologist and then he will start dental school and I’ll be home!  Our plan actually worked! He’s really excited to be Mr. Mom for a while before he’s engrossed in school again.

Half marathon…at 6 weeks!

Still catching up from summer…

Last April I got back into running with my friend, Maria (from my school program). We ran together every MWThSat for several months and built up our distance. Before we knew it we were running 13 miles! Maria couldn’t join me, but I ran in the Hobble-Creek half marathon. I was so excited for this race and was determined to meet my goal of 13.1 miles in under 2 hours. It was very doable, but I got thrown a few curve balls before and during the race. Here’s what I wrote about the experience:

August 22, 2009

Today I ran the Hobblecreek half marathon. I’ve run 13.1 miles before in training, but this was my first official race. I was on the front seat of the very first bus going up the canyon to the start line. We boarded the bus at 5:15 am and arrived at the starting line at 6am…just to wait until the race began at 7:30am. But all of the runners became increasingly anxious when the race didn’t start on time (and we’d been waiting in our little running clothes up in the cold mountains). Seven-thirty is already a late starting time for a race of this length…but come on, 8:00am?!?!?!? That’s when we began the race; we all dreaded those last 3 miles when we would be in direct sunlight and definitely be feeling the heat of the day. It was supposed to get up to 100 degrees that day, so we knew it would be a warm morning.

I was 6 weeks pregnant, but had heard from medical professionals and friends that if I was up to that fitness level before I got pregnant, I’d be fine to maintain it and keep doing what I’m doing. I know a woman who ran a half marathon at 12 weeks cause she was a runner and had been in great shape when she conceived. Anyway, the only element that was difficult was the increased frequency of urination. I’d noticed at work the last couple of weeks that I’d had to go to the bathroom every sing 1-2 hours, when usually I can wait all day if I need to. So, this made the race interesting. I tried to take precautions by going to the bathroom before I left the house (4:30am) then before I got on the bus (5am) then after I got off the bus (6) but by the time the last mile came around just shy of 10am, I was peeing my pants and determined to keep going. Had I seen a porter-potty along the way, I may have stopped, but I was trying to reach my goal of under 2 hours and I knew it was getting close. I decided to just try to keep in what I could. (sorry, probably too much information!)

I was surprised at how steep the grade was, but for the first 9 miles, I was making great time and my injured knee was not bothering me at all. Then in the last 3 miles, things changed. I felt myself getting a little dehydrated as the heat pounded down. There were a few decent uphills and the downhill momentum had been let off. Now it was a residential area (not the canyon anymore) and I started feeling it. I realized that I didn’t know exactly where the finish line was. One of the other runners warned me that when I see the park, don’t think that’s the end because you have to run all the way around the park before you reach the finish line. Well, when I saw the park, I was so spent, I instantly got discouraged. Not knowing exactly how far I had to go was a real mental challenge for me and I started to slow down. Other runners were encouraging me to keep going that I was “almost there” but I wanted to slow down not only because it sounded nice, but because I was trying to be careful with the baby and make sure I was not pushing myself too much. I knew that the heat element wasn’t good and I didn’t want to take risks. I walked and jogged the last ½ mile and I knew that this meant I would no longer reach my goal time (under 2 hours). I ended up finishing at 2 minutes and 3 seconds. So close, but I still felt great about how I’d done. Given the circumstances, I think I did the right thing and took care of myself and the babe.

Darin was out of town that weekend, but I was SO glad that my dad was there to greet me at the finish line. Not only did I need his moral support, but his physical support. I leaned on him for a few minutes while I cooled down and regained strength.

I can’t wait to train again next summer!

Visiting Colorado

Darin and I decided to take a quick trip out to Colorado for our second year anniversary. I lived there 6 years ago, but haven't been back since. We had SOOO much fun!

We drove 5 hours to Grand Junction where we stayed a night (to break up the drive), but had a surprise in the morning when our car was COVERED in bird poop! We'd parked in the hotel parking lot under a tree that apparently houses many many birds at night. We laughed so hard just driving to the nearest gas station as we tried to see through the dripping mess on the

windows. We used the sponges on the squeegees at the gas station to scrub it a

ll off. I feel bad for the people who came to use those after us and got their windows dirtier from that nasty, poopy water.

The front window looks pretty clean in this picture, but that's because we'd already cleaned it off with the wipers and tons of washer fluid. The side windows were all streaked!Here's a close-up....

(The yellow squares are just the lights at the gas station reflecting...it makes our paint look really bad in this picture)

The drive was absolutely gorgeous! What a beautiful time to make that drive through the mountains! I couldn't seem to get any pictures that really represented the beauty accurately.

When we got into Denver, we stopped by for a tour of the dental school in Aurora. Super nice school!

When it was time for lunch I was really craving some Chipotle. I told Darin that this burrito place was sooo popular in Colorado and he really believed me when

we looked on the GPS for one that was close to us and there was a Chipotle every .2 miles for the next few miles! Needless to say, very time we ate out of this trip...we had Chipotle!

We had fun visiting our friends in Denver! Thanks Alexandria & Rob for putting us up for a night!

Another highlight of the trip was dinner at RockBottom and going to see a show...

That's right! We were on the FIFTH row at WICKED!!! It was awesome!

The next morning we went on a run together and found a huge beautiful park in the middle of the neighborhood where our friends live (only 10 min. away from downtown Denver). That's one thing I love about Colorado...they make sure to leave plenty of green space!

We stopped by the Denver temple on our way to Colorado Springs. It was a really cold morning, but the temple was beautiful and we had a wonderful experience remembering the day we were sealed together forever in the Salt Lake temple.

I'll have to edit this post and finish it later...

Two down

For our second anniversary, Darin gave me the most beautiful bouquet I've ever seen! They lasted for almost two weeks. A few times, I came home from school or work and actually teared up when I saw and smelled these flowers.

I loved these lilies, but especially what they represent. What a wonderful two years it's been! I don't know how I got so blessed to have such an incredible eternal friend!