The Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

And the phone call that turned it all around.

Some days just seem to be like that, nothing goes the way you plan.

This morning I work up crazy early so I went back to sleep, only to sleep through my alarm clock. I hate waking up later than I plan!

Comcast knocked on my door for something with the last tenant who lived here! They never changed their address and not only are we getting their mail, but now were having people come by!

After spending the morning running errands I came back home ready to eat. I heated up some leftovers and as I turned to go eat the entire bowl fell out of my hands. Potatoes, carrots, and chicken covered in Italian dressing flew everywhere, including our hall rug. 

I cleaned everything up, spot shot the carpet hoping to avoid ants and started again.
The next time I came in the front door the entrance way was completely covered in ants, despite the raid that had been sprayed. Where are you coming from tiny ants!!!

While I was waiting for my pan to heat up I decided to check my email. My computer was frozen. Restarted it and went to put my quesadilla on the stove. Came back to the gray screen of death! I frantically start trying to figure out how to fix it since I literally was planning on backing it up today so we could reformat it this weekend. At this point I smell something burning. I freak out and run to the kitchen where my quesadilla is black.

My computer flashes rapidly between these two pictures and the normal apple.

Two lunches and a computer down...

I call my dad since he had problems with his Mac recently to see if he has any idea what to do. Of course, as my luck would have it, he has no idea. Now my poor laptop has an appointment to see if it can be saved and if it's even worth it at this point to fix it. 

I had to drive my laptop to my parents so my dad could take it in since I wasn't able to. It starts pouring. I then spend two hours waiting for my realtor to be available to give her a check that I've been trying to get to her since we moved. 

It was a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day.

Until....

I got a call from an amazing elementary school down here for my first job interview!
Hopefully all goes well and I'm employed before school starts!

Homemade Crockpot Bread

When I first saw this pin I knew that I had to try it immediately. For one thing, my crockpot is my favorite appliance by far. If I could make everything in it I totally would. Second, I love making homemade bread. This artisan recipe I made the traditional way before and while I loved the bread I really didn't have the materials to do it properly. Plus, having to create the steam scared the crap out of me! 

If you haven't heard about Artisan Bread in Five you're missing out. Their dough is so simple to make and can be refrigerated for up to two weeks. The recipe makes four pounds of dough, enough for four loaves. I decided to only make enough for one loaf as a tester. 

Whole recipe can be found here

Ingredients (1 Loaf)
3/4 Cup Lukewarm Water
3/4 Teaspoon Granulated Yeast
3/4 Teaspoon Morton's Kosher Salt
1 5/8 Cups Unbleached All-Purpose Flour

 

Mix first three ingredients together in a large mixing bowl that has a lid. 

Isn't my little helper so cute! She was so excited to see how big the dough got!

Dump in all the flour at once and stir with a large spoon. Stir until all the flour is incorporated. 

At this point the dough will be very wet and much rougher than typical dough. Don't worry, it's supposed to!

 

Place the lid on the bowl, but don't seal. You want the gases from the yeast to escape!

 

Allow the dough to sit at room temperature for at least two hours. After this time, it will have begun to fill up the bowl and you will see bubbles throughout the dough. Allow it to settle, the top will be flat. Do not try to punch down!

At this point the dough can sit in your fridge for up to two weeks. You can use it immediately, but it is easier to work with once it has had time to chill. I let mine sit over night.  

Sprinkle flour, lightly covering the top. 

Take a one pound piece of dough and form it into a ball. Place on parchment paper. At this point the crockpot recipe states that you don't need to let it rise. Mine took much longer to cook that what the recipe said and I believe it might have been because it was still cold going in. Next time I'll let it sit out for a bit first. 

Place in crockpot. Cook on high for an hour. Mine ended up taking two. Bread is done when it feels firm to the touch on top. It will be a pale loaf.  (Apparently I was way too excited about eating this bread! I didn't even realize that I stopped taking pictures after this point until I went to upload them!) Place loaf under broiler from about 5 minuted or until it reaches the desired color. Mine was a little pale and soft still because I took it out too early.   Eat and enjoy! It was a much denser loaf than I was anticipating, but still really yummy!

I had to go back and take this picture the next day!

A trick I learned: Don't cover loaves with crunchy crusts because they'll get soggy. Just stand up on the side that you cut from! I don't know how long that'll last, but it's been a day here in humid Florida and it still is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside!

Linking up with Melissa, Amber, and Sarah for the Pinterest Project

High Five for Friday {6}

The lighting was terrible!!

1. My little brother graduated from college!

2.We love Sonic! My youngest brother went to Sonic and brought us back some!

 

3. We went to downtown Disney with my brother-in-law. We got ice cream at Ghirardelli and it was gigantic. Hello Espresso Chip!

4. I saw these cute no sew hair bows from The Pinterest Project and found this tutorial! They are so simple and can be worn on a headband as well. I'm already in love. Now if only my hair would get long enough that I can do the cute hairstyle these came from! 

5. I've been babysitting our niece most afternoons this week. Coloring and The Swan Princess are clearly the best ways to spend an afternoon.

My brother stopped by one day and her shy side came out. She spent almost an hour hiding behind our couch poking her head out whenever she thought we weren't watching her.

The One With the Indoor Sauna

My favorite decorations so far!

We are finally almost completely unpacked! 

Moving is tough.

It's even harder when you're babysitting a 4 year old, trying to find a job, and doing odd jobs for your parents all at the same time.

 This morning we finally got internet!

Now if hubs will only finish unpacking we'll be done!!

Seriously, why is it that I was able to unpack all of my personal things plus all the kitchen, living room, dining room, etc. yet hubs still hasn't hung up his clothes?

I have learned since we've been married that while I like to unpack and get all organized hubs is perfectly happy living out of his suitcase.

Living Room

Clearly work still needs to be done. We don't have many of the decorations hung up yet and need some rugs and other things to make it home.

Kitchen

After only living with my parents, in dorms, or apartments, this condo has been an experience.

The owners are a really sweet couple, but they definitely have different tastes than us!

For example, we couldn't figure out how to turn the fan on in the living room, the only light there. When we asked them about it they told us that it was one that plugged into the wall but they cut the wire because they didn't want to use the fan! Umm, what?
Thank goodness they are super sweet and willing to pay for us to get it fixed. 

Dining Room

Our first day here I came home from running errands to a pretty warm house. 

Kyle had been out on the patio with our niece and had left the door open so I wasn't too concerned. Until it kept creeping up a degree at a time the rest of the night. 

By morning it was back to where we had it set so we weren't sure what has wrong. 

And then it began creeping up until we had our own indoor sauna. 

Thankfully they replaced the unit because they had fixed whatever the problem was a few times before.

DIY Swiffer Pads

Linking up with Melissa for The Pinterest Project

I'm loving this link-up! It makes me actually use my pinterest pins!

We moved into a new place and all but the bedrooms are tile! I love my swiffer, but knew that I would be spending a lot of time and money trying to keep this whole place cleaned. I merged together a few different ideas in order to make homemade dry and wet swiffer pads.

I had some micro fleece left over from making my DIY T-shirt blanket so I used that. You can also use micro fiber cloth.

 

1. Take a dry swiffer pad you already have and lay it on your fabric.

  

2. Cut around the pad to make a rectangle approximately the same size. Repeat! I made 12 because I knew I would be using them for both dry and wet.

  

3. Put on your swiffer using the standard holes. No need to sew if you use micro fleece/fiber!

 

 4. Sweep up those floors! Seriously, I needed this! My floors are a mess, I swear I had vacuummed the whole place the day before!

  

5. For the wet cloth, you can use any solution you already use to mop your floors. I use a mixture of 50% vinegar and 50% water. I mixed them up in a squirt bottle. You can then either spray directly onto a clean cloth or spray on your floor and mop over!

I also added a cute basket to my laundry room where I can place all of the dirty ones before they go in the wash. No dirt getting mixed in with the clothes!

High Five for Friday {5}

This has been a crazy week filled with lots of exciting happenings!

1. Kyle and I moved! Leaving Gainesville after 5 years there was pretty bitter sweet. On one hand, I had a wonderful experience in college and made a lot of great friendships. On the other hand, most of my friends had already left so it wasn't too hard to leave. We're both excited for the next chapter in our lives.

2. This little cutie was born the day we moved home! I'm so excited to live near family so that I can spend time with our newest cousin!

3. Our family has been such a wonderful blessing to us already and I'm so glad we live close. 

4. We've been babysitting our niece this week since she's doesn't have camp the two weeks before school starts. She's been loving building houses out of our moving boxes. 

5. My brother graduates from college today!!

Linking up with Lauren 

Just because this car is awesome!

Wedding Recap

I feel like I've been completely out of the loop for awhile now. These past few days have been crazy busy. Plus, we currently have no internet, so I'm using it while I can.

I have a ton more photos that I still need to upload from this beautiful wedding, but I have no idea where my camera cord is. So here are a bunch of iPhone pics!

After the rehearsal/dinner, we made all the bouquets and centerpieces. The flowers were so pretty and perfectly fit the bride's personality!

 The next day, we all got ready at the club where they were getting married together.

 

 The beautiful bride before we left to take pictures!

 It was so hot out!!! We were all sweating to death after the ceremony, but it was gorgeous!