Goodbye Mac, Hello PC

For my birthday, Kyle built me a new desktop.

My laptop has been getting slower and slower even after being fixed. 

So I agreed to let him get me a new one.

However, it's taking FOREVER to switch everything over since I'm going from everything Apple back to a PC.

I'm still slightly sad to be switching away from my Mac, but I love the new computer

At the moment I can't get any pictures off of my phone!

Hopefully we'll get it all switched soon and I'll be able to make a real post!

Peasant Bread

I found this bread, where else but pinterest. 

Of all the bread's I've tried this one is not only the easiest, but my favorite. 

I've made it multiple times since finding it in December.

The original recipe makes two loaves. 

I typically only make one at a time so the ingredients and directions below are what I do. 

Ingredients:

2 cups flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup lukewarm water

1/2 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon active-dry yeast

1 tablespoon butter. 

Directions:

1. In a large bowl mix flour and salt. 

2. In a smaller mixing bowl, dissolve sugar into the water. 

Sprinkle yeast on top and allow to sit for a few minutes till foamy. This ensures that the yeast is active.

Stir it up and mix it in with the dry ingredients.

 This is what your dough should look like. 

3. Cover with a tea towel and set in a warm place to rise for 1.5 - 2 hours, until the dough has doubled.

4. Using the butter, grease an over safe bowl. I use a 2L pyrex bowl. 

Using two forks, scrape the dough out of the bowl making sure to flip the dough in on itself. 

Place the dough in the grease bowl. 

Allow to rise for 30 minutes. It should be about to the top of the bowl.

In the greased bowl before rising.

5. Pre-heat oven to 425F.

Once the dough has risen, bake for 10 minutes. 

Reduce the heat to 375F and allow to cook for 22-25 more minutes.

Remove from over and turn out onto cooling rack. 

The bread should fall right out!

 Finished bread!

Bits and Pieces

Spring Break was wonderful.

Unfortunately realty hit and it's taken me a few days to get back into the swing of things. 

Randomness from the past week include:

1// Made my favorite bread (recipe to come!)

2// We bought jellybeans around Easter. 

Kyle keeps leaving me piles of my favorite colors. This one was on the side of the bed.

3// We've had some crazy rainy weather.

There was even a tornado warning at school the other day!

4// I hate making bacon on the stove because it always pops at me. 

Kyle decided using his sunglasses would be the appropriate way to avoid splatter.

5//Got my birthday reward on my Starbucks card!

Can't wait for my birthday!

 6// Kyle started looking into building me a desktop computer this week. 

I'm sad to switch back from my mac, but excited to have a computer with no issues again!

 

 

The Fault In Our Stars

I rarely read a book that makes me feel as many emotions in a 300 page span as this book did. 

 Once again, this book was on my to read list, but not one that I would typically read. 

I started The Fault in Our Stars, only knowing that it was about a girl with cancer.

I had no idea if it would be funny, sad, or keep me interested.

At one point, I was laughing and Kyle looked at me weird and said, 

"isn't that a book about kids with cancer?"

Yes, yes it is, but their situations are so real.

I really enjoyed this book because it felt so real to me. 

As I read I wasn't sure where it was going to go, 

yet at other parts I couldn't figure out what else was still going to be written.

Not that I could ever relate to what was happening in the story, but I felt connected to the characters.

I felt like their story was real life. 

It didn't gloss over the harsh reality of disease to give you this happy story. 

There were so many parts and so many things that happened.

It didn't feel like a story to me, but that I was hearing about their daily lives. 

Everything was connected, but not really.

I loved Hazel and Gus's relationship, 

no, their relationship isn't a normal teen relationship, 

but at the same time it really is. 

They were just two teenagers falling in love and trying their best to navigate the situations that they were going through in life. 

They were so defined by their disease, and yet they were just normal teenagers trying to get the most out of their lives before they ended. 

I loved how Hazel tells her parents she feels like a grenade, destined to damage those near her. 

Then later, when she realizes that her parents are planning for their future it seems to give her closer on her own life. 

You won't walk away happy, I cried my eyes out in the end, 

but I'd still recommend this book and am really glad I ended up buying it.

Hello Spring Break

I have to say, weekends are much more enjoyable when you know you don't have to go to work on Monday morning. 

This weekend we spent a lot of time with friends and family. 

It was so nice to just enjoy the time and not worry about things I needed to get done.

Friday night, we had some friends over and played Settlers of Catan. 

We really like to broaden our horizons. 

Kyle and I won every game played and figure it must be because it was at our house. 

We might need to play over here more often.

Our friend Brad spent the night and the next day we went with him and Jason apartment hunting.

It's much more enjoyable when you just get to look at places, but aren't moving yourself!

Sadly, this happened. 

We rolled down the window and the power windows went out. 

This had happened a few months before and the fuse just needed replacing. 

So we went and bought a couple fuses and fixed the window. 

Sunday, we did our usual church and family lunch. 

Then we headed to our friend's house to play some more Settlers.

Like I said, party animals.

Stephanie won every game, furthering our theory of house wins. 

On our way home, we stopped to get some food. 

Only to try and roll the window up and the power windows again go out. 

Thankfully, we had an extra fuse this time. 

We replaced the fuse, and before we could even get the window back up, that one blew as well.

Clearly, there's a bigger issue here...

On the bright side, I have Spring Break this week. 

What a great way to spend the morning. 

Now I get to spend the rest of the day dealing with the car.

At least it happened now, when I have time to work on it!

High Five For Friday

Guatemala Mission Trip Spring Break 2009

1. Spring Break! 

I am so ready for the break so I can sit around and do nothing. Spring Break now is so much different than it was in college! Hopefully I'll finally be able to knock out this sickness!

2. Bloglovin'

I've had it for awhile, but never used it as a reader. Now that Google reader is going by be-bye, I have officially switched over. I have to say, I absolutely love it and don't know why I didn't get on board earlier! You can follow me by clicking he follow button on my sidebar.

3. New Work Laptop!

My work laptop is super old. As in,constantly won't run things because it's missing plugins. However they can't be updated because ones that fit my computer no longer exist! 

Anyways, there was a contest at work for a brand new laptop. I knew I wouldn't win it, but I was pleasantly surprised when I got the call that I'm getti g the teacher that did wins old laptop. Trust me when I say that it's a major improvement! 

SweetHeart VoxBox Review

A few months back, I signed up for Influenster, a program where you can receive free products in exchange for honest reviews. 

Afterwards, I promptly forgot about it. 

That is, until I was contacted to receive the SweetHeart VoxBox in February. 

I was very pleasantly surprised about what arrived in my box!

1. Olay Fresh Effects (Va-Va-Vivid) Powered Contour Cleansing System. $12.99

2. Olay Fresh Effects (Shine, Shine Go Away!) Shine Minimizing Cleanser. $6.99 for full

I would have to say that these two are my favorite products.
I really liked the idea of a powered cleansing system, but never wanted to shell out the money for one in case I didn't like it.The system leaves my face feeling softer and smoother than anything else I've ever used. I also love how the wedge shape, which makes it much easier to get to the areas around the nose. Plus, it can be used in the shower!
The Shine, Shine Go Away Cleanser was fine, but I don't have a lot of shine problems. I would want to try out one of their other cleanser's next time. The full bottle is almost 7 times the size of the sample size and goes a really long way. I've been using the sample for almost 3 weeks daily, plus Kyle's admitted to trying it out too. 
I probably would never have pick up this system on my own, but now that I have it I will definitely continue to purchase the cleansers.

3. Secret Clinical Strength Stress Response. $7.99-9.99

I was pretty excited about this one because I like clinical strength deodorant much better than regular. However, it's another expensive product that isn't something I feel like is worth it for me. I don't typically sweat enough that I feel like it matters. This product does work very well, better than my regular Secret deodorant and I surprisingly liked the smell. I typically go for fresh scents, but the citrus was very nice.


4. Not Your Mother's She's a Tease Volumizing Hair Spray. $6.00 for full

My hair has trouble holding body. Most of the time when I put any sort of volumizing product in, it's noticeable right off the bat, but the second I start styling my hair everything falls flat. Since I had heard so much about this product I was really hopeful it would work better than others I've tried. It gave me a lot of great body right when I put it on, but as soon as I started to do my hair it all feel again. Maybe it's really great for people who have a better time maintaining body than I do.


5. Skinnygirl Daily On-The-Go Bars. $9.99 for a box of 5

First of all, I'm not a huge fan of these expensive type of bars anyways. Second, the flavor I received was Banana Oatmeal Dark Chocolate and I don't like anything banana flavored. While they are low in calories, you should watch out because they are very high in carbs. I made Kyle try it and he says it tastes like a regular granola bar with chocolate. For me, this wouldn't be something I tried again. I'd rather save my money and make my own granola bars.

Even though I didn't love everything in the box, the first three items more than made up for the other things. I loved being able to test new products and find some new favorites. 

 

Disclaimer: All products were received from Influenster for complimentary testing purposes. All opinions are my own.