Banana Pudding Anyone?

About a week or two ago, I decided to try making banana pudding from scratch.

Which, sounded easy to me, turns out, not so much.

Here are some/most of the ingredients I was told I needed. Note the egg separator on the counter. It took me awhile to dig that baby out, and to exactly figure out what to do with it.

This is my version of a double boiler, because that's what Rachel Ray said to do, and, I don't have a double boiler (nor see a need to own one if this contraption works.)

This is me "continously stirring" the ingredients in the double boiler. The directions said that it would become custard like in 10-12 minutes......

35 minutes later I am still stirring. No custard.

This is my DELICIOUS soap that Mrs. Angela gifted me on my last surprise visit. She has a storehouse of this particular flavor and wanted to pass on the obsession, I believe. I think it worked. Who doesn't like smelling like peppermint during the holidays?!?

I got bored with taking pictures and bored with stirring, so after 45 minutes of stirring (it had started to clump slightly around 25 minutes) I gave up and just poured it in the dish with the bananas and nilla wafers, and cooked it. Turned out great! Well, it was VERY custardy, which, it turns out, is a texture I am not very found of. But Ian looooooved it, and pretty much devoured it for days, until I threw it out due to the disgustingness of the bananas at that point.

Give me good ol' Sonny's banana pudding any old time.

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

Banana Pudding Anyone?

Goodbye Retail World

At least for now!

Today was my last day at the book store, and although I am very sad that we will not be getting my AMAZING employee discount, I am super excited to move on to bigger and better things.

Like starting teaching in 5 days!!

I go in on Thursday to substitute, then Monday, I start for real. That is, as long as the teacher doesn't go into labor before then. Otherwise, I'll be starting tomorrow, or Thursday, or Friday!

And now I am off to bed because my eyes are drooping and the house is cold.

Also, certain people on the Biggest Loser are insane.
And, I am very happy with this week's outcomes.
That is all.

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

Goodbye Retail World

Boo-lated Halloween

haha, I crack myself up!

We spent Halloween with a friend of mine from high school, Kelly, and her boyfriend Kean. We ate dinner and watched The Office, then dug into our "non competitive," pumpkin carving time. Ian and I decided on a batman theme, since I had done Transformers the year before and it had turned out pretty well! Kelly and Kean decided on doing a fancy University of Florida logo. They both turned out great!

I also had a fun time handing out fistfulls of candy to the trick or treaters....being "the cool apartment," is alot of fun!

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

Boo-lated Halloween

Dear Momma,

Dear Momma,

I have to tell you something. You were right. Camping last night was probably not the best idea. But, probably not only for the reason you thought.

It all started when I spent my entire day off getting things ready for our "trial run" camping trip. We weren't really planning on going camping for fun, really. We were going in order to test out all of fun camping equipment and to let Ian have his first real camping trip before going camping with other people.

Right. So, after an ENTIRE day of errand running and cleaning and packing, Ian came home from work with his lunch still in its bag, saying his stomach was a little off. Well, I didn't think it was a big deal, so off we went, getting to the park about an hour before sunset, and we did have a rush of tent construction and fire building, before 6:30 when we roasted hot dogs for dinner. Then, my lovely husband, crawled into bed. At 6:30!!!!! I read next to him for awhile then went out and made me some s'mores, before going to bed myself at 8:30.

Man, was that floor hard. Man, was it cold out.

Despite my four shirts, two pairs of pants, socks, and my hoodie, I was frozen, and tossed and turned with restless sleep until about 2:30, when Ian finally admitted outloud he was having horrible sleep.

So, naturally, we crawled in the car. Me "sprawled" out on the backseat, and Ian in the front seat reclining.

Hey, at least we weren't cold!

Only, I woke in the morning to an incredibly stiff neck and an outlook of rain.

We ate breakfast, packed everything up and came home.

Now, more than 12 hours later, my neck is not only sore, but swollen and discolored, and Mom, I have to admit, you were right.

We were too cold.

And. That has to be the worst camping trip of my life.

But, as we lay in the tent last night, me sobbing over the failure of the trip, at least we eventually had a sense of humor over it, laughing because at least we would have a good story to tell, right?

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

Dear Momma,

Introducing...

The New Third Grade Teacher....

Mrs. Galloway!

I just got my phone call today, that the teacher I have been substitute teaching for, is FINALLY going on maternity leave (about time too, she's 41 years old, 38 weeks along with her first child!)

So, starting Monday, the 17th, I will be their full time teacher...for the rest of the year! Their original teacher isn't coming back, so it's all up to me!

I am SO ready to be back in the classroom, to plan, create, organize, and most importantly, educate!

Below are some "before," pictures of her classroom. I probably won't rearrange until after the holidays so that everything isn't turned upside down for them all at once, but I will definately be cleaning and organizing things.

What do you think about a classroom pet? I am thinking about getting us a hamster and reading them the book that Mrs. Angela recommended "The World According to Humphrey," outloud, as a first week activity in order to have a time filler.

I do have many "needs" for my classroom, and I'm not really sure where to start. I know that I definately need a rug of some sort, so if you know of anyone wanting to get rid of a colorful area rug, let me know! I also need to get some books, for the upcoming holiday season, including books on Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years, and Hannakuh/Kwanza (though I am fairly positive none of my students follow those last two.)

Have I mentioned I am excited?!?

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

Introducing...

99 Balloons

Isn't it funny how certain things catch your attention? Or how your heart is tender towards different people or stories?

I've always been all about children, but lately, it seems that God is bringing stories of babies and their families to my attention.

Today was no different.

Go HERE to see a beautiful video about Eliot, and the story his parents have to tell.

I don't think you'll need tissues. At leat, I thought it ended happily. Sort of.

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

99 Balloons

Fallen Behind

I've fallen behind on a lot of things lately. Phone Calls, Blog Posts, Book Club Reading, Grocery Shopping, Pumpkin Buying, Emails, Holiday Planning, Reading for Fun, Self Learning (remember my autodidact post?), Exercising(ha!), and Crafting. Nothing seems to be getting done with about a million things left done midway through.

The weekend was great. Lots of relaxation time. We had our friends pick us up a pumpkin from the other side of town, because after an HOUR of driving around, and stopping in at 5 different grocery stores, we found out that A: they were all sold out, and B:There are no pumpkin patches in West Gainesville.

We made a batman pumpkin. :) Pictures to come.

Also coming this week (I Promise!) are pictures from Ian's trip to Budapest, my trip to North Georgia, and a documentation at my first try of banana pudding and apple crisp. Also, the long lost Sam has returned from his GRE studying (he got a score of like, a million, or course) so maybe we'll be seeing our friend again. Plans for next weekend: trip to free community zoo? Another game of tennis? Hiking in the nearby state park? (Do you think I could persuade Ian to go camping?!?) And, of course, loving on the new addition to our family....

A Table!!!

We've been without one now for almost 5 months, and though we don't really mind sitting on the floor, it makes for awkward company dinners, telling them they have to eat on the floor and having the bottle of Resolve nearby in order to promptly treat any carpet stains. Yup. We're going to have a table, and she's going to be SO well dressed, just you wait and see.

Had lunch at Bento's Cafe today with Jim and Kelly from our Sunday school class, and we had a really great time. It's good to be getting to know some people around here.

I have my first day of full substitute teaching on Wednesday as another leg of this VERY long interview process. I guess they just really want to make sure I have what it takes to work in a school that sells pickles for a fundraiser. Oh you think I'm kidding? I'll get a picture one day, you'll see.

Also, I've set a goal for myself to have 100 posts done by the end of the year, so you might be hearing from me a little more often.

Share:facebook - twitter - pinterest

Fallen Behind