That Wife married to That Husband living That Life
Google reader tells me there are still 188 of you subscribed here. How silly!
If you go to www.thatwifeblog.com, you can see pictures of me looking really fat. That’s reason enough to switch and subscribe over there, right?
Here is what you will find:
Are you still subscribed/reading here?
Don’t worry, sometimes I’m slow about unsubscribing as well. But think about it this way. It’s a great way to eliminate some of the unnecessary subscriptions on your feed reader (we all have them). Go ahead, click unsubscribe. It won’t hurt my feelings a bit (as long as you go ahead and subscribe to my other feed right after you do it).
So stop visiting me here. Just go ahead and stop right now.
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Think of it as upgrading from a crappy rental where you were constantly frustrated with your landlord, to a quaint 1960’s inspired fixxer-upper with lots of potential. It feels so nice.
I can’t even contain myself I’m so excited, so I’m going to shout at you.
Check out my new baby, www.thatwifeblog.com. Think of it as a stand-in for the actual baby I really want.
I’m cheap and won’t be paying for domain redirection, so you will have to update your links and RSS feeds. Annoying I know, but my new layout allows me to post pictures that are 1000 pixels wide. You are going to love the difference! (Well, at least I think you will. I do!)
I’ve turned off comments on this post, and this blog is officially a relic from my past. I love change.
I’ll be posting reminders to update your blog links and RSS feeds over the next few days. Come over and see my new home!
This week I experienced one of those times where you want something you can’t have so bad that you let a few tears escape into your pillow at night. I don’t think I’ve felt like this since my application for the Film program at BYU was rejected my Freshman year.
I know that someday I’ll think the whole thing is rather silly, but this is now and I can’t force myself to feel that way. I was talking about going to Vegas to meet up with my mom and sister for this convention for photographers convention called WPPI. When Miss Dumpling from Weddingbee informed me that a group of photographers from around the country are getting together during that time to shoot an amazing Trash The Dress session, I immediately emailed the shoot coordinator to find out if I could join in as a bride model. The scenes and photographers will be fantastic, and the brides are going to have their hair and makeup professionally done and everything! With my Roman bridals, engagements in Mexico, 2000+ wedding photos, and after wedding shoot with my mom, it should be no surprise to anyone that I love to have my picture taken. This shoot would would be a once in a lifetime thing for me.
Except it’s on Sunday. And I don’t do things on Sunday. I don’t listen to anything except spiritual music, I don’t watch TV, I don’t spend any money. I go to church, I visit with family and friends, I read, I cook. I don’t go out into the desert and have my hair and makeup done and skip around in my wedding dress. I wish I did, but I don’t. Sunday is the Lord’s day. I have six other days for myself, I figure I can give him just one.
I think I laid in bed for about 2 hours the night I found out it was on Sunday, attempting to figure out a way to justify how I could make myself feel okay about this. But then I realized something. I wouldn’t be able to go to church that morning. I would be the only girl out in the desert with a temple-modest dress on. What if the topic of religion came up? What if someone knew and mentioned if? I would feel hypocritical for saying one thing, and doing another.
I just really want to do it, you know?
Have you ever had to make a decision like this? What stands in the way of the “fun” things you want to do?
I’m sure many of you are going to leave encouraging comments that say you think I should do it and you think it’s no big deal. I’m not going to change my mind, I just needed the chance to vent and get my feelings out so I could let my sadness/frustration go. I also hope this post doesn’t come off as “self-righteous”. There are many who would do the shoot, LDS or not, and I think each of us should choose to do what we feel is right for us.
Monday morning, MLK day, I woke up grouchy. Or rather, I went from being completely fine one moment to nsapping at That Husband the next.
“Why are you being like this? I can’t help you unless I understand what you want,” he patiently told me.
“I don’t KNOW what I want.
In the end what I wanted was to be out of the house. Lack of funds means we don’t get out much, and over time I’d let my frustration build up instead of talking through things with him.
So we went on a bike ride, absolutely one of my favorite things to do together. Even if he wears jeans and uses a giant clip to give his pants a peg-leg look.
First we felt lost, then we argued, then all we could find was this really ugly overpass. Coppell was starting to look really ugly and boring to me.
Ewwww
I practiced taking pictures while riding my bike. I’m not sure why that is a skill I wanted to master, but something tells me it could come in handy one day. I believe I took this shot while moving my camera in the opposite direction that I was moving, and it was the only one that had anything in focus. Interesting.
I was starting to think that the only things we would see on this excursion would be muddy ponds and abandoned baseball fields. But then, we found the nature preserve! I don’t think I understood why nature preserves, national parks, or city parks are so important until this very moment. I may sound very melodramatic, but even though it was the dead of winter and all the trees and plants were brown and leafless, this little preserve was like a little haven for me. No concrete, no pavement, no noise (except for the sounds of laughing children playing on swings nearby).
Our time in the preserve was rather uneventful, really just a chance to hold hands and wander together. We laughed at the placement of the placement of this sign. Not found at the beginning of our walk, like you would expect, but about halfway through.
Today we will end with two animations I created. I’m a huge fan of the timer setting on my camera, which can be set up to take 15 shots in a row. You will see that we weren’t very good at timing our jumps for the camera. 
If you look really close you can see TH’s awesome clip job on his right pant leg.
Our tushies were sore the next day but it was worth it. I think we will be heading back to this spot once Spring comes around again.
Remember that time I asked you all if I should get a fish?
This poor plant is the reason why That Husband says it is a bad idea.
I think this example of my nurturing skills has left him a little bit nervous about my ability to nurture another living thing. I tell him not to worry about the baby, because when the baby wants something, it will cry. If this plant would have cried a time or two it might not be waiting for trash day outside our door.
Good gardners don’t automatically equal good mothers. Besides, aren’t poinsettas supposed to die. It’s a reminder that Christmas is over, that winter is here to stay for several more months, that life has become as boring, staid, predictable, and menial as it once was. I’ll give plant nurturing another try before I condemn myself as a black thumb.
The other day I woke up with the desire to try out a new recipe for breakfast. I wanted pancakes, but I wanted something with some fiber. I thought this pancake recipe would give me the hearty results I was looking for.
INGREDIENTS
* 1 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/3 cup quick cooking oats
* 1 teaspoon baking powder
* 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
* 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
* 1/2 cup fat free sour cream
* 1 egg, lightly beaten
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 1/3 cup milk
DIRECTIONS
1. Heat a lightly oiled griddle over medium-low heat.
2. In a bowl, mix the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. In a separate bowl, mix applesauce, sour cream, egg, and vanilla. Stir applesauce mixture and milk into the flour mixture until evenly moist and thick.
3. Scoop about 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto the prepared griddle, and cook, turning once, until golden brown on both sides.
Makes 11 pancakes
Nutrition Information (as weighed and calculated by me):
Serving Size: 3 pancakes
Calories: 233
Fat: 2g
Sat Fat: 1g
Mono Fat: 1g
Cholesterol: 62mg
Sodium: 276 mg
Potassium: 113mg
Carbohydrate: 45g
Fiber: 2g
Protein: 8g
These pancakes were thick, hearty, and something like a 3.5 on a scale of 5 for me. I think I’m not head over heels in love with them because I’m just not a pancake person. I cover my pancakes in peanut butter and syrup and ICBINB and suddenly they aren’t quite so healthy anymore. So I’ll stick to my homemade breakfast burritos or my favorite “8g fiber per serving” cereal.
If you are a pancake person though, I think you’ll live them. Cook them slow because they are so thick and hearty, but they’re the perfect breakfast if you want something that will stick to your bones (in a good way, not in a jiggly way).
My husband won’t use bodywash. Only soap. He doesn’t like receiving gifts, so I thought that buying him something I know he likes would be the key.
Except I made the mistake of buying fancy soaps. They aren’t girly, but they are tropical, or minty, or (gasp!) moisturizing.
That’s not what he wants. He wants boring, blue, “squeaky clean” soap. The kind with names like Zest, or Irish Spring.
That’s okay with me, because the fancy soap I bought him from Lush smells amazing, and now it’s all mine. The best kind of gifts are the ones that keep on giving (to me).
No seriously, it really is. I managed to find a recipe for “That Chocolate Cake.” So perfect for me, right? And also really, really delicious.
I put on the Etsy apron That Husband gave me for my birthday a few years ago and got to work.
I know this is really unlike me, but I have no pictures of the cooking process. The focus of this project was the food, not the photography, although someday I hope to be good enough at it to take pictures at the same time. Also I hope to live in a place with better light. When we start apartment hunting next year I’m going to ask “Does it have light? I want to live somewhere with lots of light.”
I assembled all of the ingredients on my counter, and pulled up the recipe. I substituted Black and Green organic cocoa powder and Bakers 100% Cacoa unsweetened chocolate for the Scharffen Berger ingredients.
That Chocolate Cake
Ingredients:
Cake
Frosting
Method
For the Cake:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter the bottom of two 9-inch round cake pans. Line the bottom with parchment paper, then butter and flour the parchment and the sides of the pans.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar, flour, cocoa, salt, baking powder, and baking soda, mixing on low speed. Min in the eggs, oil, and milk.
Increase the speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes. Reduce the speed to low and mix in the water. The batter will be soupy.
Divide the batter evenly between the cake pans. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and cool on a cooling rack for 5 minutes, then turn the layers out onto the rack and cool completely.
When the cakes have cooled, check the frosting. It should have the consistency of mayonnaise. If it is still too thin, allow it to cool longer.
For the Frosting:
In a small saucepan, combine the sugar and cream and bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Reduce the heat and simmer for 6 minutes. Add the chocolate and butter and stir until melted. Pour into a bowl and stir in the vanilla.
To Frost the Cake:
Place one cake layer on a serving plate. Spread the frosting with a hot palette knife or icing spatula to give the frosting a beautiful shine. Run the knife under hot tap water and dry with a towel. Spread about ¾ cup of the frosting over the top of the first layer. Top with the second layer. Spread the remaining frosting over the top and sides of the cake, heating the knife again as necessary.
Serves 8 to 10
There was one disaster during the process, but crisis was averted when That Husband offered to run to the grocery store to pick up another pint of heavy whipping cream for a second attempt at the frosting. Don’t take your eyes off that boiling cream and sugar for even a moment. Not even if you think your favorite character on the TV show you are watching while you bake might be dying.
After the cakes had cooled I used a trick I learned from a fantastic baker I lived next to growing up. I cut as much of the crust off of the cake as possible. It makes the cakes look ragged before the frosting is applied, but it means that no one gets an “end” piece. Plus you get to eat whatever you cut off, kind of like a pre-cake snack.
I frosted the first layer and That Husband was ready to dig right in. “Get away!” I screeched. He didn’t realize that this was going to be a double layer delight.
Just so you know, I spent about 15 minutes attempting to clean up all the frosting on the rim of this plate so I could take this picture. So pretty! But I wanted to take things a step further.
When I decided to run a hot knife over the frosting to give it this shiny smooth look I wasn’t thinking about how hard it would be to photograph. I don’t think it looks very good in this picture, but after it was in the fridge for a day the shine wore off and it looked as delicious as it tasted.
Would I reccomend you make this cake? Heck yes! I was told by our friends that it was better than the cake they like to buy from a bakery they like to visit in their neighborhood. Success!
Don’t mind the slightly creepy Stepford wife look I have on my face. My eyes are trying to say to you “Did you sign for the challenge? Make that cake!”
Not just for the country, but for the space of That Wife as well!
I’m working on figuring out the domain thing, and the WordPress.org migration thing, and the building up an empire of bloggers that begin with “That” thing (you know, like That Husband, because he definitely needs a blog).
But every great empire must be built on a solid foundation, and it’s time to break some ground with some design tweaks.
Go ahead and give me some header feedback. Do you like it? Should I change it? What should I change it to? The little 60’s hairdo girl isn’t up for debate cuz I think she’s hot and you can’t ever make me think anything different.
Do you like any of the Kitchenaid icons below better than the one I currently have?
I just have to be patient. Krakow wasn’t built in a day, you know?
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