Merry Christmas!

It's been a busy holiday season, but we hope you had a wonderful Christmas! Jared and I had a great first Christmas together. We went to my sister's house in Gilroy and had a lovely time. We enjoyed a hula performance by my nieces, air hockey on Tammy's new iPod Touch, and good food and good times with family. I love the holidays!

Confession

Sometimes, when I watch "What Not to Wear", I get emotional.

Captions, please. . .

I just got this picture from my sister and was practically rolling on the floor! What do you think the caption should be?

Hotel Frisby

Amongst the wonderful memories and good times that we brought home from our Thanksgiving in Idaho, we also brought home some wedding gifts that had been sent to Jared's parents' house. Included in said gifts was a set of two bath sheets. Sheets not towels. Know what the difference is? Bath Sheets are ginormous! They're longer than me and probably three times as wide. Jared is afraid that if he wraps it around his waist, it will drag on the floor (I told him to wrap it around himself right under his armpits - like a woman. He wouldn't). Instead of putting those bath sheets in storage with all of our other wedding gifts (because we are house-sitting a fully furnished house), we decided to bust those out and use them right away. Why? Because, as Jared says, wrapping up in one of those bath sheets is like being wrapped up in angels' wings. So every morning when we get out of the shower, for a beautiful few minutes, it's like we're living in a 5 star hotel!

Our Furry Houseguest

Last week, our good friends The Bennings had their baby (Congratulations Bennings!). We were lucky enough to take care of their other little one while they were in the hospital.



Max was a very polite houseguest. He wasn't noisy, he didn't complain, he helped me put up all of the Christmas decorations. And, he even patrolled the front and back yards for squirrels and cats.





Thanks for staying with us Max! You're welcome anytime!

When Christmas Goes Very Wrong. . .

Just Kidding!!!! That's just Jared wrapping up our Christmas tree in a tarp so we could take it home.

After we got home from our lovely Thanksgiving vacation on Saturday, we met my sister and her family in the Santa Cruz mountains to cut down a Christmas tree (don't worry, it was on a tree farm - totally legal). First step was finding the perfect Christmas tree. That didn't take long because Jared and I needed a small tree (since our house is currently overrun by couches) and most people go for the big trees. That left us lots to choose from. Next step was cutting it down. Also an easy task since our tree was small. I think Jared had it done in about two minutes.



Of course, carrying it to the car was also a cinch. Jared carried the tree and I carried the saw.



Now comes the tricky part. After cutting down our tree and taking it to the car, we had to figure out how to get it home. Neither of our cars are really ideal vehicles for transporting a Christmas tree (although, it would be a pretty sweet site to see a MINI cruising along with a Christmas tree on top). We took Jared's Mustang thinking that there was a possibility we could fit a tree in the trunk if we folded the back seat down. If it didn't fit, we would have to tie it on top. After getting the tree to the car and sizing up the situation, we decided to try the trunk option. We wrapped the tree up tight in the tarp and then tied it all in tightly. This was the part that my sister thought was hilarious because it looked like we were tying up a body.



But, when all was said and done, we folded down the back seat and - voila - we had a Christmas tree in the trunk of our car.



And it fit beautifully!

A Tale of Three Molestaches

I'm getting behind on my posting. My apologies. Now for the drama that I mentioned in my last post. . .

Once upon a time there were three Frisby brothers who thought it would be funny to play a joke on Frisby sister. They thought it would be funny to grow mustaches for the family pictures to make Frisby sister mad. They started a couple of weeks before picture day, which happened to be Thanksgiving Day, growing beards and mustaches as fast as they could. On picture day, they awoke with beards and mustaches all around. The three Frisby brothers set their plan in motion by shaving off their beards before the Thanksgiving feast. They came to dinner in full molestache glory! After dinner, preparations began for taking the pictures. The three Frisby brothers, however, made no efforts toward becoming clean-shaven. As picture time drew nearer and nearer and the Frisby brothers were not any closer to being clean-shaven, visions of a family photo full of molestaches began to dance in the heads of Frisby sister and at least one of the Frisby wives (who shall remain nameless). All manner of persuasion was used to try to get the three Frisby brothers to ditch the molestaches, but they were all in vain. Finally, Frisby mom had to step in and lay down the law. The molestaches came off and the family pictures were saved!!!!

Of course, a picture is worth a thousand words. . .







Ashlee, I apologize for any grief that my husband caused you!

Thanksgiving in Rexburg

This year, Jared and I went to Rexburg to spend Thanksgiving with his whole family. Good times were had by all. The fun began on Tuesday when we met up with Jared's brother, Jordan. He and Jared's dad have quads, so we took those out for a little spin. It was fairly cold and I had never been on a quad before, so we kept it pretty low-key. For me, I was just trying to get the hang of driving it. The quads were manuals, so I had to get the hang of using my hands for the clutch and throttle and going up and down with the pedal to shift. I got the hang of it fairly quickly, though, and we had a great time. Jared and I switched off driving his dad's quad while his brother rode his own.


Jared and I living dangerously

On Wednesday, after a day of running errands and taking care of some other things, we went on a little hike with Jared's sister Ashlee who needed to take some photos for one of her classes. We had a good time, although it started to get pretty cold with the sun going down. When we got near the top, we realized we didn't have flashlights, so we had to make sure we made it down before dark.


Cute Jared climbing up the mountain


I'm so little way up there!


We made it to the top!

On Thanksgiving morning, we decided to go to the ice caves which are near Jared's parents' house. The ice caves are lava tubes which have lots of ice frozen inside. So, you're mostly walking (or sliding) on ice the whole time. There were frozen ice crystals all over the sealing and sheets of ice on the floors. It looked really cool. Some parts of the caves got very narrow and we had to slide through on our knees or stomach. It was pretty awesome. And, of course, we finished off Thanksgiving with a fabulous meal. We also had family pictures, but that involved some drama which will have to wait for another post. . .


Jared and I ready to start the adventure


Ashlee sliding through


Hilary and Bernie enjoying the headroom


Jared helping Zoie through one of the tight spots


Me with my ice nub that I found in one of the caves

A Holiday Wish to All of My Friends

As the holiday season approaches, I am reminded of just how favorite one of my favorite of pastimes is for me. You see, this pastime takes center stage during this season of gluttonous indulgence and careless disregard for responsible consuming. Eating. I love eating and consuming food products all year long, but at this time, it climbs to a whole new level. During the holiday season, it is accepted, nay, expected, that you overeat. And all of the foods that we so love to eat are showcased in holiday splendor. The lover of food is in a veritable winter wonderland of tastes, smells, textures and calories with which to indulge themselves. And indulge I will! As I mentioned, eating is one of my favorite things to do. Put some tasty food in front of me, and I will consume it with great pleasure. Eating brings feelings of satisfaction and pleasure rivaled by few other activities. There are foods I don't like, however. And consumption of these food items can completely destroy an otherwise happy eating experience. I don't think it should be socially unacceptable to be picky about the things we eat. How often have we had to swallow things that we sure didn't want to just to be "polite"? In my opinion, there is no need to create such misery. May this holiday season bring you and yours a plethora of wonderful foods to be enjoyed and savored without being ruined by the food items you don't like. Happy eating!

Happy Halloween. . .

. . . from Disney World!!!

Jared had to attend a conference for work in Orlando. We decided that since Apple was paying for his hotel and plane ticket, it wouldn't be too much for us to buy a plane ticket for me so I could accompany him. And what else would I do in Orlando while he was in the conference but check out Disney World.

And check out Disney World, I did! On the first day, I hit up Magic Kingdom. It was good times, but I had a lot more fun when Jared joined me after his conference was done for the day. We decided that Magic Kingdom is fun, but some of the rides are not as good as their counterparts in Disneyland.

Day two was Hollywood Studios. Jared finished with his conference a little earlier that day, so he was able to join me just after lunch. Unfortunately, the good weather we enjoyed the first day somehow disappeared overnight and all of a sudden it was freezing! I didn't even know Florida could get so cold! We still had a good time, though, and didn't let the cold stop us from enjoying some of our favorite rides.

The last day we went to Epcot. Jared only had a short session for his conference in the morning, so we headed over to the park later in the morning when he was done. We were both excited for Epcot since we didn't know quite what to expect there. It doesn't really have the same rides that Disneyland does, so it was totally new for both of us. And, we loved it! There are some awesome rides at Epcot which we rode numerous times. And the world showcase was a lot of fun. We walked around and checked out all of the "countries" there and for dinner we ate at the restaurant in the Moroccan section. Of course the cold weather continued. If you look closely in the picture, my collar is flipped up. Sometimes I do that for looks, but in this case it was completely functional. It was cold! Of course, we still had a blast!

We had such a good time in Disney World and were a little sad to come home, but we were excited for warmer weather and to see my parents who are home for over a week while they get ready to extend their mission.

Yes on Prop 8

Today, an Obama campaigner was walking in our neighborhood and stopped to talk to Jared, who was outside doing yardwork. I'm sure he thought it would be a tough sell when he saw our Yes on Prop 8 sign in the yard. Imagine his surprise when Jared told him that we're already voting for Obama. He then asked Jared to explain why we were voting Yes on 8 since that is uncommon amongst Obama voters (this was after he asked for money, of course). I was in the house and not involved in the conversation, but I could hear it all through the open window. As Jared started answering his question, I started thinking about why we're really voting for Prop 8. There are a lot of ancillary reasons, such as the fact that we don't want same-sex marriages taught in public schools and we don't want our churches to lose their tax-exempt status. But, those aren't the primary reasons. Let's be honest. The primary reason is that homosexual behavior is contrary to the will of God and therefore, we can't support it in any form. And everyone is afraid to say it. It can sound harsh to a lot of people given the prevalence of homosexual behavior in our society. And because it seems a harsh line to take, many people give other reasons for voting for Prop 8 so as not to offend. But, what it all boils down to for me is that I can't accept as right what the Lord has said is wrong. And if I don't vote for Prop 8, then I'll be aiding the increased acceptance in society of behavior that is morally wrong. So, yes, I don't want same-sex marriages taught in public schools and I don't want churches to lose their tax-exempt status because they don't want to accept same-sex marriages. But, primarily, I'm voting for Prop 8 because I can't accept immoral behavior in our society.

Item of the Week

The holidays are coming. I know this because this week's item of the week has appeared in the dairy aisle at the grocery store. Egg Nog!

I love egg nog. It is one of my favorite things about the Thanksgiving/Christmas season. Mmmmm!

The New Workout Plan

You know Kanye West's New Workout Plan (all those mocha lattes, you gotta do pilates). Well, this is Jenzel's new workout plan:

I decided that when my test was over and things had slowed down, I would add in another workout during the week. I like some variety, though, and since I already do cardio and weights at the gym and play soccer once a week, I decided I needed something a little different. Enter Wii Boxing. Everytime I box on the Wii, my heart rate goes up and I'm usually sore the next day. But, I've never done it for more than a few minutes. So, I figured that if I box for half an hour or so, that could be an excellent workout. Today I tested my theory. Just as I figured, it is a most excellent workout and fun at the same time! And don't even worry - I totally KO'd all of my opponents! Of course, I get a lot more animated than is necessary, but it makes for a more exciting match and a better workout. I think I will most definitely be sore tomorrow, but I'm prepared to do what it takes to be the next Rocky Balboa.

Anyone want to work out with me?

Item of the Week

I haven't done an item of the week for awhile. I've been too busy to even think about it. However, things are slowing down a little and this week, I have the perfect item. If you can't tell from some of my previous posts, I am not a fan of Governor Sarah Palin and our country's current infatuation with her. However, her abrupt entrance into the national political arena has provided an unlimited number of comical entertainment opportunities on which SNL has very successfully capitalized. Therefore, my item of the week is actually a person: Tina Fey.

If I could figure out how to put NBC's videos on my blog, I would do it. Instead, I will just link you to a most recent awesome video showcasing Tina Fey's talent of impersonating Sarah Palin by clicking here. For further evidence of Tina Fey's greatness, I encourage you to check out previous episodes of SNL and any episode of 30 Rock. If you don't know where to find these, let me know - I will be more than happy to share the Tina Fey greatness.

Love

This is how I know Leah (my mom) loves me. She made me this awesome Halloween pillowcase a few years ago. Just how awesome is it? It glows in the dark!


This is how Jared knows I love him. I made him this awesome Halloween pillowcase last year when we were engaged. It doesn't glow in the dark (I couldn't find any awesome glow in the dark material), but it's still awesome. Still, he's a little jealous of mine.

Nothing says love like a handmade pillowcase!

Visitors

Hooray! We finally had our first visitors since we got married! Last weekend, Jared's parents came out from Rexburg to visit us here in beautiful, sunny California. There is lots to do here, so we were busy all weekend. We had a great time and hope Jared's parents did too! A recap of the visit:

We picked up the parentals on Friday around lunchtime. They flew into Oakland, so after picking them up we headed across the bridge for some good times in San Francisco. We got lunch, saw the Palace of Fine Arts (which is currently closed off for renovation), hung out in the Marina, got some ice cream, went up to twin peaks for an awesome view, got dinner at one of our fave places - Eliza's - and then headed home. It was a busy day!


What a beautiful day to be in the city!


Me and Jared - We love SF!


Jared and his parents


I absolutely love the view from Twin Peaks and with the fog creeping in from the coast, it's even more awesome!

On Saturday, I had to work, so I didn't get to play. But, Jared took his parents to Half Moon Bay and then they drove up the coast on Highway 1. They went to Muir woods and then headed back to the city for an attempt at shopping on Union Square. The Square was absolutely packed, so the shopping didn't work out. So, after I got done with work and they got back to Sunnyvale, we took Jared's mom to DSW (one of the best shoe stores ever) and to Macy's (her fave). No pictures of that (I think Jared forgot the camera).

Sunday was chillax day, sort of. I finally got a calling. I'm now in the Young Women's Presidency in our ward, so Sunday ended up being very busy for me since they sustained us and set us apart that day. Hopefully Jared's mom didn't mind going to RS by herself and hopefully they didn't mind waiting around for me to be done after church! After church we got to relax at home and rest a little bit after the busy sightseeing.

Monday we took the parentals down south to Pacific Grove and Carmel. We stopped for a tasty brunch and then headed off to 17 Mile Drive. Unfortunately it was overcast all day, so the views were not as spectacular as they could have been. But we still had a great time and got a great look at the 18th green at Pebble Beach. We made a quick stop at the beach in Carmel, did a little shopping, and then headed to Monterey to get an ice cream sundae at Ghirardelli. After that we headed home, stopping in Gilroy for some outlet shopping on the way.


The Lone Cypress on 17 Mile Drive


Jared and his dad on the beach in Carmel


Me and Jared - We love Carmel!

Jared's parents left on Tuesday morning and we were sad they had to go. We had a great weekend, though! Thanks for visiting us!

Blah, blah, blah

It's been a busy couple of weeks with more busy weeks to come. I have a lot to post about. But, I haven't loaded pictures onto my computer yet, so I'm not ready to post. I haven't even had time to think about an item of the week. So, my update posting will have to wait. In the meantime, I will tell you about how I got the crap scared out of me the other day. I got up earlier than usual to go to the gym because I had to be back so we could get ready and go to Monterey with Jared's parents (again, the updating will have to wait until I load pics). I got all ready to go to the gym and walked out the door. Right as I stepped off the front porch, the sprinklers turned on. The timing of my foot hitting the ground and the sprinklers starting couldn't have been more perfect. Please keep in mind that the sprinklers are not silent. So, as my foot hits the ground, I hear this rather loud noise off to my right and nearly crapped my pants because it scared me so bad. I don't know if I've ever had a more powerful shot of adrenaline to the heart in my life! As I stood frozen to the spot while my brain registered what was going on and my heart tried to calm down, the sprinklers did their thing and I was snapped out of my stupor by an unexpected early morning shower. As the water hit me, my body took over and I sprinted out of the sprinklers to my car. Not exactly the way I expected to start the day, but in a strange, masochistic sort of way, it's kind of fun to get scared that bad!

The Times They Are A-Changin'

I've been noticing subtle signs for about a year now, but the fact that I am getting old pretty much reached up and slapped me in the face today.

One of the first signs was that I started caring about money and having some when I retire. Next was a growing interest in politics. Getting married, of course, was a pretty big sign. And then there was the Costco membership. Climbing half dome was a reminder that my body is beginning to have limitations in its performance. All of a sudden, I feel this need to eat healthy. I worry about getting cancer. I'm totally baby hungry. All of these are signs that I'm getting older.

But, today - a slap in the face. First, I found a gray hair. Then, I chaperoned a youth dance. Jared laughed when I told him that I found the gray hair, but this is serious business. This is the natural aging process being manifested in a very real way. How am I supposed to combat this? I can't. Age happens. And hair goes gray.

And, as if that wasn't enough, the youth dance was an in your face reminder that I am no longer young. Instead of be-bopping my whole body on the dance floor, I was just be-bopping my head while I told kids they couldn't go out the back door. Half the songs I didn't know and the other half were songs that came out when I was a kid. Everywhere I looked at the dance were scenes that took me back to my own youth dance days and were solemn reminders that I am in a very different place in life now. I'm going to be honest. It was a little depressing. As I said, a slap in the face.

However, there is a silver lining to this small cloud. Also at the youth dance, I saw awkwardness everywhere I looked. Awkward interactions between girls and boys trying to figure out how to act toward the opposite sex. Awkward dancing as they tried to dance to songs that are just not danceable, but still Mormon Youth Dance standards for some reason. Awkward lingering while they waited to be asked to dance.

After watching a number of these awkward interactions and moments amongst the youth and growing more grateful by the second that those days are over for me, I decided that maybe getting older isn't such a bad thing.

Now I just have to figure out how to get old gracefully so that when I'm 80 years old, I'm a classy old lady!

Do Good, Honey!

Today, Jared is taking the GRE. I got up and made him pancakes this morning so he would have good brain food. He needs to do well so he can get into grad school. But, I'm not worried. He's smart and he's been studying, so he'll do great. Good luck, honey! I love you!

America's Great Hope

Is this a joke? I see the growing infatuation that the American public has with this obscure politician and I think, "is this really what the PRESIDENTIAL election has come down to?" Everybody loves Sarah Palin. Democrats are jumping ship left and right to join the Republicans because of Sarah Palin. McCain's normal idiocy seems to be completely forgiven with his VP pick. McCain no longer has to campaign. All he has to do is bring out Sarah Palin and everyone goes wild. Nobody cares about the issues anymore. Nobody cares about the stumbling economy. Nobody cares about the war in Iraq. Nobody cares about health care. Because somehow, someway, Sarah Palin will fix it all. Magically. Because she will be VP. What?!?! When was the last time a Vice President did anything worth mentioning? Why is everyone so enamored with her? Guess what? If you vote for Palin, you get McCain, too. And he's the one who will actually be doing things. Remember? He's the one running for President. I watched part of a town hall meeting he had in Florida this morning. All he talked about was Sarah Palin and how her husband races 2000 miles across Alaska on a snowmobile. How is this going to fix this country's problems? Doesn't anybody else see it? I FEEL LIKE I'M TAKING CRAZY PILLS!!!!! I'm not going to get into her political history (although, I think it's worth looking into if you're unaware. She's not the squeaky clean politician everyone thinks she is). That's irrelevant to the point I'm making. The point is that we are in a campaign to choose the next President of the United States of America. I hope the voting public can wake up and realize that there are way more important things to base your vote on than the person running alongside the candidate.

Victory!

I know I just posted my Item of the Week, but I was so excited about what just happened, that I had to blog about it! I really wish I had documented all of this with pictures, but there was no time to get the camera. My dad, especially, will appreciate this post and I may even gain a little respect in his eyes with it, so this is for you, Dad!

First, a little background. Jared and I are house-sitting for my parents and my mom's car comes with the house. So, here's the set-up: my mom's car and Jared's car sit in the driveway and my car is parked on the street in front of the house. The street sweeper used to come every Monday to clean the gutters/streets. Due to budget cuts, the street sweeper now only comes once a month, so it is imperative that the street sweeper get an unobstructed shot at the street in front of your house or you live with the mess for a whole nother month. So, a few months ago, I decided to check the Sunnyvale city website to try to find out the dates that the street sweeper would be tackling our street. The schedule showed it would be Mondays, usually the second Monday of the month. No problem at the time I checked it because I was still working in San Francisco and my car was always gone by the time the street sweeper came in the late morning. Well, shortly after checking the site, I was home for some reason in the middle of the week and all of a sudden I hear the street sweeper truck coming! I run to the front window to see the street sweeper making a wide arc around my car leaving the gutters full of leaves and other crap. "This is not according to the schedule!", I thought. "It is not Monday!" But what could I do? The street sweeper was gone and the gutters were a mess. Irritated, I went about my business that month and hoped the street sweeper would come again before I stopped working in San Francisco. The next month, the city posted no parking signs on the street for street sweeping and street maintenance. Beautiful - some advance notice! Gutters/street cleaned. Fast forward to this weekend.

I like to walk around barefoot as much as possible, so this weekend I was on our sidewalks with no shoes or socks and was stepping on a lot of debris. Obviously, it was time to sweep the walks. So, this weekend, Jared and I swept/blew the sidewalks and front yard to get all of the leaves/tree crap out. Obviously, we just swept it into the street to be later taken care of by the street sweeper. I made a little mental note that I should check the street sweeping schedule so I could get my car out of the way because there were a ton of leaves! So this morning I'm sitting in the front room typing my Item of the Week, when I hear the street sweeping truck. I jump off the couch and run to the window. The truck was getting louder. He was definitely coming, but I couldn't see him. He must be on the other side of the street. So, I run to get my car keys and a jacket (still in pajamas) and sprint outside as the street sweeper passes on the opposite side of the street. I get in the car, start it up, and look in my rearview mirror to see the street sweeper turning around at the end of the street to head up my side. As I pulled away from the curb, leaving an unobstructed gutter/street in front of my house, I knew victory was mine. I beat that street sweeper this time! And now, the street and gutter in front of our house is clean and leaf free!

Item of the Week - a Little Late

A little late again. Time gets away from me! Oh well. On Saturday, Jared and I went to the AT&T store to sign me up with them. My Verizon contract expired and we decided to do a family plan because it's cheaper. Since Jared is limited in his choice as to service providers with his iPhone, AT&T it was. So, I got my new phone and I LOVE it! This week's item of the week is the Sony Ericsson W350. It's not a fancy phone with lots of awesome features (I think Jared thinks I'm crazy for not wanting an iPhone). But, it's small and that's the best thing about it. And it looks pretty awesome. It does play mp3s which may be a feature that I grow to like, but currently I don't care much about it. What is awesome is that with Verizon, I could never do file transfers between my phone and my computer via Bluetooth. They would connect, but file transfers were not allowed. Not so with AT&T. So, last night, Jared and I picked a bunch of songs, cropped them to ring tone size and transferred them to my phone. Instant aswesome ringtones that were free! Hurray, hurray!

Done

I'm done with deodorant/anti-perspirant. I haven't worn it in about 3 or 4 weeks. I decided one day that I didn't think I really stunk much and I don't sweat very much. And, I always am more wet when I use anti-perspirant than when I don't. And I'm sick of getting white smudges on my dark shirts when I put them on. So, I decided to go off it and gave Jared strict instructions to inform me if I needed to rethink my strategy. So far, so good. Jared says I don't stink. And I haven't gotten that uncomfortable armpit wetness as often. And my clothes are going to last longer. And, all of those theories about anti-perspirant giving you cancer - I don't have to worry about it! On average, I would say I'm about 8.7% happier each day with no deodorant/anti-perspirant in my life. Obviously the absence of deodorant is not for everyone, but I've had no ill effects from not using it, so I'm just going to soldier on - deodorant/anti-perspirant free!

Distraction

I have been distracted for a little while. Maybe distracted is not the right word. Completely absorbed in another world would be more like it. Though not proud to admit it, I have been reading Breaking Dawn. Yes - the latest and last in the vampire love story saga. I didn't start on it when it first came out because I knew I would need ample time to devote to it. I didn't have that when it first came out, so I figured I would wait a little bit. Soon after it came out, Jared bought me the book (which was a great sacrifice for him because once I started reading it, he got very little attention from me. But, he says he's not threatened.), but then the Olympics were taking up all of my time, so the waiting continued. Finally, things slowed down a little and I started reading. Everything was thrown to the wayside as I immersed myself into the supernatural world of Edward and Bella. I did manage to pull myself back to reality for a few things like picking up my sisters from the airport, helping David and Lenessa clean their new house, and church, but mostly I was in a completely different world. I have finished the book and will now be getting back to my life. I'm not proud of the fact that I was so engrossed in a novel whose intended audience is teenage/young adult girls, but it is what it is. At least now it's over and life can go on.

Item of the Week

Hostess Ding Dongs. When I was younger, I always played with my friend Amy Head. And sometimes, when we were at her house, we got frozen Ding Dongs. They were delicious and something we NEVER had at my house. I haven't had one in years. Then, last night, Jared and I were walking through Target and I saw the Hostess treats. I totally wanted a Ding Dong, so we bought a box and I ate one as soon as we got to the car. It was delicious!

Applesauce

On Saturday, I made and canned applesauce with my sister. When my mom found out we were doing it, she was so excited. "My daughter is becoming domestic!" It was quite the process for the apples. First they were yanked off our tree, then peeled and cut, cooked, mashed, recooked, stuffed into bottles, and boiled for 20 minutes. It doesn't sound fun to be an apple. Here's the whole process in pictures (no internet pictures here. These are all from my camera, taken at my house during the applesauce making).


The tree, full of apples

The apples

The crop (well, a small part of it) - it takes lots of apples to make applesauce!

Peeling and slicing the apples. Much easier with this handy machine. Look, my hand is moving so fast, it's blurry!

The apples, declothed

My sister cutting out wormholes and getting the apples ready for cooking

Making the applesauce - mashing the apples and adding sugar and cinnamon

Filling the jars

Ready to start the canning process

In the water bath (yep, it's really called a bath)

After boiling in the bath for 20 minutes, we take the applesauce out

The finished product. Beautiful, no?