Just another Chan Story. . .: 2012

We were so excited to have my mom come visit us! It so randomly got insanely cold for the entire time she was here, and then immediately went back to pool weather the day after--- crazy. While she was here we went all over Lubbock showing her some of our favorite friends, neighborhoods, stores, and of course. . . restaurants.

Here we are at McAllister's Deli-- one of our fav's!

And Orlando's. . . best local Italian.

We were able to all go shopping together to get all that we needed for our Sunday morning pancake brunch. It was ridiculously cold that morning so we moved it all indoors instead of in our freezing back yard—it was so cold and stormy I half expected we’d wake to find snow! But we didn’t. It was still way too chilly to even try it outdoors so we all just got cozy and made it work. We started getting ready the night before while Fuzz was at his Priesthood session and went late into the night.

We woke up bright and early to mix our prepped batches, and take care of all the last minute preparations.

Fuzz was taken aside and trained by the pancake flipping expert—my mom, and given the assignment of pouring and flipping all the different pancake batters--- he did amazing! They all turned out perfect! Now that we know about his mad pancake flipping skills, for future reference-- I’m putting him to work!

We made all different kinds of pancakes, syrups, and sauces:

And my new favorite. . . Lemon Poppy Seed!

We were suprised at how punctual so many of our friends are--bright and early Sunday morning, 9 o'clock sharp-- some even came early to help out-- thanks guys! We were glad so many of our friends could make it!

We made a Cheesecake Sauce, homemade Buttermilk, Caramel Sauce, and a Frosting Glaze. Yums~!

We were so crammed for space we had another serving table in our kitchen-- with our fruit, bacon, sausage, and eggs.

I was so glad Mom could be there for it! She was such a Huge help! It was super fun baking together;) but even more fun introducing her to a bunch of our friends here in Lubbock.

This was a fun $1 store project! We made these the night before, just plates, candlestick holders, goblets, silicone glue, some spray paint. . . and voila'! They worked great for displaying our pancakes.

We made tons! We took some over to our neighbors, and friends. . . and still have tons! It's a good thing you can freeze pancakes;) We are set!

We enjoyed watching General Conference together, however we were so exhausted from the busy weekend that I’ve been replaying the different sessions all week reviewing and making sure we didn’t miss anything. As always, it was amazing. Surprisingly one of my favorite talks this time was actually from the Priesthood session—perhaps I recognize this as one of my most favorite talks because it’s my “most recent” fav, we listened to it together this morning, it was by Gary H. Stevenson entitled, "Be Valiant in Courage, Strength, and Activity." So thought provoking and inspiring.

Here’s a link for the entire General Conference:

http://www.lds.org/general-conference/sessions/2012/10?lang=eng

This weekend we had the opportunity to participate in the PT Classic.

This was a charity run/ride that was put on by the students of the Physical Therapy Department at the Texas Tech Health Science Center. We wanted to go and support them in their cause, as all the proceeds of the benefit went to the UMC Burns Center, to help patients and their families. It started with a 5k which Fuzz signed up for.

It took place in the beautiful Ransom Canyon, just as the sun was coming up. I was waiting for the race to get over as we would shortly begin the ride, when I saw my husband sprinting towards the finish line! He Won! I was so impressed!

He took a little breather and then made a quick costume change into his cycling uniform and then before we knew it we were off. It was a 25 mile bike ride, that started with perfect weather, and then came the wind. I was sure it would go away sooner or later, and there were moments when it did, but for almost the entire ride it was as if we were pedaling through mud. It was a good workout though! We trudged through it and just enjoyed being together and the beautiful scenery out there. We made pretty good time considering the elements;) and had a blast!

Fuzz wasn't concerned about winning this race, he told me he just wanted to go on a ride with his wife;) So he brought his camera and took pics along the way. Here is one of the millions of cotton fields we rode past-- so pretty!

Before mom came we kept busy with a few projects:

We have white grout--- biggest mistake ever!!!!!! It is impossible to keep clean and up until now impossible to clean. We've bought different cleansers made specifically for grout-- what a waste of money-- perhaps they were created for a different kind of grout than mine, but didn't work at all. So I saw this on pinterest-- of all places, ha thats where I find everything;) This recipe is genius!!!!! Baking Soda and Bleach, stir until it becomes a watery paste. . . then scrub scrub scrub!

Isn't this amazing!!!!

Another project. . . Fuzz had redone the tile in our bathrooms a year and a half ago when we moved in, but recently we've noticed some water damage as the tile was becoming uneven we could tell the boards underneath were beginning to warp. He said this wouldn't do for Coleen since this would be her bathroom while she was here so he tore almost all of it out and redid it with all new backer boards.

Here's my most recent project. I've been meaning to put some sort of DIY sign on that wall, and I finally did it. Fuzz and I went to go purchase a few boards like this for projects and when we went to pay for everything the kid at the counter informed us that there were a ton of boards like what we were looking at the back for a buck or two a piece! He saved us like thirty bucks from what we'd planned on getting! I love home depot. I've seen these signs about, but they range anywhere from 20-60 bucks. So I used some left over stain from the cupboard, a lil black craft paint, made stencils by printing out the sign on my printer in a very faded pink (to save ink) and then cut them all out and traced them onto my board, turned on a tv show and painted away. I sprayed a clear top coat and tada! Cost me just a couple bucks!

We meant to post this at the beginning of the summer-- we've officially been married over 2 years now! Mom's doing something fun for her Christmas cards this year and asked that we take a picture of us holding up a sign that sums us up. In a few short words-- this describes us to the T:

So this is my third attempt at this particular blog post. I am praying that this time it doesn’t in some weird way get deleted or my computer randomly decide to turn off and forget to autosave in my document recovery—again. With this said, I have much to post about.

First and foremost--- I have great news! No, I’m not pregnant;)

We are having an early morning pancake brunch with a bunch of our friends conference weekend. As I begun making the list of friends to include on our Evite list, a thought came to me to include my mother. I ignored the prompting as I knew there was no possible way that she would ever be able to make it, but I couldn’t shake the thought. I wasn’t inviting my sisters or anyone else that wasn’t here in Lubbock, it was just a silly thought. However, it stayed with me, and I finally caved to the idea of sending her an Evite too.

A day or two passed and I was speaking to my mom on the phone. She had mentioned receiving my Evite! Then I was totally caught off guard when I heard her say, “What do you think about me maybe coming and visiting you in a couple of weeks? Would you mind at all if I came to help you flip pancakes for your party?” She said that she’d been thinking a lot lately about coming and visiting us—and things were just working out so it looked like she finally could! We are so excited! I went and spoke with my boss about taking some time off to spend with my mom, afraid that because it was such short notice, it wouldn’t be much, but to my surprise. . . somehow I’d missed that I had a couple extra paid days off that I could spend with her! This mean’s I’ll be able to spend 5 ½ days with her! There aren’t a million things to do here, but I’m stoked just to get to hang out together and not have to do anything. Fuzz and I have been married just over 2 years and none of our family has ever been able to come see us—which is so fine, because there really isn’t much here to see—and we are fine making the flight or drive home to see our families, but we’re thrilled for her to come see us here in our little married home and life;)

So a little bit more of some big news for us. . . last Saturday, I went to my first Texas Tech Football game!!!! I was so excited! I can see why it’s such a big deal around here! We went with our friends the Dangerfields-

We had a few issues there at the beginning getting in—because I kinda threw a fit when they told me that I had to sit in a different area of the stadium than my husband because he was a student. Even though we paid good money for my ticket, they said the only way they would let him sit by me was if he bought another ticket—and regardless I wasn’t allowed to go sit by him in the student section because I wasn’t a student. I was just so caught off guard, because we were with our friends, another couple that was in the same predicament as us---- we were all so confused about what other couples or families do—since that game we’ve asked around, and found that most just don’t go to the games for that very reason, that—or they are forced to cheat the system, and enter with other student’s id’s to be able to sit together. My friend and I had to split up with our husbands and then sneak into their student section when nobody was looking just to enjoy the game with our spouses. Kinda lame. I guess I’m just use to Utah where everything is made to accommodate families, or is just family friendly-- and I just assumed it was the same everywhere else. Other than that --- the game was awesome! They destroyed the other team and there was just so much school spirit! Students stood for the entire game! I’d never seen anything like it.

Here are some pics Fuzz took when they had drill this summer at Fort Bliss:

Here's Fuzz in his favorite hang out spot-

Here's his side kick Danger--should I be nervous that one of his best friends name is Danger?

Here he is with some of his other army buddies-

Last week Fuzz had drill—he’s in the National Guard for just less than one more year;) He’d mentioned to his sergeant some time ago that there was a triathlon that he’d hoped to compete in and asked for permission to be excused from a couple of hours of drill to do it. (Most of the time “drill” consists of sitting around literally doing nothing for a couple days.) His sergeant responded the day before the triathlon and said that he’d let him go. Luckily he’d been training regularly with his tri team and so he was ready even with the short notice to participate. He was so excited!!! I wished I could have gone to watch him, but it was about an hour out of town and I had to work that day. He came in to my work later on his way back to show me his trophy!

He had placed third in his division—I was so proud;) The tri was the Cotton Country Sprint Tri and they gave him a mini bail of cotton as his trophy;)

Several weeks ago my spin instructor mentioned something about this class that was starting for those with any interest in instructing group fitness—I thought it sounded like fun, but knew that there was no way I could work it in to my already crazy schedule. I kept thinking about it trying to make it work in my head, and I figured by then it was already too late. I decided that if she mentioned it again, I’d ask a few more questions, and if it was meant to be it would all work out. The next class I had with her she brought it up again. She didn’t have a whole lot of information about the specific class, but gave me the contact information for the teacher. I called her and she informed me that the class would be held once a week for 2 hours. It almost sounded like I could make it work—I’d just need permission from my boss. I hate asking for favors---- but I really wanted to take this class. So I asked her--- and she said, “Sure, I don’t see why not! You’re the manager for your department, just make the schedule adjustments you need to and come in a little bit early to make up the hours—it should be fine!” She is the nicest lady! I about did cartwheels right there in her office I was so happy!!! Since then I’ve attended two classes and can’t tell you how much I’m loving it—Oh it’s not half as easy as I thought it would be, right now we’re learning all the medical anatomy, as well as how to teach step--- it’s kicking my trash--- but I’m loving it!!!

We’ve been trying all sorts or healthy substitutions lately--- like stevia, which claims to be all natural, so it’s not like an artificial sweetener—it’s supposed to be just like sugar but without the calories—so here’s my review on it--- it might not have the harmful side effects of artificial sweeteners, but in my opinion it tastes just like em.

We made this “healthy” dessert last Sunday:

Individual Protein Cheesecake
serves 1
Filling
6oz Chobani plain 0% Greek Yogurt
1/2 Tbsp Jell-O sugar-free instant pudding mix – cheesecake

Crust
1/2 cup fiber bran cereal
4 Tbsp water
1 Tbsp unsalted almond butter
1/4 tsp stevia
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Add the cheesecake flavored pudding mix into the yogurt and stir until well combined. Set yogurt mixture aside. In a food processor or blender, grind the bran to a fine texture. In a small mixing bowl, add the ground bran with all dry ingredients, (stevia, cinnamon, and nutmeg) and mix evenly. Then add the almond butter and water and stir until it becomes moist and sticky. If the batter is still crumbly, add additional water in 1 tsp increments until desired consistency is achieved. Pour the crust mixture into a small 4in circular pan. Pack the crust along the bottom and sides of the dish to create a pie shape. Pour the filling on top of the crust and smooth evenly along the top. Refrigerate for at least 20 minutes and enjoy cold.
(I substituted the almond butter for peanut butter;)

Here’s where I found it: http://rabbitfoodformybunnyteeth.com/my-big-nonfat-greek-yogurt-recipes/

It looks like it would taste good—but I didn’t entirely care for it. Fuzz liked the cream cheese part—he said the crust just tasted too “healthy”-- I concur.

Here’s one I made today--- it tasted a whole lot better than the one I made last week. . . and I kinda cheated and put light whipping cream on top with sprinkled graham cracker crust;)

Here’s where I found it: http://www.shape.com/healthy-eating/healthy-recipes/10-mouthwatering-low-calorie-desserts?page=2

2-Minute Pumpkin Pie

If you need a little something to satisfy your sweet tooth, whip up this 75-calorie pumpkin pie for one. This simple recipe, pared down to the most basic and common ingredients, only takes 2 minutes to make, but the end result tastes as delicious as traditional, calorie-packed pie.

Ingredients:
1/2 c. pumpkin puree
1/4 c. egg whites (from an egg or carton)
Sweetener
Cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice

Directions:
 Mix together all the ingredients. If you prefer a flan-like texture, add more pumpkin; if you prefer a cake-like texture, add more egg whites. Microwave for two minutes. Use a mix of Greek yogurt, hazelnut cream cheese, and pumpkin pie spice for the icing. Top with toasted pecans.

Makes one serving.

We got to babysit my friends dog a couple weeks ago-- it was a baby shitzu! Her name is Lucy-- she was such a sweetheart! We had so much fun being dog parents for the weekend;)