Crank Monster

Of course Jonathan is changing everyday. Two days ago he started making a noise that i sort of thought sounded like an elephant. Cute. Today i have heard that noise almost non-stop and it just sounds like whining to me. Drawing on my vast knowledge (aka the internet), I think Jonathan is teething. At least i hope that is the case. I am wondering if this noise represents his discomfort? I don't know. He is no longer sleeping as well. He is a drool factory. He now is unsettled if he doesn't have his binkie.

On a different note, Jonathan sat on his own today. He has been sitting up but i usually anchor his legs so he doesn't tip over. Not today though! He did it all by himself.

Disclaimer #2

Warning:
There may be extreme bragging and an excessive amount of pictures featuring Jonathan. I can't help myself. It is bound to happen because it is my blog and my son! With that here a a couple of pictures catching you up on his short life.

Getting Started...Again

When i started this blog originally, it was because i was pregnant and thought that i would have something interesting to talk about. So here i am finally pregnant. Actually, i am hopefully on the cusp of giving birth and i haven't really chronicled anything about my pregnancy. Though i have discovered most aspects of pregnancy aren't pretty. I feel like any gross thing that a body can produce is amplified and intensified by pregnancy. Just ask my husband.

So here are some pictures taken by CW's talented co-worker of me pregnant. It was a few weeks ago when i didn't seem as large and swollen as i am now.

canning frenzy

Here is the long and short of my canning history - I can remember being in the kitchen helping both my mother and grandmother bottle fruits, juices and jams.

Last year i bought a box of peaches that were divine. I quickly tried to round up canning equipment to bottle up this goodness but this consisted of asking around to family and co-workers with no luck. So I ended up cutting up the fruit and freezing it. Unfortuneatly the fruit browned a bit and got freezer burn and wasn't very good.

Fast forward to this year. In the middle of september i went to Idaho for much needed mom and sister time. My sister had visited some farms/orchards with some people in the ward and when i got there she was in the middle of canning peaches and pears. It was fun to help out as an adult and i realized that it is not that hard.

I may have mentioned that i joined a food co-op and my first week they had an "offering" of boxes of pears. I decided to take the plunge head first into canning and i bought a box. After i bought the box, i looked around to grocery stores and such buy the equipment. I didn't find what i was looking for so i go to my trusty source - amazon.com. I order the equipment on line. Meanwhile my pears are really getting ripe. So i turn to the internet for solutions. I read that you can bottle fruit without the big pot and rack, without the special tongs that fit around the tops of bottles but it is not so easy. I ended up using my (small) stock pot and putting down 2 washcloths inside the bottom to use as my rack. It was a hot sticky mess but i managed to make spiced pear jam, bottle a few pints of pears, blackberry jam, raspberry jam and wait you say, what happened to the canner that was supposed to be coming in the mail - i didn't do all of this in 1 day. After a week after it was supposed to arrive, i called the company and it turns out they didn't have any stock. So it wasn't until after i called and said something that they refunded our money. I ordered another canner through another vendor and i am happy to say that it arrived. Meanwhile the co-op had another offering of Honey Crisp apples. Those are my favorite apples and are pretty expensive at the store so i bought a box. So with my box of apples and my canner, i made lots of applesauce. yumm!

lagging behind

I just told my good friend Jessamy that i have a blog and so i figured that i should maybe update it a little.

To be honest, i haven't posted in awhile because the post that i have been mentally writing has been about how much i dislike the state i reside in. (i could even use the H-word) It has been a painful fall. (if you can call it that) Usually, starting with my birthday i am in a state of bliss. I love the changing of the seasons that starts in September and goes through December. I won't elaborate because it depresses me. But here are a few facts. I like cold weather. I love the color black - especially clothing. I love sweaters, I love wool and tweedy type fabrics. I love scarves. I like layering clothing (going back to i love sweaters) I love lots of blankets on my bed. What is Halloween trick or treating in 90+ degrees? CW went water skiing with his friends on Saturday November 1st. But i would say that finally with in the last week it has cooled down. This past week i have noticed that when i leave the gym at 6:00 in the morning it is actually cooler outside then it is inside. (not to give you the false impression that i actually go to the gym on a regular basis or that i am in any type of shape whatsoever except out of shape) I really have to end this now as i am going to get hostile and/or start crying. The next time i have something to say, it will be positive. i promise.

first friday

Things have been slowing down lately at work and they had to lay off a girl. It was a sad thing. Now our office is down to 4. They also went down to a 4 day work week. We are closed on fridays. It is a good and bad thing. It is always bad when you make less money. I was freaking out. I actually got a job as a seasonal worker at anthropologie. Not that i would actually earn any extra money that way- in fact i would probably loose more money then i make. Plus they started me off at a lower wage then i wanted and wanted me to work a couple of full sundays, 8-5 for training. No thanks. Things aren't that bad. So today is my first friday off. I finally got around to doing that thing that i talked about. I roasted cantolope seeds. I read that the taste is "huskier" then pumpkin seeds. Well i roasted them and think they are about the same as pumpkin seeds only more husk and less seed.

following up

(Michelle this one is for you) I went to walgreens with my list and coupons and bought 2 Bertoilli dinner things and 1 thing of Breyers ice cream to get $5 in register rewards. The deal is when you buy $15 of a few things then you get a coupon thing for $5 dollars to spend the next time you go to walgreens. So here i was, after work and i went through the register and nothing printed up. So i asked the cashier what happens when it doesn't print up and she called the manager. She called the manager over the loud speaker and i at this point was ready to tell them to forget about it. I turned as the manager walked over to see my worst nightmare come true. There were 12 people in line behind me. I counted. The manager did a return and gave me $5.42 cents cash so i walked out spending $13 something for a bunch of stuff. I can't tell you exactly what but 20 minutes later, after i got over my embarassment, i was happy with my deal.

Next up is what am i doing with all of my produce from my bountiful baskets order. Well yesterday i made pomagranate vinegrette. I didn't have cheesecloth to strain the seeds of the fruit out of the vinegrette so i went to my vast ( i am not being sarcastic) fabric collection and found a loose weave piece of linen and strained it through that. It worked pretty well. It was good but it tastes really similar to the salad dressing that you can buy in the store with the picture of the strawberry on it.I don't know if it was worth the effort. Tonight i made banana bread. It was really good. I tweaked the recipe a little bit and used half whole wheat flour. I used brown sugar and left out 1/4 cup. With all the bananas i didn't use any oil. I did use some butter but not that much. It was pretty tasty. I have a bunch of cherry tomatoes that we will never eat so i found a recipe online to dry them in the oven with garlic and olive oil. You can store them for longer and toss them into salads or add them to pasta. I cut up all of the tomatoes and then realized that i didn't have any garlic. I will get some tomorrow. I will let you know how that turns out. It looks like Meat[loaf] is back on the menu boys! (i saw lord of the rings way to many times) I am going to make meatloaf tomorrow. We have red potatos and green beans that we need to use up and CW likes meatloaf. No wonder why i can't loose any weight. Finally the other thing that i am going to try is a surprise. It will be interesting to say the least. I will let you know how it is and what it is tomorrow. ciao folks!