Andes Mint Brownies

Chris and I got Andes mints in our stockings this Christmas. Because I am not eating candy I wanted to get rid of them in the form of Andes Mint Brownies. I was just going to add them to a boxed brownie recipe, but I decided to make them from scratch. It was my first time making brownies from scratch and I thought they were pretty good. I took them to work and one person actually fished for every crumb in the Tupperware.
Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

* 1 cup butter
* 2 cups sugar (white)
* 4 eggs
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup all purpose flour
* ½ cup cocoa
* ½ teaspoon salt
* about 1/4 cup (or however much you please, really) of chopped Andes mints
* An additional package of whole Andes mints

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease 9 x 13 pan. Melt butter in saucepan over low heat. Once melted remove from heat and add sugar, vanilla, and eggs. Blend together. In separate bowl, mix together flour, cocoa, and salt. Add dry mixture to the wet and mix well. Add chopped Andes mints to the mix. Pour into greased pan and add some more chopped Andes mints to the top. Bake for 35-40 minutes.

One Income Home

Chris put in his two weeks notice at work last week. He is taking 18 credits and has a lot of outside projects to work on and we decided we could afford him quitting to focus on school.

We have both worked at the same place since we got married. It has been wonderful and will probably be the last time it happens. First he was my boss and then I was his boss and then HR decided that wasn't supposed to happen and he was moved off my team. But I still got to see him during the day and even talk to him on Chatzilla to let my frustration out.

At least he understands what SecurityMetrics is and what it does so that when I come home and talk about work, he'll know exactly what I am talking about without a lot of background.

He only has until December left and then who knows what we will be doing. We are basically open to going anywhere as long as we have a job.

Inkheart

I just finished this book. I saw the preview of the movie, and it looked interesting. On the book jacket, it says that Cornelia Funke is the third most popular author in Germany, after J.K. Rowling and some other guy. I figured it had to be somewhat good.

I thought the story was interesting, but the book was too long. Not that I don't like long books, but there seemed to be too much fluff in the story. I skipped a lot of pages and still understood the story and didn't feel like I had missed anything.

Basically, I did like it, but I wouldn't need to read it again. There was not a storyline that was very deep, but I guess I should not expect much from a book I found in the junior section of the library.

Superbowl Commercials

The Superbowl hasn't even aired yet, but when I saw this commercial the other night I laughed out loud.

Finally

It almost didn't happen. We went to the BYU bookstore and they said they were out. Out of the Macbook that I wanted. How is that possible? The bookstore employee checked the computer and found that a shipment had arrived today and was sitting in receiving. He almost wasn't going to get it. There were a lot of ifs involved. I knew if I didn't get it tonight, I just might cry.

But there was no need for tears. I have my Macbook. I am typing on it right now. I got the student discount and didn't have to buy apply care. I am so excited. Now I just need get Photoshop Elements and I will never need to buy anything ever again.

Twice Denied

Chris decided that I could get a Macbook for my graduation gift. I had debated back and forth on whether I needed one. I knew that I wanted one but I feel guilty if we spend that much money. I needed to justify purchasing one in some way.

To get around that guilty feeling, I told Chris that he had to surprise me with Mac so I couldn't change my mind. But we wanted to buy the Mac with my credit card since it has rewards so I had to be there to purchase it.

Today, I finally got over the guilty feeling and decided that I wanted a Mac. So after work Chris and I drove to the UVU bookstore only to remember that it is Martin Luther King, Jr Day so it is closed.

I was devastated. I finally got over that feeling and it was a sign that I shouldn't get the Mac.

Then about 20 minutes later, we decided to try the Simply Mac store in Orem. Chris called and asked if they give the student discount and they do, so we headed over there.

The guy came over. I said "I want this computer." He asked if we were using a student discount we said yes. He asked if we were buying apple care, we said no. Then he said "I can't sell you this Mac using the student discount without the apple care."

What the Heck? The student discount is$100, the apple care is $180. Why would I use a discount just to end up paying $80 more?

I should have pushed more, but I just said I would buy it somewhere else and we walked out. Now the guilty feeling is back and I am going to have to get over it.

Here is a picture of what I could by typing on right now. Sad.

TV on DVD

I am going to copy Tammy on this one. It looked fun. Chris and I are a huge fan of TV on DVD. Sometimes it is so much better than movies. But here's a list of all we have

The West Wing- Season 1-7 (Complete)
Veronica Mars- Season 1-3 (Complete)
The Office- Season 2-4
Gilmore Girls- Season 1-7 (Complete)
Dawson's Creek - Season 1-4
Psych- Season 1
The Closer- Season 1
Will and Grace- Season 1-8 (Complete)
Supernatural- Season 1-3
Torchwood- Season 1-2
Grey's Anatomy- Season 1-3
Friends- Seasons 1-3
Early Edition- Season 1
Smallville- Season 1-3, 5
The X- Files- Season 1
One Tree Hill- Season 1-2
The O.C.- Season 1
Young Indiana Jones- Season 1
Project Runway- Season 3

So that's 56 seasons in all. And the word season looks like really weird now.
I want to own these:
The rest of Friends, Psych, Smallville, Season 1 of The Office (which I will only buy if it is $5 because it is only one disk), House, How I Met Your Mother

And I want to start watching these:
Samantha Who
Arrested Development
The British Office
30 Rock

This is a lot of TV. And the best thing is that Chris and I have made an agreement that our kids won't watch a lot of TV. We'll see how that works out.

Warehouse Sale

Before Christmas, the American Crafts Warehouse had a HUGE warehouse sale. I went. Three times. I went once and they gave me a coupon, so I had to go back for a second time. And then my sister wanted to go. It was amazing and I am basically set with scrapbooking supplies for life. I think I figured that I got more tan $1000 worth of stuff for way way less than that. Here are some pictures of what I got.

Lots of ThickersI filled up this whole thing with paper I bought there.



I am so excited I am done with school and can scrapbook so much!

Scrapbook News

There is a lady at work whose sister is Lisa Bearnson. (One of my employees is also her niece.) Lisa Bearnson is a famous scrapbooking person and it is so excited. She started the Creating Keepsakes magazine and then sold it. Now she does shows on QVC and has a couple of books on scrapbook layouts. You can look at her website here. The lady at work is also a good scrapbooker and has layouts featured in magazines and books and brought some of her scrapbooks for me to look at today. It was so exciting to find out that I know someone famous!

2009 Resolutions

I should be packing because I am flying back to Provo tomorrow, but I don't want to.
I have tons of resolutions for this year. I am done with school now, so this is all the stuff I have wanted to do for the past x years of my life but haven't and need to do before I have children and I don't have any time.

• Read 50+ books. I have finished one, only 49 to go.
• Make a quilt. Actually a few, but one is a good number to start.
• Learn how to work Photoshop Elements.
• Learn to be better at photography so I don't need to use Photoshop Elements that much. Maybe next year I could actually "book gigs" and get paid to photograph.
  
• Lose xx pounds. I have a real number in mind but don't feel like sharing. This needs to be done by April for graduation.
• Talk to one new person at church every week.
• Try to attend at least 2 enrichment activities every month.
• Cook dinner at least 4 times a week.
• Make a scrapbook for my mom and mother-in-law for Mother's Day.
  
• Take family names to the temple.
  

I think that is a good list to work on. I am excited for all of it, except maybe exercising. All of this stuff will get some blogtime, especially the photography and scrapbooking. I haven't don't it since September and am really behind.

Wish me luck!