Bridal Shower Fun!

Grandma Johnson had a bridal shower for Adam and me at her house in Salt Lake City. I had lots of family come and it was great to see everyone. Adam was included in the shower and he was a great sport. Everyone was impressed by him. First, we ate a wonderful lunch and we mingled for a little while. Then we played a game that was a quiz about Adam and I. I even learned some new things about Adam. The person who got the most questions right won. Then we played a matching game with fun wedding words on it and you got a candy bar matching the word if you found a match. 

Then after the games came the opening of presents! It was better than Christmas! We love everything that we got and they will come in use for our new apartment that we just got yesterday by the way.

Then for the final game, there were five numbered presents placed on the floor in front of us. In each present was a different outfit for me to wear on our honeymoon and Adam had to pick a random number from Amber's hand and whatever number it was, that was the one he got to open. Once he opened it, he got to choose whether he wanted to keep that one and have me wear it, or exchange it for a different present. It was a pretty funny game. The first one he opened was a large green and red plaid, oversized night gown. He obviously chose a different box. He opened up a one piece pink, zip up jamies, my mom's honeymoon outfit, and then my grandma's honeymoon outfit. Then finally, with the help of Elaina, he opened up one that he was happy with. It was a little black lace outfit. He decided to keep that one. I did get a little embarrassed when I saw what he opened, but it was a good laugh. Elaina really liked it. 

My Grandma's honeymoon outfit

But It was a great shower and I appreciated all the work that was put into it and for everyone coming and supporting Adam and I. It was a good day.

I put on the pink outfit for a little bit so I could match Elaina. She's so cute.

6 Weeks To Go

I heard this song the other day, and I thought to myself, this is how I feel. Brad Paisley has some good advice. With all the wedding plans and trying to get everything to come together nicely, I have to remember that all we really need is love for this wedding... and other things. But all that matters is we are getting married even if things are stressful or aren't going my way. I thought this was a pretty cute clip, and I wanted to share the song.




The past two weekends I was able to go to Utah with Adam and do a lot of wedding planning. We got soooo much accomplished. We only had those two weekends to find everyone's clothes for bridemaids and ties for the guys and we did it. We got our flowers picked out, the favor almost done, the cake picked out, food for the reception, and we had a bridal shower... there were a lot of other things we did, but it just feels good to have some of those planning things out of the way. It's hard to plan a wedding when your mom and sister-in-law are in California, your sister is in Utah, and your future in-laws are in Tennessee. But we are putting it together pretty well I think. I can't believe that there are only 6 weeks left! It's coming up quick.... and there's still lots more planning to do.

Putting all eggs in one basket

Adam found this fun basket at one of the places we were shopping at two weekends ago in Utah. We thought it was pretty funny and jumped in it. We have a lot of fun together and I think we look so cute in this massive basket together. But that's just my opinion.

1st Valentine's Day

This was Adam's and my first Valentine's Day as a couple. We knew each other this time last year, but we weren't together yet. Unfortunatly Valentine's Day was on a Sunday this year and also we were in Utah with my family planning our wedding. But that's ok. What better way to celebrate Vday than to plan our wedding? Right? We did make a trip to the ice castles that I wrote about earlier and that was fun.

Adam gave me beautiful roses the week before and a wonderful card on the 14th. I got him a V-Slicer that slices your food for you. We will see how it works. So far all that's come from it is squished tomatoes and tiny bits of onion. I'll test it out some more. I'll get him a better gift next year. He's so hard to get for! Then we attempted on Tuesday to have our special Valentine's Day dinner at Adam's place, but it's hard when there's roommates watching tv in the same room and it is just a really busy week with midterms coming up and things like that. We'll do better next year! Maybe...

Utah Ice Castles

On Sunday, Valentine's Day, Adam and I went with my mom, sisters, niece, and grandma to the ice castles in Utah. They were amazing! This guy makes them. Don't know who he is, but he does something very unique that I have never seen. We had a good time and saw some amazing houses by it that had murals or something painted on them.

 

One of the designs. Pretty Cool....

  

We put our initials in the snow... A "heart" A

  

The ice tunnel! 

Roses from Adam

February 5

Last Friday, I got a surprise from Adam. He got me a dozen beautiful roses! He is so good because he picks out the flowers that he wants to put in the arrangement then the floral people do it! But it makes it so special that he picks things out himself to give me. And I love that he likes to give me flowers. This arrangment was an early Valentine's day gift. That week was hard for both of us because we didn't get to see each other that much because we were busy with school, so it really cheered things up for me to get these at the end of the week. Adam is amazing and so talented.  

I Made Meringues!

Yes, I made meringues! And they actually turned out. These are the ones that I made. That's a half batch of meringue batter. They don't look that pretty, but they taste really really good and they were surprisingly very easy to make.

Two nights ago, Sister Baldwin who's the wife of a member of the bishopric in my ward, taught us girls in the Relief Society to make meringues. I was really excited because 1) I love meringues 2) they looked really cute and 3) I would learn a new baking/cooking skill!

I've always heard that meringues are difficult to make, but I believe I have mastered this skill. I just need to learn how to  make them look nicer and not so sloppy. I'm going to try and make them again this weekend so I can experiement with other flavors and perfect it a little more.

I was amazed to find that after you beat all the ingredients together and do your little designs on the cookie sheet that once you stick it in your preheated oven, you turn off the oven, and leave it in there all night! I was a little disappointed that I would have to wait that long, but oh well. But it was the most satisfying feeling when they turned out. They didn't turn out at first and I disappointedly pulled them out of the oven still gooey the next morning. But I did some research and found out what to do to make them hard and crispy again. I tried it, and it worked! It turns out you can redry them by putting them back into the oven for a little bit. If you expose them to the air for too long, they will absorb the moisture in the air and become gooey again. So once you make them, you have to stick them into a sealed plastic bag (will little air). But anyway, I will stop rambling on about this amazing dessert. I am just so happy that I did it! I made meringues! Here is the recipe....

Meringues
2 egg whites (room temperature)
1/2 to 2/3 cup superfine or powdered sugar
1/2 tsp cream of tartar
1 tsp extract of choice (I did almond my first time, next I'm going to just try vanilla)
Pinch of salt
Food coloring of choice

Preheat oven to 200 degrees (I don't have a 200 degrees setting on my oven, but I do have 245 degrees, and that seemed to work, so just do a low heat). Make sure your bowl and beaters are perfectly clean, and oil residual in the bowl or on the beaters will fail the meringue. Always wash and dry even clean bowls and beaters prior to beginning the recipe. It is also good if the beaters and bowl are warm from just being washed. This will increase the volume of the egg whites when they are beaten. It is good to use a glass mixing bowl.

With your room temperature eggs, in a large mixing bowl beat the egg whites (there cannot be any egg yoke or you will need to start with other eggs), pinch of salt and cream of tartar until frothy. When eggs are foamy and frothy begin adding the sugar slowly, one tablespoon at a time. Incorporate each sugar addition before adding the next. When 1/2 the sugar has been added; add the extract. Then continue on adding in the rest of the sugar. Add food coloring and beat until stiff peaks form. When finished the meringue should be shiny and tight. Do not over beat.

Transfer mixture into a zip top bag, clip corner or fit with pastry tip. Pipe onto parchment paper covered cookie sheet.

To bake; place cookie sheet in preheated oven, turn off oven and leave overnight. Cookies should be dry and crisp. Cookies will keep several days in zip lock bags sealed against moisture in the air.

(Like I mentioned earlier, when I took mine out of the oven the next morning, they were still gooey, so later I experimented and preheated my oven to 245 degrees again and then put the meringues back in. Instead of turning the oven off right away, I let them sit with that heat for about 5-7 minutes, then I turned off the oven and let them sit in the oven for another 25-30 minutes. When I pulled them out that time, they came out perfect! I ate them all except for an M I made for Monica, my roommate, and a heart for Adam. I put Adam's in a zip block bag to give to him later, and I didn't do anything with Monica's. At the end of the day, Adam's meringue was still crispy in the bag, but Monica's, whose still was on the cookie sheet, went gooey. So If you're not going to be eating them right away, zip block bag them up! I don't know, maybe I did them wrong and they aren't supposed to do that, but that is why I am going to experiment some more. You should try this recipe. It's amazing and has 0 fat! I like those numbers.)