Updated: Packages Come and Go

Yesterday was a super exciting day because we got a buyer!
Back up.....

In February this year we decided that we wanted to get our own business license. We created a business, got our license, and have been working as fellow sellers with Amazon.com. Well, we haven't actually sold anything yet. Much of our work since getting our license in April is a LOT of research: digging for low prices, finding companies to partner with, investing, and - most of all - trying to find good-selling products that Amazon is not currently selling. This is a lot harder than we anticipated, but it feels so rewarding now that our products are selling!

We are not planning on growing very much in the near future, but this endeavor is just to get our feet wet in the business world. Maybe when I'm done with school we can build our business more.

So today I got to ship off a box to someone I don't even know across the country because they wanted to buy a plastic container that you can microwave-cook your pasta in.

And speaking of packages.... Who doesn't like getting surprises in the mail? Brett mail-ordered me a dress and I found it in our mailbox today!

Update: this is what I wore to church today

Brett isn't going to be left out either. He's going to get some birthday presents in a couple weeks.

Precious Moments

Every weekend we ask ourselves: What can we go do or see that doesn't cost money and is within a 15-mile radius? I'm always looking for fun stuff to get out and do or explore, because by the weekend, both of us are ready for something active and fun and something that takes us away from our humble apartment.

Since before we moved out of Rolla I was told of the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, Missouri, which is about 15 miles from where we live now. So, when this Saturday morning's conversation went like this....:

"What do you want to do today?"
"Something....I just don't know what. There's nothing to do around here!"

 ...we both agreed it was a good time to find out if that Precious Moments Chapel was all it's cracked up to be.

We found ourselves driving out into the scenic green country on a winding, two-lane road and then out of nowhere there was a huge entrance for the Precious Moments Center. We had small expectations, but as we turned into one of the parking lots we felt like we were getting into something far greater than we imagined.

This place was really nice. The landscaping was so beautiful. There were Precious Moments figurines and fountains everywhere. The lawns, trees, and bushes were perfectly manicured. It was like stepping into Precious Moments Land. As we walked around the gardens we discovered beautiful views and scenes that left us wondering if they were real. Inside the chapel we learned that they were built into the views as depicted in the painted murals.

Inside the Chapel, everyone whispered. The paintings, murals, figurines, and stained glass windows, all crafted by Sam Butcher, were just breathtaking. It felt like a holy place. Sam Butcher dedicates his talent to God, and it is treated appropriately.

On our ride back home Brett said if we had brought his mom, we would have been there all day.
We would love to bring Brett's mom there, and anyone else.
We did not purchase anything in the gift shop, which is rather enormous - practically half of the visitor center is the gift shop, and the museum has one too.

Newton County Neighbors

On Brett's day off last week we went to the George Washington Carver National Monument and visitor center. Little did we know, we live in the same county that the Peanut Man lived in - that one guy we all learned about in grade school who came up with over 100 uses for the peanut - just 15 miles away. Besides being a famous botanist, he was also a slave, a well-known scholar, civil rights advocate, and a really great painter. He also studied art and piano at college before becoming a botanist.

At the George Washington Carver National Monument there is a nice museum and an easy one-mile nature path that takes you around the areas where George lived, worked, and studied. It was a beautiful place to visit.

Tornado Weather

Spring weather is here. The storms we had at the end of March were really awesome. I love to watch the lightning. These are rough photos I took right before we had a few tornadoes sighted in the surrounding Joplin area. There was so much lightning going on, it wasn't hard to capture it. You can also see the progression of the storm just by the color of the sky in each picture in descending order. Dark, unusual colors indicate tornadoes. The tornado sirens went off about 10 minutes after the last photo was taken.

March Madness

I don't know what March Madness is, but my own version would probably be March Baking Madness. Brett keeps saying I'm baking too many goodies and he's going to get fat. Well, I keep volunteering to bring baked goods to parties, meetings, and fundraisers.... and so why not make enough for us too, right?

I don't normally buy nuts unless I really have to have them for a dire purpose. Mom usually sends me ziploc bags full of walnuts and almonds for birthdays and special occasions. (I have such an awesome Mom who still sends me care packages!) ....so I don't have to buy them myself; one of those perks of knowing someone who has a Costco membership. But as of three months ago, I'm all out of nuts.
I got really lucky last week while I was out trying to find Easter basket treats - they had bags of plain walnuts on sale for $1.50 at Dollar General! Score!

So, I have this recipe that Gramma Fisher emailed me back in February that I've been excited to try. It's called Oatless Oatmeal, but it's made with nuts, and I finally had all the ingredients to make it. I made it for our dinner this past Sunday afternoon, and it was actually pretty good. One of those foods that makes you feel like a health nut. (no pun intended)

Oatless Oatmeal

makes 2 servings

In a food processor or blender combine 1/4 cup plain walnuts, *1/4 cup plain almonds, 2 Tablespoons ground flax seed, and 1 teaspoon of allspice into a course grain (not to a powder). Mash together 1/2 a ripe banana and 1 Tablespoon of creamy peanut butter. In a saucepan whisk together 3 eggs and **1/4 cup milk. Whisk in peanut butter banana mixture. Place on medium low heat and stir in nut mixture with a rubber spatula. Stir frequently for 15-20 minutes until ***desired consistency is reached. Serve with milk and a drizzle of honey.

*I only used walnuts, and because my blender is a cheap one I chopped them finely by hand with a good old knife on the cutting board, then combined it with flax seed and allspice in a small bowl.
**I used prepared powdered milk. You could use any kind of milk.
***I stirred about every minute until the eggy gloss mostly disappeared. The thought of raw or undercooked eggs gives me quivers.

Review: Brett liked it with a lot of honey, but, then again, he eats honey like Winnie-the-Pooh. I thought it had a natural sweetness to it, so I barely added maybe only 1/2 teaspoon of honey on mine and we both enjoyed it. It was crunchy, nutty, and very satisfying. Chock full of good fats and protein. I ate leftovers next morning for breakfast.
Credit: Grain Brain by David Perlmutter, MD


Just to clarify any rumors, yes, we did get into another car accident. Two weeks ago, a block away from our Sunday church destination, a car ran a stop sign and we collided with it. We skidded almost to a stop when we hit, so the damage was very minimal and there were no injuries. No airbags deployed. Just the front bumper needs to be replaced. The grills and license plate took most of the damage.

A Birthday Project

For my birthday I set out to do my own birthday project. If you haven't heard of it, it means that you celebrate your birthday by doing as many Random Acts of Kindness as the age you are turning. So I planned a list of 25 things to do to show kindness for others.

A few of my favorites were:

- Putting a bag of  peanut M&Ms in the mailbox with a note for our mail man that said "Thank you for driving Miles & Miles to bring us our mail." The only mail we got that day was a thank you note from the mail man.

- Going to Wal Mart to buy a bouquet of flowers. As I passed by the tax booths near the registers I handed a flower to the lady sitting at the desk eating her sack lunch. We didn't say anything to each other, but her smile said a million words.

- Heart Attacking the Elder missionary's apartment. We went to give them cookies, and then on a whim I decided they needed more than that, so we cut out paper hearts, wrote motivational thoughts on them and taped them to their front door.

- On our way to give cookies to the Bishop's family I stopped to give the Bishop's daughter a ride home from school. That wasn't on my list of things to do, but the wind was so cold, and she has to walk home carrying a heavy violin case and backpack. I've totally been there, so I couldn't help it. I got a text about an hour later from her mother saying that her daughter couldn't remember my name, so they had to look at pictures of all the ward members to find out who I was so she could tell the right person thank you.

Many of these acts of kindness were anonymous. My hope was to bring a smile to people's faces.
Completing this project took much more time and driving around town than I anticipated, but Brett was a good sport and I think he enjoyed doing everything with me. At the end of the day we stopped at Red Lobster for dinner - a real treat for me. Then we went home and enjoyed my Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Brownie Layered Fudge Cake that I made.

A Half Birthday

Brett's half-birthday is today, so we celebrated by taking a short trip to see the Grand Falls. It is the largest waterfall in Missouri, and only about 10 miles away from where we live. We were very cold. It is about 29 degrees Fahrenheit today, but I think it was colder at the falls. The rock is all chert, or flint stone, so it is pocked everywhere where the water has eroded it. All the larger holes are full of frozen water. There are  even icicles on the tree branches from the frozen spray coming off the falls.

Our stove hood got fixed. Tonight we had a really yummy stovetop spicy enchilada dinner, and then we had chocolate. Like my mom always says: you have to have chocolate after spicy Mexican food. That's what I crave every time.

And this is me doing dishes after dinner. The spiky fake handles under the sink always get caught on my clothes. This time it ripped a huge hole in my jeans. I'm smiling because they're just my work jeans.
I said "Brett, get my camera and take a picture for my blog." He said "Sure! I'll take a picture of your leg!" haha, of course