Thanksgiving

Well this Thanksgiving we had planned to stay home and order pizza or something. Just enjoying the break from school and doing nothing... Oh how are we glad our plans changed. The Belliston's, our neighbors up stairs invited us over to the Rubio Thanksgiving. Which was so much fun, full of Food, Friends, and Dancing (only have photos of before the DJ cousin brought his gear and strobe lights, then it become more of a Rubio Rave).

The next day we went to the beach. It was a perfect day to enjoy the Christmas decorated boardwalk, people watch on our four person bike, skim board, pass the football (where Blake lost his wedding ring) and eat yummy pizza. 

Krispy Kreme

One thing we miss about living in Gainesville is having Krispy Kremes near our apartment. 

 We stared going so often it was decided not drive there anymore. But that did not stop us. We woke up one Saturday morning and ran the 4 miles in the pursuit for a breakfast of donuts. 

On the way we even got a little science lesson. 

So we started at the Sun and ran all the way to Pluto.

It was fun to stop and read some facts about the different planets but that did not distract us from our goal. A dozen warm, glazed Krispt Kremes with whole milk. 

The breakfast run turned out to take up half the day because after filling our stomachs full of donuts it made it much harder to leave the booth. So we sat and talked till we started our walk/run back home. It was all worth it in the end. 

What would you do for Krispy Kremes?

Blueberries

Back in June we went blueberry picking with my family and then made the best blueberry pie I have ever made or had. Being that Thanksgiving is this week I thought I would share the recipe. 

Ingredients:

Pastry

·      2 cups all-purpose flour ·      1 teaspoon salt ·      2/3 cup and 2 tablespoons          dfl shortening ·      4 to 6 tablespoons cold water

Filling

·      ¾ cup sugar       ·      ½ cup all-purpose flour       ·      ½ teaspoon cinnamon       ·      6 cups blueberries       ·      1 tablespoon lemon juice       ·      1 tablespoon butter

In medium bowl, mix 2 cups flour and the salt. Cut in shortening, using pastry blender (or pulling 2 table knives through ingredients in opposite directions), until particles are size of small peas. Sprinkle with cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with fork until all flour is moistened and pastry almost cleans side of bowl (1 to 2 teaspoons more water can be added if necessary).

 2
Gather pastry into a ball. Divide in half; shape into 2 flattened rounds on lightly floured surface. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate about 45 minutes or until dough is firm and cold, yet pliable. This allows the shortening to become slightly firm, which helps make the baked pastry more flaky. If refrigerated longer, let pastry soften slightly before rolling.

3
Heat oven to 425°F. With floured rolling pin, roll one round into round 2 inches larger than upside-down 9-inch glass pie plate. Fold pastry into fourths; place in pie plate. Unfold and ease into plate, pressing firmly against bottom and side.

4
In large bowl, mix sugar, 1/2 cup flour and the cinnamon. Stir in blueberries. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Sprinkle any remaining sugar mixture over blueberry mixture. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over blueberries. Cover with top pastry that has slits cut in it; seal and flute. Cover edge with 2- to 3-inch strip of foil to prevent excessive browning.

5
Bake 35 to 45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in crust, removing foil for last 15 minutes of baking. Cool on cooling rack at least 2 hours.

Blueberry is Blake's favorite pie, and I tried to make one last Thanksgiving but really messed it up.  So here is to second chances.  I also wanted to make the piecrust but I have never been successful in making one from scratch. So I thought this would be a disaster waiting to happen.  But I didn't let Blake know my fear of making this pie (because he was so excited about it). And it turned out perfect, a first for me.  So I highly recommend this recipe. I just cannot remember where I found it. 

Right before the pie was going into the oven Blake decided  to add a little something something to the pie.

This pie was haft gone by the end of the night and finished off for breakfast the next morning. 

The Last Lecture

Today I have been thinking a lot about life and death. How grateful I am for the life I have been given and the people I have been given to share it with. Yesterday evening and this morning Blake's grandparents Billy Smith Eoff and Douglas Dalton Eoff died only 7 hours apart from one another. After 64 years of marriage how sweet that they were about to pass together. I can only hope Blake and I will leave this mortal life only hours apart.

Thinking of Blake's Grandparents made me think of my own. My siblings and I were all named after our wonderful Grandparents. Jarinete named after my Dad's Mom and Adamastor after my Dad's Dad. And me you ask? I got my name from both of my Mom's parents, Deanna and Le(e)land Thomas. Looking back at the time I spend and the things I have learned from my own Grandmas and great Grandmothers (I have never had the privilege of meeting any of my Grandpa's in this life, but Dug was a wonderful Grandpa to me) I hope I have taken that knowledge and changed for the better from their examples. 

After spending the morning thinking of all the wonderful people who have touched my life I went to Microbiology. There I complained with a classmate that the last test we had in Anatomy and Physiology was tricky and on the verge of being unfair. We both felt as if the teacher told us to study one thing and tested us on the other, just to be mean. We talked about the stress of trying to get into the P.A. program and what we would do if we did not get accepted. Then after sitting though a long leacher the teacher showed us this clip. 

For the full Lecture go here.

How easy I forget what really matters. I have been given good parents and wonderful grandparents. People matter not things or degrees. If my plans fail there will still be happiness in my life, if I want there to be. Even though people pass away we are still able to learn and grow from the life they live, as I am still learning from my Grandparents. I hope when the time comes my children and family will be able to look back at my life and be able to learn from it.

So here is my goal, to stop complaining about school and start having more fun. Here is to being more of a Tigger than an Eeyor. And here is to living up to what our Grandparents have done for us. They raised wonderful, loving and fun parents for Blake and I. I am grateful for my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Later Day Saints and my knowledge that families are eternal. 

Sketchy Hot Dog Stand

We have loved living here in Miami, it is stating to get cooler with highs in the 80's and lows in the 65's (Even though last friday it was in the 90's).  Blake got our hammocks hung up last week so sunday naps just got 100x better. Not only do we love the weather, our schools and apartment, but we have also been blessed to have a wonderful couple from our Ward living in our same building just 5 floors above us. Krysta if from Miami but just moved back with her husband Devin after graduating from BYU. So they have been showing us the ropes of this place. Our first adventure was walking across the street to this little Hotdog stand that is located right across from the building. Blake and I see it every night as we come home from school. This stand caught our attention because it is located right off a pretty busy intersection. And it is only open from about 7pm to who knows how late. Basically we thought they must be selling drugs because this is ridiculous. There is no real parking so people have to drive over the curb and park on the side of the highway in order get their hot dogs. This hot dog stand is always full of people. So we decided to take a little walk accross the street to see what this place was all about. When we got there Krysta asked for the special (wink wink) and the lady looked at her confused and said well we have hot dogs... It turnes out that nothing truly sketchy was going on, except extremely over priced hot dogs. Don't get me wrong they were good. We even tried a pineapple salsa instead of ketchup. It was all for the experience.

Needless to say I don't think we will be getting our dinner there anymore.