Yummy!

So for FHE tonight my apartment was in charge of the activity.  So, of course, I came up with the brilliant idea of making caramel apples (and by "came up with the brilliant idea," I mean that I copied my friends FHE activity from last week).  It was such a blast!  I just thought I would share the recipe we used...

CARAMEL APPLES

6 apples

14 oz individually wrapped caramels (unwrapped of course) 

2 tbs milk

DIRECTIONS

1.  Remove the stem from each apple and press a craft stick into the top.  Butter a baking sheet.

2.  Place caramels and milk in a microwave safe bowl, and microwave 2 minutes, stirring once.  Allow to cool briefly.

3.  Roll each apple quickly in caramel sauce until well coated.  Place on prepared sheet to set.

They turned out great.  My only suggestion is that you make sure your apples are washed and dry before you use them.  And try not to get waxy apples...they make it so the caramel doesn't set very well.  Also, we melted the caramels in the microwave and then put the gooey caramel in a pot on the stove on low so that it stayed at a good consistency.  When you dunk the apples, make sure you let them sit there for a sec so that the caramel can start setting.  Also, there will be lots of excess so make sure you get it off.  I guess I had more than one suggestion.  Anyway...happy fall!

Charming, right?

Thanks, Giacomo Balla.

Favorite season?

Okay, so, most of you know that I LIVE for Summer.  It is absolutely my favorite season.  I love the sun, the fact that it shines, the fact that it makes me warm, the fact that it makes me tan, etc, etc.  I am also IN LOVE with the fact that I get to wear ridiculously, sinfully bright colors that shouldn't be legal in any of the fifty states.  I also love lime popsicles, pebble ice, going swimming, laying by the pool, hiking in Zion, going to the condo...the list goes on and on.  

Well, today I was thinking that I might possibly have a new favorite season: Autumn.  Okay, that's a lie. I guess it's not my favorite but it is rivaling my love for Summer quite forcefully.  I think it could be my favorite season, but only under certain conditions.  Wait, I have an idea.  What if we made Autmer, Sumtumn, or something like that?  The last two months of Summer, the first two months of Autumn...that would be the perfect season.  Any thoughts?  Lime popsicles AND nutmeg all in the same season?  I think I'm on to something here!

Mom.

I felt bad posting a big long thing for Tyler's birthday and not wishing my Mom a super happy birthday too.  Her birthday was on the 18th, and this is one of two pictures I have of her (she has never been a picture person).  As soon as I got off work on Saturday I went to Salt Lake and spent the evening with her, so I'm not going to elaborate much on this.  I just wanted to wish her a super happy birthday.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

I love you!

Tyler P.

Philly 2007

A few years (by a few, I mean five years ago), I applied to BYU at the very last minute and got accepted.  It had never been my intention to go blue, but when the opportunity arose I was suddenly considering it (and quickly decided it was the right thing to do).  Since it had never been my intention to be a cougar, I was left with few housing options.  It came down to living in DT (never!), living in Rain Tree with my cousin, or living at King Henry just a few yards away from Tyler.  The best choice was pretty obvious: live by my brother.  So I did.  It was one of the best decisions I ever made, and my freshman year of college (spent with the 39ers) was one of the best years of my life.  Everyone in the ward thought Tyler and I were dating (because we were together all the time), and we built a solid friendship that remains strong to this day.  Today is Tyler's birthday, and though a surprise trip to Philadelphia would have been fun, I am left with this dinky little blog (and the phone call I already made) to wish him a happy big 2-8.

Visiting Ty in Philadelphia 2007

Part of why I love Tyler so much is because he was so excited to see a tapir.

...and because he was so excited to feed a zebra.

...and because he married one of my best friends.

...and because the goats look like they are eating his hair in this picture.

...and because I always think of him when I see monkeys.

Happy 28th Birthday, Ty!  

I LOVE YOU!

Mark your calendars...

No se preocupen, this is not a preview of my show.

Well kids, it's official.  A very, very important document came in the mail today.  And I'm officially freaking out.

Dear Melissa,

It is my pleasure to inform you that the proposal for your show has been cleared for exhibition.  The gallery staff is here to help, answer questions, and provide you with tools and hanging materials, but the remaining responsibilities, as outlined below, are yours.  The show will be installed in the BF Larsen Insets and Walnut Walls.

Exhibit dates are as follows:

Install Exhibit - Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Exhibit Opens - Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Exhibit Closes - Mondays, March 30, 2009

Remove Artwork - Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Bla, bla, bla.  

Guys, can you believe it?  It's coming!  There is a light at the end of the tunnel.  Now you all have the dates of the show (the opening will probably be the first weekend [3/20/09]), so mark your calendars.  You have no excuse not to be there.

The blog clock is wrong.

I don't know how to fix the post labels (time-wise), but, just so you know I posted that little birthday thing SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12, 2008, which is Patten's birthday.  I don't know what's wrong with this thing...

Oh wait I think it's because I STARTED it the day before and didn't post it until yesterday.  Hmph.

Patten.

Cabin (Summer 2008)

Well my friends, it has been an entire YEAR since my little nephew was born.  I can hardly believe it.  It seems like just yesterday Dave and Kristin came over to announce the pregnancy.  The night before Tyler surprised everyone and flew out to propose to Becca.  It was one of the happiest weekends our family remembers.

Now, I probably won't be making an entire blog post for every niece and nephew's birthday, but many of you are aware that Patten is very special to me for a number of reasons.  One (relatively unimportant) reason is that he has my favorite name for a little boy.  Most importantly, however, is the fact that he came at a very lonely time in my life and has literally served, in many cases, as a guardian angel to me.  Nothing can make me smile like my little nephew.  Nothing could (truly) make me smile for a very long time before he came.  I just wanted to wish him the happiest birthday in the world, because he deserves it. 

Christmas 2007

Tyler and Becca's Wedding (December 2007)

Naptime

Baby Talk

Happy Birthday, ma Patten!

I love you!

Streptococcus pyogenes

I just liked the name.

Oh, and the fact that my entire apartment has it (I'm positive Anne's immune system will cave within the next couple of days).