Eleanor's Bake Shop & Recent Projects

Hello. Thought I'd give you an update. Blake and I are now settled in Provo. Blake started the Accounting program a few weeks ago and is enjoying it. He's very busy with his studies but I do see him more often than I did during the summer so we're enjoying this time together. I'm still on the hunt for a job and I've applied for several but no luck yet. I'm also preparing to take the Social Service Worker licensing exam. We are really enjoying our new ward and have met several very nice people.

Recently I discovered (via email from my sister's old roommate) that there is a new gluten free bake shop that just opened in Sandy. Blake and I drove to Sandy last Saturday to try it and we loved it. Blake even said that the sandwiches we ate tasted just like normal food to him (he doesn't always say that about the gluten free food I make). Blake had a brisket arepa and I had a turkey arepa. We shared a bowl of soup. Then we had to try their yummy desserts so we each got a cake pop and then split a brownie and a nutella cupcake (we kinda splurged....it's not every day you find a GLUTEN FREE BAKE SHOP). In order to keep this wonderful place in business we need to spread the word. If you have any friends who are gluten free or even if you don't...spread the word!! Chances are you'll have a friend with a gluten free friend because Celiac Disease is becoming so common these days!

Here is the blog address:

www.eleanorsbakeshop.com

and here's their contact info:

Eleanor's Bake Shop
9495 South 560 West
Building D
Sandy UT 84070
P:801-563-7466
F:801-567-3747
eleanorsbakeshop@gmail.com

So since I've had SO much free time on my hands lately I've tried to occupy my time with some fun projects. The first project I did was craft cubbies that I found on my new favorite blog: Make It and Love It.

I first took several Idaho potato boxes, cut them in half and made four smaller cardboard boxes. Then I spray painted them all an ivory color. I then mod-podged material onto the front of them, let them dry then filled them with all my craft supplies. You can find more in-depth instructions on the Make It and Love It website (link above). Here are some pictures of the process and final product (in backwards order):

Next I decided to make my first quilt. I just finished piecing the top last night and here's a picture (pre-ironing):

You can't really tell in the picture but the cream and brown squares have blue, red and green polka dots (hence the blue, red and green squares to match). Anyway, I had a lot of fun sewing that together and when I go to Idaho next my mom is going to help me quilt it.

Japanese Marshmallow Eating Contest

I just had to share this video with you to lighten your mood!! Blake came home the other day telling me all about a video his classmate had shared with him. When he explained it I just thought it sounded weird....and then I watched it....and laughed until I cried. It's long so you really only have to watch the first team....

ENJOY!!!

Happy 1 Year!

Last year at this time....

Blake and I got married in the Idaho Falls temple on August 8, 2009.

This year to celebrate our one year anniversary we went to Cedar Breaks in Southern, UT.

I blindfolded Blake (rather I covered him with a heavy quilt-forgetting that our AC is broken).....



and drove him up Parowan canyon to surprise him...


We spent the weekend hiking....


to a pond....

and to see the Cedar Breaks Amphitheater.

We drove to Yankee Meadows lake which was beautiful and relaxing.


We had a wonderful anniversary weekend. The weather was perfect. We had several thunderstorms that were so loud. They rattled our windows and made us feel like the building was going to collapse. I am so grateful that I have been blessed with such an amazing husband and best friend!

Raisin Bran

In my last post I asked the question...."What is this world coming to?" Well in this post I would like to pose the question...."What is this house coming to?" I've debated whether or not to tell this story because it might have a bad reflection on me and my housekeeping skills but it's just too classic that I could not resist. So all I have to say before I share is....DON'T JUDGE ME. It's not usually this extreme!

I recently got a job as a housekeeper at the Garden Cottage Bed & Breakfast (cutest B&B ever). I really love the job and the people I get to work with but after cleaning all morning six days a week the last thing I want to do when I get home is...you guessed it....CLEAN!

So this morning in the rush to get ready in time for church I walked into the kitchen to find Blake eating his Raisin Bran like this....

In a large serving bowl with a tablespoon! I, myself, got up early and had time to wash a bowl and spoon but poor Blake got up too late for that luxury. That was definitely my sign that something needed to change around here! Oh boy. Sorry Blake!

And remember readers....no judging :)

Idaho Falls Fireworks and More!

I don't know about you but the 4th of July is one of my favorite days of the year. How can you go wrong with food, family and fun festivities? I think one of the reasons I love this beautiful day so much (besides what it represents and celebrates) is because I grew up celebrating this holiday in IDAHO FALLS!!!! I have now been living in Utah for a few years now and I have found myself defending the greatness of the IF fireworks show on more than one occasion. Well last night I was curious to know if the rest of the U.S. feels the same way about the IF fireworks as I do so what did I do....I googled the Melaleuca Freedom Celebration and what did I find? It turns out the the rest of the U.S. agrees. The Idaho Falls Freedom Celebration fireworks are ranked the second best in the nation and the largest show this side of the Mississippi!! If you don't believe me then feel free to read the following article:

http://blog.ratestogo.com/best-4th-july-fireworks/

I will be making the trek from Cedar City to Idaho Falls to celebrate this great holiday with my family and I can't wait!

On another note:

On Saturday Blake took a much needed (for me) break from work and spent the day in Cedar City with me. He had been in the middle of first crop all last week and I saw very little of him. I'm really grateful that he has been working so hard to support our family but I am also very glad to be out of first crop!!

Anyway, on Saturday we went to the Groovefest in Cedar City. There were live performances all day and lots of booths to look at. It was actually pretty fun. One of the booths was the Jackrabbit Ranch booth. This is where the Holt Dairy sends some of their milk so it was fun to try out cheese made from our milk.

While we were standing at the booth trying various cheeses a group of girls joined us at the booth. The Ranch woman told the group of girls that some of the cheese came from goats and some of the cheese came from cows. One of the girls look shocked and exclaimed, "What?? I never knew that cows made cheese!!!" The woman had to explain that cows make milk and they use the milk to make cheese.

What is this world coming to??

Graduation, Family Vacation and Cedar City

I guess it's about time for me to share an update of what's been happening in the past few months. In April I graduated from BYU with a Bachelor's Degree in Social Work. We were one of the last groups to graduate from this program because it is being phased out. As of December 2010 the program will no longer be accredited at BYU. I'm so grateful I was able to complete the program. The classes, professors and my wonderful Social Work friends changed my life!

Some of the girls graduating in the program with me! Love them!

Kenley and Erin graduated the same day and they also blessed their cute baby girl Hadley so we got to see some of the Holt family!

Blake's parents came for the graduations and baby blessing.

My parents came as well and they spent the whole weekend helping us clean and pack to move to Cedar City. We could not have done it without them.

The Batt fam at dinner after graduation! I was so grateful for all of the support.


For our family vacation this year the Batts went to SLC, UT. This picture is the boys in The Discovery Center at Gateway. Notice the cute matching green sweaters from Grandma and Grandpa!


I married a very fun guy! I think he enjoyed the Discovery Center as much as the boys! On the vacation we also went to the Planetarium, the Hogle Zoo, a park and a great swimming place.

Blake and I moved to Cedar City after graduation and then we went on a trip to Spain to visit Blake's mission. We had a blast. I will post Spain pictures soon!

March and April Happenings!

Well these past few weeks have been wild so I thought I'd give a quick run down of all the fun and craziness we've had....starting back at the beginning of March.

1. Over a month ago I decided to forget about homework and sew all night and this was the result:

A bag for Mom since she has had a lot going on in her life lately.

2. Next came my cousin Tyler's birthday. He refused to let anyone celebrate his birthday on the actual day. He didn't even tell his roommates that it was his birthday. I didn't want to blow his cover so I had to find another way to celebrate his birthday. It just so happens that the next day, March 4th, was the day that Abraham Lincoln (in 1863) signed an act creating the Idaho Territory and so this is how we celebrated:

3. Next we went to Idaho for Easter and General Conference. While there we had the greatest Easter egg hunt created by my dad. He is amazing. He works hard to put together an Easter egg hunt where we use the GPS, metal detectors, shovels and irrigation boots. This year was really cold in Idaho but that made it even better. As always it was a blast. Thanks Dad! We love you! Here are some pictures of the fun we had that weekend:

We left Friday night after Blake's mission reunion and the roads were HORRIBLE. We could not see the road right in front of us and so we had to pull over and stay the night in Malad. The only motel in Malad was full due to the storm and so we made some friends while scraping our windows.

All of the grandkids LOVE Grandpa!!

Cute little William!

Cute Grant!

Tanner wearing one of the cute hats Dad got for all the grandkids! So cute.

4. I just attended my last class at BYU....ever. It was bittersweet. It was such a relief to finally hand over my 20 page paper about the Family and Medical Leave Act to my teacher. I did however have a rather embarrassing thing happen last week. So I'm taking a Family Recreation class from a teacher who is also named Heather. So while I was writing my 20 page paper about FMLA I would periodically email drafts of my paper to myself just in case my computer crashed. Well I sent a total of 12 backup emails to myself. Last night I received an email from Heather, my Family Recreation teacher. She said:

Hi Heather,

This was in my inbox [BACKUP11]. Figuring you sent it to me on accident. Just wanted you to know in case you needed to resend to someone else.

I read it. It was really interesting.

See you in class.

So apparently I sent my entire 20 page paper (this was email 11 of 12) to her instead of myself since our emails both start with heather...and SHE READ IT.....that's the funny part. I wonder if she thought...how is this girl graduating from BYU...she can't even send an email to herself. Oh well. We all had a little laugh over that.

Anyway I turned my paper in today and when I came home I tore the special POLICY PAPER link off of my countdown chain:

Well life is great! We are just looking for housing and a job for me in Cedar City and we are so excited to be moving in 2 weeks.