Lincoln's 25th Birithday

Last Friday was Lincoln's birthday. He had to work so we didn't do much. I made him dinner and I think we watched a movie. Sad that I can't remember. We had the BEST chicken cordon blue....mmm and this Andes Mint ice-cream pie instead of a cake.

His present was a quilt that has been almost 2 years in the making. It was going to be a surprise for Christmas '09 and I didn't get around to actually making it. Then with the wedding it got put on hold. I promised him that I would finish it for his birthday this year (it's hard to keep it a surprise when you live in a one bedroom apt. and the entire living room becomes your sewing room). I worked really hard to try and get it done. On Friday (the day of) all I had left was the binding. I ran out of time because I wanted to cook him dinner. But I will finish it. Here is a picture of it basically done.



2 years of hard work. I think it turned out pretty good. It might be the only quilt I ever make though. It's a very time consuming process...

Here is the pie. I got the recipe from my friend Erin here.




And I don't have a picture for the chicken, but trust me it's good. A lady in our ward made it for a Relief Society dinner. She has her own cookbook, so of course I bought a copy of it. Here is the recipe, it's fabulous. Note: it's not the healthiest recipe, but it's well worth it.


* 6 Chicken Breasts
* 6 Slices of Ham
* 6 Slices of processed Swiss Cheese (it is very important that it's processed)
* 1 Cube butter
* 1 C. Corn or Bran Flakes, Crushed


Place one slice of ham and one slice of cheese on every piece of chicken. Fold around chicken (as best as you can). Melt butter. Baste chicken/ham/cheese combo and dip in crumbs. Pour the remaining butter in the bottom of a 9X13 pan. Place pieces in pan and bake at 350 degrees for 30-45 minutes.

Most recipes use fresh Swiss Cheese, however, the processed cheese melts into a sauce rather than being stringy. And the sauce makes all the difference.

Like I said maybe not the healthiest, but it's so yummy!

So this post was less about Lincoln's birthday and more about my preparation for the day. I hope it was a good one. I feel that 25 is a good marker for adulthood (for most anyway). Happy Birthday Lincoln! You're all grown up!


Oh and I think the movie we watched was 127 Hours. I could be wrong though.

Pass Along the Word

My cousin Harmony is trying to adopt a baby. Lincoln's brother adopted a year ago and they say the best thing to do is to pass along the word. It's a pretty big process and can be rather pricey. Harm has set up and Esty account with all of her cute creations. Check it out here. All the money she makes will go to their adoption. They are both so great and would be great parents. I wish them all the best.

Also here is their adoption blog. Please pass the word along to anyone who is looking for two loving people to raise a baby.

Follow Up

My friend Carly asked a very interesting question regarding my previous post. She wanted to know what I was going to get with my $100 gift card to Bed Bath, and Beyond. Well Carly, here is my dilema....

I am not allowed...strongly encouraged rather to not buy more stuff. You see we will be moving to Chicago in a few months and don't really need to add to the truck loads of stuff we will already be moving. It's understandable, I don't really enjoy packing and moving, but with $100 it's hard to not want to buy stuff. Not to mention my discount, 20% off everything. I don't know if it really works this way, but now I have $120 worth of stuff I could get. Someone that's good at math please correct me if I'm wrong.

So this is what I propose to all of my friends in the blogger world....

What would you buy with $100 to Bed Bath, and Beyond?

Keep in mind that I am moving and that I have a discount. I'd love to hear all of your suggestions. Maybe it will help me decide!

Unexpected Bonus!

I often dread going to work. It's not so much that I don't like my job, as it is that I feel there are lots more things I could be doing that I enjoy more. And of course there are still those days that I don't like my job.

Lincoln and I had a conversation the other day about jobs. I was complaining that I have to work on Saturdays. I don't know of anyone else with my same position that has to work on Saturdays. The reason being that I'm the top bridal consultant in my store. Though this may sound cool it's really not that great.

Basically if you are getting married and want to register at Bed Bath, and Beyond you come in to the store and I'm the one who helps you. My "numbers" are better than the other consultants in the store, so if I'm available they send all the couples my way. Saturdays are our busiest days for registries, so naturally they want their best bridal consultant working.

Back to the conversation, I was frustrated because being "good" at my job gets me crappier hours. It's not fair. Of course I know that life isn't fair, but I took the full time position hoping to not have to work Saturdays. We talked about how working harder often times gets you more responsibility which in turn requires you to work harder. An endless circle....sigh. Oh well venting about my job was not the purpose of this blog. I merely wished to convey how sometimes you feel unrewarded for your efforts. My cousin Hannah comes to mind, but that's besides the point.



Today I was rewarded!!!! My boss came in and handed me an envelope and said full time employees that don't call in sick for a full year get a gift card. He was unsure if I qualified for this because I have not been full time for a year. But he submitted my name nonetheless and they said okay. So today I can home with $100 gift card (to Bed Bath, and Beyond, of course) all because I'm a good employee. Woot Woot!


Oh and another happy point of the day, my husband put together my lunch this morning and added Cheesy Poofs, wonderful Cheesy Poofs!


Good day.

News in the Torman world

Yes that's right I said "Torman World".

My brother Nick and his wife Kacey just had there 4th child. Kenneth Call Torman! He will go by Call or as I refer to him Baby Call. He's super cute.





All their kids are super cute. I'm excited for them


Also new to the Torman family....Hal and Janet (my parents) bought a new house! They've been talking about it for years. And wouldn't you know as soon as I move far away they find a place with a pool. I secretly think it's to entice me to come home! And I do have to admit it's working...a little. It will be nice for them to be in something bigger with a pool that the grandchildren can play in. I'm totally jealous though.

Confession

I love boxes....



It's the strangest thing. I believe it all started with this new position at work. You see I'm in charge of "receiving" all the merchandise that comes in to the store. For example:

Let's say that you want to buy a KitchenAid.



Well before you can walk into a Bed Bath and Beyond and purchase one, someone has to ship it to me through a shipping company like FedEx(that's the one we use). When the nice FedEx man delivers it there are usually several of one item in a box. Except I used a bad example cause KitchenAids only come one to a box. Anyway, I get to unwrap, so to speak, this KitchenAid and put the price and security tags on it. Then it is ready to go out on the shelves, so you, the customer, can buy it.

That was a long way of explaining my fairly simple job. Simple meaning not a lot to processing in my head, but it's a lot of heavy lifting and it's hard on your hands.

Side note: There is more to my job than this, but opening all the boxes is the biggest one.

Another side note: Cardboard paper cuts hurt 3X worse than a regular paper cut.

But back to my love for boxes. I open anywhere from 100-200 boxes a day. Big ones, Little ones, odd shaped ones, you name it. I also failed to mention that I'm the only one that does this at my store. I'm alone for most of the day. On occasion I get a helper, but that's usually only when I'm pushing 250+ boxes. This much alone time gives a girl tons of time to think.

I started out thinking about everyday stuff. But I don't really have an exciting life, so those thoughts don't take up very much of my time. So what else am I supposed to think about? Boxes! Seriously, I think I have a problem.

Sometimes I have to save boxes for things we might need to ship out. At first I was saving all sorts of boxes. But I've become a box snob. There are good boxes and there are bad boxes. Bad boxes consist of bent corners, ripped edges or maybe have holes in them. Even the type of cardboard used can make it good or bad.

It really is the weirdest thing (and when Lincoln reads this I'm afraid he might love me a little less). When I find a really good box I get excited and then I think of all the things I could put in it (most of which are all work related (seriously try shipping an ironing board)). So when you find a box that would be the perfect fit you save it. Some boxes sit and wait for the curtain rod that needs to be shipped and others are more universal and don't stick around to long.



So this is what my job has come to, making sure the products that you want are available and ready to be purchased and saving all the good boxes for me. I sound pathetic, but I love it.

Oh and I even love the fancy ones. I like to put pictures and cards in them.

Post update

So the previous picture of a turkey was not at all a wild turkey. It was in fact a domestic turkey, the kind we eat. Here is a real wild turkey I think...





Also my visiting teacher stopped by and brought us 2 dozen eggs. She has chickens! Awesome. Love free eggs!