Tender Mercies

Virginia Brinton Whipple March 22, 1928 - February 19, 2013 November 2011: At my wedding that Grandpa performed Oh Grandma, I will miss you!  But how I am grateful that you didn't have to suffer too long and that you died in your sleep.  I do not know how many times I have thanked my Father in Heaven for giving me the opportunity to have spent a month with you this past Christmas.  I never thought you would leave us in this life before Grandpa, but I know Heavenly Father has a perfect plan for all of us. Just two months ago I was taking walks with you around the block and listened as you told me about each family who lived close to you.  It was a joy to spend that time with you.  As I think back on the memories I have of my life, so many include you and Grandpa.  My parents were always so great to include you two in our family vacations and I think I now know why.  Because now I don't have any regrets on time spent with you.  I won't be able to recount all of our

I love Valentine's Day and I always have.  It's not a day where we love our family/significant other more than the rest of the year, but rather a day where, because we love our family/significant other, we take the time to show an added measure of our love to them. That being said, I was really excited for this year's V-Day because it was the first year I spent it with my husband in person.  I had been planning the day in my head since the first of the month, and I was pleased when everything panned out as planned.  I kind of started the Valentine's Day celebrations on Monday...three days early.  But it had been one of those days for Marshall at work, so I knew no time was better than the present to show him how much I loved and appreciated him. I cut out a bunch of hearts from construction paper, wrote little messages on each one, and hung them from the ceiling in our bedroom with clear thread.  I think it made him really happy to get surprised by them when he walke

Last night felt like Mom Training 101.  I was up every hour for the first half of the night and I don't even have kids yet.  Don't get me wrong, I welcome the day when I will have to stay up/be woken up for my baby in the middle of the night and get no sleep.  But last night I was doing it for a silly loaf of bread, not for a precious child.  Anyways, Tuesday morning I woke up and realized we needed more bread.  I decided to try out America's Test Kitchen's Whole Wheat Sandwich bread because I finally had all of the necessary ingredients and I wanted a change of pace from the bread I typically make.  I have a really bad habit of not reading all of the instructions PRIOR to starting to cook; yesterday was no exception.  As I started to read the recipe, I saw that I needed to create a sponge and let it sit for 8-24 hours.  So I made it at 7:30am and planned to finish the recipe after I got home from coaching at 7pm that night.  At 8pm I began to read the next step in th

Homemade Twix bars.  I love these so much that I have made them three times--shocking, I know, because I have a tendency to get caught up making new things that I forget to go back to the "tried and true" recipes.  Anyways, I have been meaning to get this recipe posted for a while now.  But no more waiting, because here it is!  I'm not a photographer,but these are delicious!~  So pretty!  Homemade Twix Bars: 1 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 tsp vanilla extract pinch of salt 1 (10oz) container Caramels, unwrapped--I liked Trader Joe's Fleur de Sel Caramels, but you can't find these in Alaska, so just use a half bag or so of Kraft Caramels.  1-2 Tbsp evaporated milk (1 Tbsp for the Trader Joe's caramels, 2 Tbsp for a full bag of Kraft's) 1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips--or 17 squares Trader Joe's Pound Plus Belgian Chocolate.  Mix flour, sugar, butter, vanilla, and sal

Happy late Groundhog Day!  This is the first time in my memory that  Punxsutawney Phil  did not see his shadow, thus predicting an early spring.  Well...maybe for the lower 48 that is!  Last Monday was really cold. Like -50 degrees Fahrenheit cold.  Now I feel like I have actually experienced Alaskan cold, and although I have heard that it can get down to 60 below zero, I really don't care to experience it. 8:30 am on our drive onto Post on Monday morning. Temp: -50 degrees F. A few things that exemplify a Fairbanks winter: 1. Your car won't start at -50 because, well, it's just too darn cold.  2. You apply facial lotion in the morning, but two minutes later it still feels like alligator skin because the air is so dry. 3. School isn't canceled, yet it is when it is 35 degrees 4. You can't see 20 yards ahead of you while driving 5. You can look directly at the sun, and it looks as though someone "hole-punched" the sky 6. "Baby, it's