pins and bread

So by now, I am sure everyone has heard of Pinterest.
If not....where have you been?
I personally love it. It is such a nice way to organize the good ideas we all find on the internets. Admittedly, most of my pins revolve around baby room inspiration (seriously, I can think about this all day) and food (again, I can think about this all day).

I have been trying to actually MAKE the recipes I have been pinning. Instead of, you know, just looking at them. So this breadstick is from my pins to you.

Olive Garden Knock-off Breadsticks
(not sure if they are just like Olive Garden...but they are good. And easy. And you can make some after work before dinner and not have to eat at like, 9 pm)
..............
1 1/2 cups warm water (between 110 - 120 degrees F)
1 package active dry yeast
4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt

In a large bowl, dissolve sugar and yeast in warm water and allow to sit for 10 minutes, covered. Mixture should be frothy.

In separate bowl, combine flour and salt. Add to yeast mixture. Add melted butter. Mix with paddle attachment of stand mixer or wooden spoon until fully combined.

Knead dough for a few minutes

(this is when I split the dough and freeze half for later)

Grease a cookie sheet. Pull off pieces of dough and roll out into strips.
Cover the dough and let sit in a warm place for 45 minutes to an hour.

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F and once heated, pop in the bread sticks. In microwave, combine the following:

2 T unsalted butter
1 teaspoons garlic powder
1/2 teaspoons salt

After 6 or 7 minutes, brush the bread sticks with half the butter mixture.
Then continue to bake for another 6 or 7 minutes.

Enjoy!

new project

This little bloggy space of mine has been pretty quiet all summer.
But that does not mean I have not been busy.

In fact, I have been working on the most important project of my life....

baby Frantz at 11 weeks

I am currently 17 weeks and feeling great. The exhaustion is here to stay, it seems, but the other first trimester symptoms thankfully disappeared a few weeks ago. In their place came a growing belly, tighter pants, and leg pains.

But I could not be more thankful. Peter and I are thrilled and so blessed to have a healthy, growing baby. We constantly talk about our little baby girl or baby boy (the gender will remain a surprise till birth) and are so excited to become a family of three. (plus Scully, of course)

First trimester thoughts:
*Keeping baby a secret for 10 weeks was easier than I thought
*Plane rides will make me throw up. Pray for understanding seat mates.
*Telling our parents (especially my mom) AFTER we came back from Costa Rica was a smart idea (...are you sure you should have ziplined?!?!)
*Growing a garden full of cucumbers and zucchini is rather sad when the thought of vegetables makes me want to die
*It is absolutley necessary to sleep for hours after coming home from work everyday
*When you pin countless amounts of nursery ideas to your Pinterest, people will assume you are pregnant
*Jolly Ranchers and life saver mints will literally save your life
*Sonic happy hour limeade and tots are a perfectly acceptable snack
*I have never been more happy, excited, worried, and scared in my life

This baby is already such a blessing to Peter and I and our families. We cant wait for the adventure that is to come!

costa rica

We just returned from an amazing trip to Costa Rica.
We have been planning this vacation for quite awhile and it exceeded all of our expectations.

We decided to rent a small suv and navigate the country on our own (with the help of a GPS, of course - MUCH needed as the streets do not have names!) In addition to arriving and departing from the capitol city of San Jose, we visited three main areas.

*La Fortuna, the site of the Arenal Volcano
*Monteverde, a cloud-forest region
*Playa Flamingo, a beach on the Pacific side

{click to enlarge}

We loved having our own vehicle (as opposed to a tour company) because we were able to take our time and enjoy driving through the small towns and stunning countryside. Not all of the roads were smooth (as in, driving over an hour on unpaved rocks) but it was definitely an adventure. We were a little worried, after reading all about the rainy season, but we were so blessed that it really only rained one day. We enjoyed pleasant, tropical temps for the majority of the trip!

Costa Rica is a perfect destination for an active, yet relaxing, vacation. We stayed in wonderful, authentic hotels, hiked in national parks, climbed volcanoes, discovered waterfalls, walked across hanging bridges, zip-lined over the rainforest, learned about coffee, and saw all types of wild life. We ended our trip by spending a few days at the coast. Amazing. Best beach I have ever been to. The water was the perfect temperature, fun waves, soft sand, clean, and quiet. We did feel a small earthquake and I panicked, convinced there would be a tsunami, however no one else seemed to be concerned.

We fell in love with the gorgeous land and the warm, friendly people. We felt safe wherever we traveled and Costa Rican people (Ticos) have a lot of pride in their families, country, and their environment.

It is always amazing to travel and see another masterpiece of God's creation. The country is simply breathtaking. We are so thankful we were able to take this amazing trip.

Pura Vida!

like a boss

Oh, this guy?

Let me introduce you to Peter Frantz, CPA.

After 13 months of paying for study materials, studying, paying for tests, and taking tests, my husband is now a California licensed CPA. And I couldn't be more proud.

In full disclosure, he actually finished the tests earlier this year, but the license processing took a while. He can now officially call himself a Certified Public Accountant.

This past year was stressful for both of us. There were many nights I spent alone on the couch with Scully while he studied for hours. Weekends were consumed with studying. Plans were postponed.
I mean, I made dinner every night AANNDD had to clean the dishes.
That's when you know its serious.

Throughout the year, my prayer was to be a patient and encouraging wife. And I hope I was. (most of the time, at least) I tried to support Peter through this process, because I know it is great for his career and great for our family. And we are very thankful he had this opportunity.

So thanks, Peter. No one else can analyze big corporate financial statements AND catch foul balls one-handed at Dodger Stadium without spilling one drop of his beverage. And look cute doing it.

philadelphia: a summary

I dont really talk about my job on this here blog. And that is pretty intentional. One, because although its a great job and I am super thankful, its not really fun blog material. And two, when I get home after working all day, I usually like to ignore the fact that I even have a job.

I travel for work a few times a year. And sometimes, my job takes me to fun places. And sometimes, it does not.

This is the story of the latter.

I spent the last week in Philadelphia. And I (multiple times) had to resist the urge to break out in the Fresh Prince theme song. Everyone now! In west Philadelphia born and raised.....

Overall, although the actual work part of the trip was successful, I did not enjoy Philadelphia. It was humid, crowded, dirty, and sorta trashy. And that is my expert opinion. I am fully aware I stuck to a small radius around downtown and I am sure there are lovely areas of the city. But this is my blog and I can write whatever I want.

All I am sayin' is no wonder the Fresh Prince whistled for a cab to Bel Air.

Here are some cell phone pics. Feel free to use this as your official travel guide to the city. I include lots of detail and honest reviews.

I think this is City Hall. I think.

I had a crappy salad here. I dont remember the name.

This building is probably historic. Dont quote me on that, though.

This was the view out of my hotel room. I think this is William Penn. The most famous Philadelphian. After Ben Franklin. And Will Smith, of course.

This was a nice park. We had dinner at a nice restaurant across the street. I had roasted red pepper gazpacho. It was lovely. And then a huge cockroach proceeded to crawl across the back of my seat. I screamed and had nightmares all week.

Oh! There was one thing I did like. Reading Terminal Market.
Its a large, indoor food market with fresh farmer's produce stands, bakeries, and many different food vendors. There were a number of Amish vendors as well. And I dont know if you know, but I love Amish people. And because I love them, I know they do not like their picture being taken. So I didnt. Just visualize adorable teenage girls in bonnets selling homebaked goods.

By the end of the week, my feet hurt, I was tired of smelling garbage everywhere, and I wanted to come home. So what does one do when they are feeling pathetic and sorry for themselves?

They eat a giant frozen yogurt in bed for dinner and watch trashy tv. My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, anyone?

mason jars

Inspired by this lovely girl, I decided to do something about the mess of bulk items in my pantry.

I like to buy most grains (rice, cous cous, quinoa, oatmeal, etc) in bulk. Saves money and saves space. Well sorta. It also adds a mess of disorganized bags, not to mention the fear of tearing a small hole and cous cous spilling all over my floor.

Enter mason jars. Large ones. I already use smaller ones for drinking glasses (and love them) so I knew larger jars would be the perfect solution.

I can now clearly see my dry goods and have a semi-more organized pantry. (I said semi. Notice how I didnt include any pictures of my actual pantry...) I also had enough jars to store some baking supplies and Frantz Farm almonds. I like them so much, I might need to order some more!

summertime

I have been neglecting this blog lately. And that is good. It is so easy to get caught up in the lives of others (what they are doing, what they are wearing, where they are going, etc) and lose sight of all the blessings in your own life. So sometimes, a break is just what I need.

Every June, it takes a couple weeks to face the reality that I do not have a summer vacation. But once I accept that fact, I get over it and move on. Just because I cant spend my weekdays relaxing, doesn't mean I shouldn't make the most of my summer weekends.

Saturday bike ride.

River front bike path (aka ag road by irrigation canal)

homemade whole wheat burger buns

bbq burger with grilled onions and sweet potato fries. enjoyed on the patio.

scully. looking cute. waiting for any crumbs to drop.