Chocolate Cake

Yesterday I finished writing a ten-page paper about the movie Chocolat. (Analyzing the themes of oppression in it, if you care at all)

Yesterday Seth and I went to the BYU Library and checked out some books. My selection?

Chocolat.

Needless to say I have been craving chocolate cake real bad. 

So today I decided to make some. 

Conveniently, I decided this when Seth was out of the house (hometeaching) so that I could selfishly have the spoon and the bowl (all right AND the beaters) to lick all to myself. 

Seriously, the craving is real bad.

Anyway, now I am not so patiently waiting for it to bake and I thought I would share the recipe with you. 

This chocolate cake is a recipe my mother got from her mother. And her mother (my grandma) is possibly the best cook on the face of this planet. She can empty a can of corn into a dish and heat it up in the microwave and it would still taste simply magical, much better than anyone else heating up a can of corn. 

This is my way of telling you this recipe is delicious. 

Chocolate Cake

1. Spray a Bundt pan with Pam

2. Mix: 1 box Devil's Food Cake

1 small box instant chocolate pudding

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 cup water

3. Add: 3 eggs

1 cup (8 oz) sour cream

4. Mix again. 

5. Add: 3/4 package mini semi-sweet chocolate chips

6. Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes.

7. Frost with milk or dark chocolate icing. 

I'm pretty sure all of you know this, but just in case .... you have to dump the cake out of the bundt pan upside down. Then frost it. And preferably after it's cooled. Otherwise the frosting will run off the cake and pool in the hole in the middle. I know this from experience. 

Or rather, I know this from watching my mother experience this. 

Seth just walked in the door and when he figured out what I was cooking, he got very hyper. 

When he gets hyper he sticks his tongue out of his mouth and shakes his head around.

It's hilarious. 

I hope this makes up for the fact that I didn't leave him any cake batter to lick up AND I am also making him clean those very cake batter-bare dishes while I write this. 

 

Note the happiness. 

I think it's from the cake. 

(this is Amanda, not me. I know half of you would be wondering so I'm throwing this in here as a preemptive strike.)

Letters

Dear Janette,
Please stop overusing me. I hurt.
-your brain

Dear Seth,
Thanks for actually taking care of me.
-the kitchen

Dear Dairy Queen,
Thanks for the blizzards. They were delicious and the perfect break from our homework.
-Janette and Seth

Dear Utah weather,
Quit playing games with my heart.
We get along so beautifully when you're good and nice. And then unexpectedly you decide to snow and rain. You've dragged my heart through the mud, as well as my shoes. And now I have to mop the kitchen floor. You jerk.
-Janette

Dear cough drops,
I love you and I want to marry you. (don't tell Janette.)
-Seth

Numbers

14: Number of books I had to buy for this semester.

3: Number of days Seth has spent working on 2 lab assignments.

8: Number of Papers I have due by next week.

42: Number of times Seth has asked me to club him over the head.

251: Number of pages I'm supposed to read this weekend.

3: Number of days Seth's main meal has been Taco Bell on campus because he has no time to come home and eat.

70: Number of days till I graduate.

63: Number of days till Seth graduates.

Hopefully we don't go insane before then.

Happy Valentine's Day

I have been sick since Friday. 

And yesterday we went and had a Valentine's Day dinner with Seth's Grandma and his brother and cousin.

Needless to say, it has not been a very romantic Valentine's Day Weekend.

Seth did go get me flowers and some Werther's candies and hasn't complained at all about how lame I've been this weekend. What a good husband.

Happy Birthday Katie and David

Katie's birthday was on Wednesday and David's was yesterday.

Sorry for the belatedness but I have been rather busy. 

Besides, I flew down and saw them for it. The ultimate birthday gift, in my opinion.

Katie turned 17. She is a junior in High School.

She is also a giant. The tallest one in our family (besides my father) at 5'10". She still wears high heels though, which makes her even more giant. I think she secretly loves her dominion over people. She reeks of coolness.

David turned 14. This means that my mother finally allowed him to get a facebook.

As if he needs more reasons to play on the computer.

David likes to think his body is the equivalent of Arnold Schwarzenegger (I had to google that name), as evidenced by the fact that he likes to take his shirt off in front of us and talk about his "6-pack." (In reality he is a pasty white bag of bones.) He is also the funniest kid ever. And he knows it.

Happy Birthday to my favorite younger sister and brother. 

Joyce Power

I'm in Arizona right now. Without the husband. I flew in yesterday and I fly back Saturday.

The whirlwind trip is because my grandmother (Jim's mom) passed away last Friday.

I tried to write about her but I just can't do her justice so here is part of the obituary we put in the paper. It still doesn't really do her justice but it's all I've got.

Joyce Hicks Power, 89, passed away peacefully on Friday, February 5, 2010 after a brave battle with cancer. The world has lost a rare treasure but heaven has gained one. Joyce was born October 29, 1920 in Provo, Utah to Heber and Florence Hicks. She moved to Arizona when she was nine years old to serve a mission with her family on the Papago Salt River Indian Reservation. They served there for 14 years. Joyce attended Phoenix Union High School and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in Elementary Education from Arizona State Teacher's College. She later received her Master's Degree in Music from ASU. She began her teaching career at age 19 at Alma School and retired 46 years later from Queen Creek Elementary. She married Kent Jackson Power on April 14, 1949 and together they had four children. Joyce was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and spent 70 years in the Primary organization bringing joy to children through music. She was legally blind for the past 25 years but continued to live alone, care for herself, play the piano, crochet beautiful blankets for new babies and cherished friends, and faithfully played the organ at the Arizona Temple for 15 years. She was an example of service, optimism, perseverance, and loved being a friend and grandmother to many people.

We'll miss her.

Really?

I just listened to 5 minutes of Seth arguing on the phone with my brother about whether pickles are zombie-cucumbers or not. 

Wow.

Moving On

These are my old roommates Kirsten and Betina.
This is our very first night hanging out together our freshman year.

We were roommates up until Betina got married in December 2007 and then Kirsten in June 2008.

Yesterday we helped Kirsten pack up all her stuff, as she and her husband are moving away.

I've had friends graduate and move away but this time it was different. 

I suddenly realized I am almost not a college kid anymore. Seth and I graduate in April and then we are also on to the next phase in life. Am I really that old?

It's a weird feeling, realizing you're suddenly in the future you always thought about.