new adventures...all the time.

So, my life changes from day to day. I was in Switzerland for the Holidays with Nathan and it was soooo nice. Now I am back in Mesa with Anne and fam until Nathan graduates in May. Yes, May! I am sooo excited. Finally, we will be able to live together permanently and not just for 3 month stints at a time (due to Swiss immigration law). Nathan is already beginning the process of looking for a job. It is kind of exciting. He is really excited to be done with school, he's been in some kind of college or internship for the last 10 years and he is really ready to be done with it all and just work doing what he loves...architecture. We have no idea where we'll be living by the end of this year. We are kind of hoping Nathan gets a job in Switzerland. It's a nice place to live and there are some great architecture offices. Plus the earning potential here is at least double what is in the US. So, Switzerland is our #1 choice. Then there are some offices in Paris or London that he is looking at as well and then maybe even stateside in New York, Boston or Seattle. It's pretty certain we'll be living in some big city somewhere.

In the meantime, I am hanging out with my sister Anne and her family, failing at finding temporary employment and having a lot of fun. Anne and I started a new blog called Wearing Walmart. We decided that we wanted to share with the world the hilarity of Walmart fashion and other odds and ends. Now, not everything at Walmart is all that bad, but sometimes it is really bad and funny. So, if you want to see some really embarrasing pictures of Anne and I, check it out. We've also been maintaing our vintage clothing store on Etsy called Fashion Redemption. My teenage nieces are the models and they do a fantastic job.

Anyway, here is a sweet little pic of Anne and I from our new website. Enjoy!

my husband and future father of my children

My Nathan is going to make an amazing father someday. Not only is he the cutest guy EVER, he is smart, talented, kind, patient and just a good hearted person. I love this guy. You can just see the goodness beaming out of that kind face!

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY (& Future Father's Day)!

Hey ya'll

Been busy. Nate is in his final stretch of grad school and I am here in Mesa with my sister and her family. Sadly, try as I did, Switzerland would not let my student husband have me, his wife there. So, since I can't have a visa to live in Switzerland I am making the best of it and earning some money in the meantime.

My sister and I have started a vintage clothing store on Etsy. She has been wanting to do this for a long time, and since I am only working part time, we'd figure we'd give it a go. We have TONS and TONS of amazing things. My teenage nieces are acting as our models and we're having a blast.

I got a few items posted on our store tonight and we started a blog.

check it out:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/fashionredemption

and our blog here:

http://fashionredemptionvintage.blogspot.com/

Church Groundbreaking and a Snow Storm

This past Saturday was the groundbreaking for our new Chapel in Wettswil, Switzerland. Our ward currently meets in an office building that houses a business school here in Zürich. It has actually been really convenient for us since we are about a 10 minute walk from our apartment. Anyway, back to the groundbreaking. We woke up on Saturday morning, opened our apartment curtains and were shocked at the snow storm. Just the week earlier, things had started warming up and blossoms had started to appear on bushes and trees. So, needless to say we were shocked at the sea of white before us. The new chapel groundbreaking was at 10 that morning and we were not sure if it would still happen considering the abysmal weather. There was at least five inches of fresh snow on the ground that hadn't been cleared and we thought the chances of things going as planned were small. Even still, we got no email or phone call confirming a cancellation, and we were up for the adventure, so we headed out. Besides, Nathan was in charge of the cleanup after the ceremony, so just in case we thought we better go.

One nice thing about the amazing trains here in Switzerland is that they run in any weather. So, we boarded our train for the twenty minute ride to Wettswil. The snow was so heavy and continued to get worse as we headed for our destination. There was a total whiteout. We could barely see 30 feet out our passenger train windows and thought for sure that no one would dare drive outside in this weather. And, indeed we saw very few cars on the road.

When we got off the train at our destination in Wettswil it was another 5 minute walk to the future building site. We laughed almost the entire way as we were getting pummeled with snow (despite our umbrella) and the level of it had risen to what appeared to be about a foot. We thought there was no way anyone would have show up.

But of course, we were wrong. As you can see from the pictures below. The event still happened. They had a microphone, chairs, and a table set up. The talks were given, the groundbreaking happened and refreshments were eaten in a parking garage nearby.

We all agreed that perhaps the Lord made this a day that none of us would forget.

Yeah, well the ground was pretty hard that day and the digging did not go very deep!

Nathan's on the Internet!

Oh My Goodness Gracious TOMATO SAUCE!

Some of you may already be privy to the fact that Nathan and I eat a mostly plant based vegan diet. We aren't crazy strict about it, so we don't limit ourselves by saying that "I'll never eat cheese again" or "a burger will never again grace my lips". We just don't take it to extremes. On a day to day basis we only buy and eat vegan, but when we are invited to a friend's for dinner or go out to a restaurant, we allow ourselves to splurge a bit. And once in a while we will make something decadent.

I recently made something very decadent. You may not think of tomato sauce as decadent, but believe me, five tablespoons of butter later - it's way decadent for Nathan and I. I love cooking and trying new recipes. I have several food blogs that I follow regularly and pick out something new to try from them once in a while.

I was reading the Smitten Kitchen blog recently when I came across Deb's recipe for tomato sauce with butter and onions. Her description of this tomato sauce was too enticing, I had to try it. Note the following from her blog:

I could no longer resist this sauce, and frankly, I don’t know why I even tried to: food bloggers obsess over it, and they’re not a bad lot to base a recipe selection upon. Adam of Amateur Gourmet fell for it five years ago. Molly at Orangette raved about it over two years ago, with a bonus approval marking from Luisa at Wednesday Chef. Then Rachel Eats fawned over it too, and Rachel, you see, she lives in Rome right now — I want to be in Rome right now — Rome, where you can get authentic, perfect tomato sauce a zillion places every single day. And yet she stayed in and made this one. That sealed the deal.

The crazy thing about this sauce is the simplicity of the ingredients. Canned tomatoes, one onion, and 70 grams of butter. How simple, right? It's perfection. The flavor was amazing. You don't need cheese on it, or herbs and spices - nada. Nathan and I finished the whole pot. We even used the cool spiraly pasta noodles in her photograph. Get those, they're great.

Read her whole post here to get the recipe. Make this tonight. You will not regret it.

I am going to try this with vegan butter just to see how it is. I'm not sure about how it'll go, but if it's great I will let you know, then I will be eating this a lot more often.

En guete!

Must Read!

Wow, I am on a roll, huh? Posting again, I know, I just can't be stopped.

Well, I just finished reading a FANTASTIC book and I wanted to recommend it. It is the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

The story takes place immediately following WWII on the British Island of Guernsey. The book concentrates on events that happened during the German occupation of the Island during the war and after. This book is historical fiction, so you learn a lot about actual events that took place and the characters in the book are funny, witty and the writing is just completely delightful. You will want to curl up next to a warm fire with hot cocoa and not stop reading.

Anyway, so that is my book recommend.

Anyone have one for me?

Just a note - I don't recommend books too lightly. This one is really quality, and there is nothing in here you would uncomfortable reading out loud to your mother. :).

Update on Life, Christmas etc.

Okay, it's been a really long time since I've blogged. It's not that my life isn't totally exciting (haha), I am just lazy...what can I say.

Well. In October I went back to America for a few months. I stayed with my parents in Missouri. Worked a bit there. Then I went to my dear friends wedding in Utah. It was so fun. I got together with my college roommates, Lisse, Becca and Ashley for the event. We spent a couple days together. It was a great reunion. Then went and saw my big sister in Arizona. Then back to Switzerland. Just in time to be with my Nate for the holidays.

I am still here in Zurich with Nate. We had a great holiday, and then he hit the books hard to get ready for his exams. He just passed his first one today. Nathan, if you don't already know, is working on his masters in Architecture at the ETH here in Zurich. He's a smart kid, I'll tell you what.

I am enjoying being back here in Switzerland. The scenery is beautiful, the chocolate is good, and most of all I like being with Nate.

While Nathan studies, I read, write articles, crochet, research good recipes on the internet. I just made some really yummy whole wheat bread. The recipe is HUGE, it made about 5 loaves. We have been enjoying eating that, especially for toast. The Swiss have good bread, especially pastry, but they don't have really good bread for toasting and sandwiches. It's strange, they sell "American Toast" - the only sliced somewhat dense bread. I'll take a picture to show you all sometime.

Here are some photos

Ashley and Spencer (snuck these from her FB page - thanks ash)

The next day the girls and I went to lunch at the Lion House, then saw the Temple Square lights, followed by a viewing of the Joseph Smith movie at the Legacy Theatre. And to top it off, we went to the Pie for the BEST pizza in Utah (our college favorite, always worth the trip to SLC).

Back home for Christmas. My leprechaun/Amish husband and I decorated a tree. A family in the ward was kind enough to lend us this little one.

We spent Christmas Eve with the Ringger family in Basel. They use REAL lights on the tree. It was amazing. Marcus is holding a giant torch thing that lights the candles. Christmas Eve is the big event in Switzerland. It is the night they have their big dinner, singing, and open gifts. We had so much fun at their house. They prepared an exquisite 5 course dinner, we sang traditional Christmas hymns (in German of course) and then we went to a Christmas Mass to hear choir music. Nathan and I headed back to Zurich that night to spend Christmas day at our own home.

Us on Christmas morning. Looking really good.

Nathan in Basel. I love the street decorations here during the holidays. This old street had trees lining both sides of the street. So lovely.

Nathan painting my nails. He got me polish for Christmas. Have I mentioned he is the best husband?

We had a serious Skip-Bo tournament. Lasted days. We still need to finish. Thanks to Nathan's mom and family for sending this card game along with many other gifts in the mail.

Go See It!

On Monday Nathan and I went to go see this movie.Just like everything in Switzerland it was expensive. Monday is the cheap day...just twelve francs as opposed to the usual 17 francs. Oh, and don't let me forget to mention that there is no matinee price. Goodness gracious.

Well, it was so worth it. I laughed and laughed and laughed...and Nathan loved it too. Meryl Streep is so good as Julia Child, it was so fun to watch.

Anyway, highly recommended by me.

Picnic at the Ringger's

Friday before last, the Ringger family in Basel invited us for a picnic/BBQ at their home. The Ringgers are a really wonderful family here in Switzerland that Nathan got to know while he was working for Herzog and deMueron in Basel. He was in their ward and he considers them his Swiss family. They are really generous people and invite us over to their house every fast Sunday for dinner and Nathan practices with the family band. The family band performed at this picnic and at the end of the evening they surprised us with a with a wedding cake. A lot of friends from the ward showed up to the picnic as well and they gave us a huge basketful of food that everyone had donated towards. We stayed late playing games, watching a movie and then spent the night and took the train home the next morning.

The band warming up

Set up in the backyard. The weather was amazing that day.

Cutting the cake

Many thanks to the Ringger family!

101 Cookbooks = Amazingness and BEST Garlic Bread EVER!

Some of you may have heard of the website 101 Cookbooks. If not, you MUST check it out. It is Heidi Swanson's recipe journal where she posts all her favorite recipes. She cooks with whole, natural foods mostly vegetarian.

Last night Nathan and I had pasta for dinner and I made her recipe for garlic bread and it was amazing, no joke. I know, it's just garlic bread, how amazing can it be? Just trust me, this is incredible stuff. It is garlic bread with a twist of lemon and it is absolute perfection. I never would of thought of it before, but even Nathan said it was the best he'd had and wished we had made even more. So, try it and let me know if brings tears to your eyes, like it did mine.

I altered the recipe slightly by using just whole wheat country bread we had already and used a more healthy plant based margarine instead of butter. I also added a bit of lemon juice to the butter/garlic mixture before spreading it on the bread.

Here is the recipe from her website:

My Dad's Garlic Bread

The size of your baguette will determine how much butter and garlic you'll use. My dad uses roughly one head of garlic for each stick of butter.

1 loaf artisan French bread or wide baguette
1 - 2 heads of garlic
1 - 2 sticks of unsalted butter
1 bunch of chives (optional)
zest of one lemon (optional)

As told to me by my father. Slice that loaf of bread right up the middle so you have two halves (he uses his serrated knife for this). Now set them on their backs, cut side up. Mince the garlic or push it through one of those crushers - either way is fine. Now add it to the butter you should be melting in a small saucepan.

(This is where he got really animated). Now take a basting brush (or any brush for that matter - pastry, etc) and start slathering the garlic butter all across that bread. Really go for it, let it soak in. He then says to me, "heck, sometimes I even pour it on." (At which point I can't help but think that my mom would be mortified). Make sure you get all those garlic chunks evenly distributed. Now sometimes my dad makes a garlic bread in advance and freezes it (don't ask). If you are going to freeze the bread for later, this is when you do it - you don't want to bake, then freeze.

He recommends the 'double-bake' as he calls it. This is when you bake at a standard temperature (350 degrees) for 10 to 15 minutes to heat the bread (particularly if it is coming out of the freezer), and then brown it off for color under the broiler for a minute or two.

When the bread is finished broiling let it cool for a minute or two. This is when I sprinkle with the lemon zest and chives (and to be honest, I sprinkle a bit of zest on the bread before it goes in the oven too because I like that roasted lemon flavor alongside the garlic.) Slice and serve.

We LOVE Bern!

The Swiss Temple is located in Bern. It is the capital of Switzerland and a really beautiful city. It takes us about an hour by train to get to the temple and it costs about $90 round trip (can we say expensive!) for the two of us, so we made a day out if last month (as we'll probably do again this month).

Here we are inside the Mormon Home Shop - It's got church books, PLUS an assortment of American treats hard to find here in Switzerland, like root beer, Reeses, Oreos etc. I didn't endulge as I'm still pretty satisfied trying all the local Swiss sweet goodness.

The shop is located right across the street from the temple.

As is obvious, you can see Bern is really stunning. All of downtown looks pretty much like this. Row buildings made with grayish tan brick. The bottoms of the buildings have these archways and they are lined with shops...all nicely shaded.

This is the Berner Münster, Cathedral of St. Vincent. We took a walk around inside, and there was some serious organ playing going on.

Aare river and my husband...lookingcute as usual.

I just have to point out these cellar doors. They are all over the city. Some of them are open to the public and used as shops or some of them lead down to restaurants. Pretty neat feature I think.

Last but certainly not least, I will introduce you to Berner Haselnuss Lebkuchen.

An incredible cake local to Bern. These little cake cookie type things are made with a base of hazelnut paste (not unlike marzipan) and are sweetened with honey. They have a really dense chewy consistensy, not too sweet, and absolutely divine. And they always are made in bear molds...because of course...it's Bern.

IKEA ADVENTURES!

Nathan and I spent some quality time at IKEA upon arriving in Switzerland. We were tired of sleeping on the twin bed and my clothes were pretty disheveled in my suitcases. So we ventured over to the IKEA in Dietikon to get a new bed and some shelves.

To my great delight, they had real Swedes playing some music. Only in Switzerland...or maybe Sweden.

Nathan driving our rental van, it was a Ford.

We took another trip to IKEA a couple days later, and apparently lingered too long inside shopping and missed the bus to the train station. We had to walk about an hour to the train station so we could get home. We weren't the only ones that missed it, there were a couple guys we made friends with on the walk to the train station. That is Alex behind Nathan. I discovered on this trip that young Europeans like to find out how we Americans feel about Obama. He's a pretty popular topic here. It kind of makes me laugh to see them wearing Obama shirts, like they even voted. ha.

Nathan sleeping in our new bed. He really was sleeping.

Our bed makes into a lovely couch.

My clothes!

Our fancy light nathan craftily hung on the ceiling for us.

We even have a fan now that totally helps with the summer heat, since we have no air conditioning. We like our little student house and I am starting to feel at home in this little place.