Silkie Bantams

I finally got my Silkie Bantams! Yes it is true that last year we got some Buff Orphingtons and well, they died because of a raccoon that got through our cheap fencing. It was sad, so we decided to wait until this year to rebuild our pen and get new chickens. We love chickens so giving up the idea all together was entirely out of the question. My husband went up to my grandparents house and they helped him build a very nice chicken coop that will help against predators. I will post pics of it later.

I've ALWAYS wanted White Silkie Bantams. This is a picture I got off the internet to show you what they look like.


Haha. Aren't they cute? I laugh everytime. I've been looking online recently because it's the start of chick season and everywhere I looked the silkies were all sold out. So I was set to just get a normal breed, until my husband called a local feed store and they had just received their first shipment of chicks this year. We went to see what they had, and they ended up having silkies!! I was beyond excited. (My husband laughs at me because I get excited about the silliest things.) The chicks were a month old but they were all straight run (meaning there is a 50/50 chance for hens) so we have to buy double hoping we get hens and then finding new homes or sadly "eating" any roosters we get, because they're illegal within city limits and they're also very loud.


So we took home 3 silkies and ended up getting 7 of what I thought were silkies but ended up being White Frizzled Cochin Bantams, which I googled and I'm ok with them, they look cute. I'm just hoping out of the three silkies I got, some are hens.

So we get home with ten new chicks and my husband gets to work on a small chick brooder which they stay in for another 4 to 6 weeks until they have enough feathers to go outside.


My husband is quite the handy man. He takes a planter box he already had made and adds a top to it with hinges and a handle and it's perfect for my little chicks.




Then we add the chicks with some food and water.




Last but not least, a light and we are all set for the next couple weeks!


Can't wait to find out which of my chicks are hens and which are roosters!

I will keep you updated with pictures in the weeks ahead!

Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread

I just had to do my first step by step recipe post on this Cinnamon Sugar Pull-Apart Bread. It is absolutely amazing. This was my first time trying to bake with instant yeast and it ended up really good, so good in fact I made 3 loaves! HaHa, YES, I KNOW, overkill. But we had guests over to our house everytime I made a loaf and each time it got devoured faster than the one before it.

Now, this bread does take some time to make but it is definitley worth it and the time goes by faster than you think. I almost didn't even start it because of the time it said, but I'm sure glad I did, otherwise I would have missed out.

This recipe is adapted from Joy the Baker and the pictures are from my experience...



Recipe

For the Dough:
2 3/4 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons (1 envelope) active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs, at room temperature
2 ounces unsalted butter (half a stick)
1/3 cup whole milk
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

For the Filling:
1 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 ounces unsalted butter, melted until browned


Step 1: Start by mixing the dry ingredients for the dough into a large bowl. At this point you will only use 2 cups of the all-purpose flour along with the sugar, yeast and salt.

Step 2: Mix your two large eggs into a seperate small bowl.

Step 3: In a seperate small bowl, melt your butter in with your milk by placing the bowl in the microwave for a few seconds.

Step 4: Once the butter melts add the water and vanilla extract and mix lightly.

Step 5: Add your eggs into the dry ingredient bowl and mix well, then add the milk ingredient bowl and keep mixing until it is all mixed in. Now mix in the extra 3/4 cup of flour.

Step 6: Kneading the dough. I used my stand mixer which only took about 5 minutes. If you do not have a mixer and would like to learn how to hand knead dough visit Jan's Dough as she describes how easy it is. While you are kneading try not to use mix in more than 2 tablespoons of flour.

Step 7: Once you are done kneading the dough, let the dough rise in a large bowl for an hour. (Grease the bowl before setting the dough in it because the dough tends to be very sticky)

Step 8: Roll the dough out to about a 12" by 20" shape. (doesn't need to be precise).

Step 9: Mix the dry ingredients for the filling into a large bowl: Sugar, Cinnamon and Nutmeg.

Step 10: Melt the butter in a small bowl in the microwave and pour over the rolled out dough and spread across with a spoon.

Step 11: Take your dry filing ingredients and pour them over the melted butter on top of the dough. Spread out evenly.

Step 12: With a pizza cutter, cut verticlly 5-7 even strips. Stack the strips on top of each other and then using a knive, cut the stacked strips into 5-7 even pieces.

Step 13: Next take your loaf pan and grease all the sides. Then take your stacks of dough and place them into the pan stacking each on top of the other.

Step 14: Let the dough rise for about 40 minutes and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Step 15: Bake in pre-heated oven for 30 minutes and out comes an amazing, well worth the wait Cinnamon Bread! Let it sit about 20 minutes and it's ready to eat right away or you can store it in the fridge for breakfast the next morning, either way, I hope you enjoy it!

Infertility... Its a scary word.

Infertility.... It's a scary word. It comes from the word infertile meaning- not fertile; unproductive; sterile; barren--- sounds harsh, don't it?. I guess if you are like most people, you rarely hear this word. But unlike you, I hear it all the time.

I married my husband almost 7 years ago. Can't even believe how long it's been, I love him more today than I ever have. Anyways back to the story- about six months into our first year of marriage we had the first "pregnancy scare" a zillion thoughts went through my head as I thought of what it would be like to have a baby. To have someone just like me and Wesley, someone to love and call our own. It was right then and there that we fell in love with the thought of having a child. When the news came back that I wasn't pregnant we were disappointed but knew we would have a baby soon enough. You see, I always just assumed having a child was in the handbook of growing up. I never heard of the word infertility. I just assumed that everything was just gonna happen. We spent the next 2 years trying to have the baby we wanted so bad. We went to our first doctors appointment and at that time Kaiser didn't have an infertility specialist so we went to the regular obgyn and she had us take a bunch of tests and everything was fine. So we thought alright were still young let's keep trying on our own. The next 2 years- nothing- nothing at all. These years of hoping, dreaming, and thousands of pregnancy tests were quite long. A lot of questioning went on in my head. Just wondering, asking God, or in fact telling God that I'm ready but I'm trusting that you have the right time in mind. Of course you also have the jealously of everyone and their mom getting pregnant, mixed with anger over the pregnant teenagers that just "accidentally" got pregnant. The everyday situations where people ask, not knowing your situation, "when are you guys finally going to have kids?", or even the ones who think their funny say "You guys want me to show you how it's done", and then there's the people who "think" they know what you're going through when they say "your still young, you have plenty of time" or "just relax, it will happen" or the ones who want to ignore my situation and act like nothings wrong "Melissa's having the next baby" Little did they know my heart broke a little each time anything is said to me about a baby. Each time, I never get used to the questions or comments an respond by either saying "someday" or "I don't want kids", I guess it's whatever I'm feeling at the moment.

We finally heard of an infertility specialist in Vacaville and we go to see him right away. Of course this feels us with more hope than we've had in years. We go through 2 rounds of IUIs (artificial insemination) each round more intense after the other. The waiting period after the IUIs are seriously the worst. We had such high hopes but nothing.... The doctor said he had no explanation of why we couldn't get pregnant. After that we took a break, God blessed us with a house and it definitely took our mind off things, which was much needed.

I end my story with the word infertility. I know God is putting me through this time in my life for a reason, for almost 7 years we've tried to have our own child and for some reason God has chosen to not give us one. I'm not saying that he won't bless me and my husband with a child one day, but as of today, he has not and I can only think of why?

The only women I have ever heard of that speak their testimony of infertility are the women that have finally had a child. God laid it on my heart that I should tell my story during my storm, not just tell it at the end, because to be honest with you, I'm not 100% positive there will be an end. But I am 100% positive that I serve a God who knows what he's doing, who is guiding my every step and I want to be a testament to those women who are going through the same thing I am at this same very moment. If I don't get my story out there, then the world will still be afraid of the word "infertility", that so many women will have to go through the loneliness of that word. I want them to know that there is hope in God and that if we trust in him, we can have peace that surpasses all understanding even in the midst of the question "why?"

So for those women out there dealing with this don't be afraid of the word "infertility" there is nothing wrong with it and you are not alone. Embrace it and let God begin to use you in ways you never thought possible.

Ketchup

Now to catch up from the past 2 months lets see.....

Christmas was amazing!! Got to spend time with my family as well as my husbands family! And yes we made out in the gift category. I have to laugh at that because every year I feel me being 26 is too old to receive gifts at Christmas but you know I go in with a little bit of hope for a gift, and when it happen I'm not gonna lie it feels pretty amazing haha. Two of my favorite gifts were the kindle fire and the naked eyeshadow palette from urban decay. I also sewed purses for my mom, Laura and my mother in-law that I was pretty proud of. Picture below.

January was awesome because we got to do our annual fast. Now last year we went into fasting wanting something and even though we didn't get the exact thing we wanted, God pulled us into the unexpected journey of buying a house and in the end blessed us like crazy. Now for this last fast my husband and I both agreed to go into the fast with the right heart. Not the heart of wanting something, but the heart of just prioritizing our lives and making sure God knows he's first. I have to stop here for a second and just say MY HUSBAND is seriously amazing! The way he was so excited for this fast made me excited. If you could only hear him talk to others about this last fast and how he wanted to make sure God was first, it would make you want to fast. I LOVE how his heart is so passionate about the things of God, most people wouldn't really think that about him because they haven't set down and had time to talk to him about that, but me being his wife and knowing everything about him, I can tell this guy is in LOVE with my God and as a wife I believe that the husband is who sets the way of a family and so I'm honored to be his wife. Ok, ya I got a little off topic lol. Back to the fast. So we went into the fast not expected anything, and came out with both my husband and I receiving crazy raises at our jobs. I'm not saying your going to get something crazy happen to you everytime you fast, BUT I do know that when you fast and show God that he is first priority in your life, you start to change even if you don't realize it. Everyone should try it :)

For the past two months all I have been doing is reading like crazy. Since I got my kindle fire, I feel the need to spend quality time with it. Some of my favorite reads so far this month are.

The Lucky One by Nicholas Sparks- I LOVE all Nicholas Sparks book, he's one of my favorite if not THE favorite author. I guess many people wouldn't see me as the Love Story Novel reader but it's true, can't get enough, I have his newest book "The Best of Me" waiting for me on my kindle as soon as I finish some other books.

Jaycee Dugard's A Stolen Life- This book was hard to read but was easy to read, if that makes any sense. It was hard because of the bad stuff happening to her but it was such a great book that I flew through all the pages. Her story is simple amazing- how she made it out as a sane person, I will never understand. A must read for sure.

The Hunger Games- I am completely into this trilogy. I put off buying them for a little bit because it didn't sound like something I personally would like reading, but I am so glad I changed my mind because they are seriously FANTASTIC, I can't put the books (kindle) down!! I have read the first two "The Hunger Games" and "Catching Fire" and I am half way through "Mocking Jay". The movie on the first book is coming out in march and I'm so excited. I love watching the movies after the book but I can't stand watching a movie BEFORE a book. Not sure why maybe I will try changing that by reading the twilight series.... Lol everyone says its better than the movies...

Anyways I think I played enough catch up for today. I'm out.