Dr. Aaron Crossley DDS

Ever since Aaron submitted his dental school application on the first week of May we have been waiting for that acceptance email. Well, last year he managed to throw an application together a few weeks before the October deadline once I decided to turn down my dental hygiene school acceptance. 

Here's Aaron before he took the DAT(Dental Admissions Test.) His anxiety isn't hard to see in his smile.

A weeks worth of good luck notes during his final days of studying and this sugar-laden beauty must have been his lucky charm. He scored a fabulous score! On the day of his exam, I remember working on a patient while at at work and suddenly getting that feeling that someone was staring at me. I looked up and turned back to see Aaron sitting near the toothbrushing station. EEKkk!! He didn't want to tell me his score over the phone and so I had thought I would have to wait until I got home after work. I'm pretty sure I still had my mask on when I jump up onto him and kissed him after he showed me his score. He studied for almost a month, mind you. Goodness. Such fun times.

Of course we prayed and fasted and prayed that we could get in after his first application but we understood that simply not enough effort and preparation had gone in that round, even though his stats looked great. So, we were really excited and confident about this year's application process. But the thing is, you can have all the right grades, service opportunities, contacts, blah blah, and STILL not get in because the competition varies each year AND ultimately, it may not be where Heavenly Father needs you to be that year. By Aaron having a year in between BYU and dental school has given us a LOT of spoiled time together. We drive to work together, have lunch together, and play in the evenings. Honestly, I can't complain with how things have turned out. It's funny how things always end up that way. Roadblocks and train wrecks collide into you with such terrible blows. And it gets really tough. I can't say I'm a fan of things not turning out the way I had planned. But a few things I can be certain of is that my Heavenly Father always has a plan for me. It's designed by someone perfect who loves me more than anything. And it will always entail emotional/spiritual growth, lessons learned, and a deeper love and understanding developed between me and my spouse. Obviously, this growth only happens if I embrace the change and let it sink into my heart. 

It's moments like these when I remember that I'm always taken care of and that I know things are good. Really good. 

No matter what. 

Decemeber 1 is the day the dental schools all over the nation begin sending there acceptances out to students. Aaron applied to all 3 dental schools in Texas. He interviewed at Houston and Baylor. We've been hearing that San Antonio is sort of a cut-throat school. Professors are mostly from the military and classmates aren't super helpful towards each other. It's kind of ironic because his #1 choice was San Antonio prior to everything. He loved the technology available at the Houston branch. They are rebuilding the entire school and it will be completed 2012. It sure is amazing. Baylor students seems to have a really good relationship in the school. It's the cheapest school in Texas by 10-20k. 

Not to mention my family and friends are there, too!

We knew that Baylor sends out there acceptances at 12:00am on Dec. 1, my on-top-of-everything brother, Spencer, told us. Aaron said he didn't want to wake up in the middle of the night. I did. So, I set my alarm at 12:30am, only to reason myself out of the adventure with a fear that I wouldn't be able to get back to sleep. In the middle of the night I wake-up to a text message ring tone. EEEkkk!! I turn over to see Aaron sneakily under the covers texting someone. I ripped the covers off of him only to see him grinning. I looked down at the phone and see that someone had sent him a text saying "Any news?"

 MY MOTHER. Then, I quickly turn my eyes to his response that read "BAYLOR!!!"

AaaHHHH! I screamed and was so so so excited. Pinch me pinch me pinch me!

We called my parents to share the excitement and giddiness. But, Spencer had also interviewed with Baylor and he had told me some fears and concerns he had about getting accepted. Natural feelings that always seem to creep in. I asked my parents "Did Spencer get in??!" ...no response. Now, I  know my parents well enough to know they would have said no right away if he hadn't heard from Baylor. We screamed and said "He DID?!?!" I heard my mom or dad slip a snicker-ish laugh and Aaron and I both freaked out again. Aaron and Spencer spent their last year at BYU taking classes and studying together and have really grown to love become tight with each other. It's cute. I know they are so excited for this. 

We hung up the phone with my parents to call Spencer. We joked around with him for a few seconds when Aaron responded to Spencer with "Well, we heard you got some good news", completely implying we hadn't received an acceptance. We were really excited for each others fabulous news. Then, Spencer said "Have you said a prayer together?" Aaron and I looked at each other, still in bed, and said "No."  Spencer immediately hung up on us. Haha, what a great reminder. We had just listened to the talk by President Monson with the subject being "An Attitude of Gratitude". In his talk, he gives the parable of the 10 Lepers. I appreciate the impact of that story. It reveals so much about our Heavenly Father. I love it I love it.

We haven't heard from Houston yet. At this point, I don't mind. We have a lot of positive and comfortable feelings towards moving to Dallas to attend Baylor. A funny and completely ransom note, I may be the only one but does it not sound a little 'off' when wives will say about their husband's accomplishments "We got into or are in medical/dental school..."? Hm. But, as I think about it, husbands will say "We're pregnant!" We all know, the man definitely isn't the pregnant one. 

So, I'm completely comfortable in saying that we're going to dental school. He can keep the diploma ; ) Aaron had a ball giving phone calls to most of his family and friends to share his good news. I'm proud of who he is, the trials he has overcome with the help of his Savior,  the example he is to me with showing a spouse unconditional love. 

Thank you for loving me like the way I want to love myself. 

Congrats Dr. Aaron M. Crossley DDS ;-)

Yours truly, Me

Gorgeous Caramel Apples

Homemade Caramel:

1 C. Butter

1 C. Corn syrup

2 1/2 C. Brown sugar

1 Can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz.)

2 t. Vanilla

1/4 t. Salt

Decorations:

White chocolate

Sugar/cinnamon mixture

Milk chocolate

Heath candy bits

Nuts

Tips for rockin' caramel apples:

*Wash and scrub the waxy film off the apples before you begin. If you don't, the hot caramel will melt the nasty, waxy layer off and your caramel layer will drip off into a goopy mess. Baking soda works great. Scrub scrub scrub!
*You want cold apples! This will help the caramel to not slip off. Dry the apples really well and leave them in the fridge until your caramel is ready.

*This makes enough caramel to coat 6-8 large apples. I removed the stem from each apple and inserted lollipop sticks. You can even use a heavy bowl to hammer them if you've been completely slacking on your Pilates like I have.
Let's get dipping!
In a large saucepan, melt butter over med-high. Add syrup and sugar and stir until dissolved. Bring to a boil and then slowly add condensed milk while stirring.

Continue to stir while it thickens and darkens for 30 minutes. If you want to use a candy thermometer then you'll cook the caramel until it reaches the "firm ball" stage, which is 245-250 degrees F. I used a thermometer twice and ended up burning it twice. So, my appetite decided to not let me use the thermometer anymore. Essentially, the firm ball stage is reached when you can drop a piece of caramel into cold water, a firm ball forms.

Remove caramel from heat and stir in the vanilla. You'll want to have your apples and greased wax paper ready to go.

The fun part! Dip the apples at an angle and rotate in the hot caramel. Then, pull it up and use a knife and slide it under the apple to cut off the extra caramel. Believe me. There will still be a little pool of caramel on the bottom. Which is the best part of the apple once all is said and done!

Place the dipped apples onto greased wax paper. If you want to roll the mix-ins directly onto the caramel then this is the time to roll while it's still soft and warm! Or let the caramel set for an hour or so if you want to dip them into chocolate. 

This is such a fun activity to do with the family!

And the result? Wow. The caramel is heavenly. Double dipping is completely accepted here and heavily done, let me tell you. Paired with the sweet and tart apples?

You make my taste buds dance. 

Yours truly, Little Bakin' Blonde

President Hinckley's Stacked "BE" Blocks

I saw an idea similar to these blocks floating around online and in a scrapbook magazine thanks to the subscription from my sweet mother-in-law. I fell in love with this craft. Money was tight and I was really hoping to make a cute Christmas gift for Momma Moon and Momma Kimbo. 

I found a gal online that could make these letters using her Cricut using President Hinckley's "Be" attitudes. I swung by Home Depot and had them cut wood beams into 4x4 blocks. TONS and tons of sanding. Paint. Distress. I loved the look of jumbling the letters together with a super cute font. Sealer.

Voila!

These darling blocks made a fabulous gift. Or, if you're like me, you'll save 5 sheets of letters. Just in case.

Yours truly, Me

Love the Holidays

Dear Autumn,

I love you...

I get to turn these gorgeous pumpkins into glowing spooky scenes

I get to wear my plethora of scarves. Almost daily.

You make the best apples. Oh, and do I love to dip and dress them up.

You also give me a reason to drink apple cider all the time.

I now have a beautiful and precious niece.

Annabelle Kay Tolman

I love the holidays.

Yours truly,  Me

Making A Girly Fondant Cake

Nearly 2 years ago I started to get this craving to make and decorate a fondant cake. The Food Channel was deadly for this craving and the new Cupcake Wars episodes didn't help either. But, let's face it, fondant is gross. I always peel it off at weddings and parties. Not to mention it's physical form of pasty diabetes due to the sugar overload you'll acquire if you are bold enough to swallow it with your cake. Yuk! So, I kicked Wilton's expensive trash and made a homemade marshmallow fondant. 

Of course, with the help of my super cute sou chef ; )

Since this was my first cake and I honestly didn't know what the heck I was doing, I only did a two-tiered cake. I decided on a red velvet cake for the base and a triple chocolate chip cake for the topper with both slathered with cream cheese filling. 

Mouth watering yet? Ummm mine sure is.

I crumb coated the cakes and put them in the freezer. I made the marshmallow fondant, rolled it out, and had then Aaron help me decide on what colors to do. For some reason, he didn't like my original teal/blue, black, and white color scheme. 

Can I just say that forming this fondant to the cake is NOT easy. At all.

But i did it! And i'm sure I strategically placed the cake in this position for a snapshot to cover any...imperfections. 

Phew! The hard part was over and now I could breathe and decorate.

I used a pizza cutter to get the stripes and bottle caps and glass rims to get the polka dots.

I was really happy with the outcome and how great it turned out! I'm realizing that I like to be alone in the kitchen when I bake. It was so hard to think clearly because there were tons of people, haha. I had one meltdown that i'll shamelessly admit to. Definitely a favorite hobby that i'll continue.

Yours truly, Little Bakin' Blonde

My New Life

I see beauty whenever I see this video of Stephanie, in every sense of the word. After viewing so many Mormon Messages my heart wants to explode. I have been craving for things that inspire me. This story transcends all denomination and shows the very real relationship one broken heart can have with Christ. I felt that she reflects the Savior as she reminds the world that everything beautiful and inspiring is deeply rooted in the way we live our lives. I felt such love and peace as I watched her story and my entire soul was humbled at the extent to which my life is blessed. Enormously blessed. Because I have a marriage.  And a best friend who loves me and would "fly to the moon and back while waiting 20 years for me" if he had to. I have a good, explosive, strengthening, enduring, and loving family that a girl could possibly hope for. My friends and family have been nothing but a blessing to me and ultimate lifesavers. I have a growing testimony of my Savior and His church and the reality of His existence. He supports me. He really loves me as if I was His everything. And He listens to me. I know He listens because I see the answers come. And, I feel beautiful. I know that I can be more patient, more kind and loving towards others, more dedicated to reading the scriptures because I know these things will help sustain me when challenges and life happens. But my Savior lets me feel beautiful as I try. What a blessing and privilege it is to be apart of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And this makes me feel incredibly happy. I think "My New Life" is more fitting than ever for Stephanie's story, wouldn't you agree?

We had a fabulous time visiting Plano. I loved having good heart to hearts with my best loverlies.

I just love them a whole lot.

My baby sister Kayla is pretty dang cute, huh?!

And I'm convinced he thinks I'm just as cute to boot!

We played near a park and Kayla Whala wanted this cool shot. Ha! 

(Thats right I did, like I would not strategically crop out my bum? Foreal.)

Aaron and my baby bro Michael always get a few matches in whenever we visit.

Aaron and I went to his interview at Baylor dental school in Dallas.

Nearly 1,500 applicants apply. 210 appear intelligent enough to score an interview. 90 receive acceptances. Aaron rocked the interview! EeeeKKK! We're hoping to hear back on Dec. 3 when notices are sent out. Presumptuous? Maybe we are, it's border-lined with a whole lot of faith!

I should've split this post into 2 so you could avoid a Crossley overload. But anyways, here you have us!

Yours truly, Me

Two Years of Wedded Bliss

Aaron and I celebrated mid- August our 2nd anniversary in Galveston. Shown above is the noted paradise. And my heart aches to go back right this second. We jetted off to our paradise island to get some much needed rest and relaxation. We had the absolute time of our lives. Since watching a Grey's Anatomy episode featuring Meredith and 'McDreamy' on a romantic fairy boat outside of Seattle nearly five years ago, I knew I had to do it one day with my own 'McSteamy'. And I totally did!

We parked 'Boo'(our Cheve Malibu) on the first floor and quickly went on the second deck to catch the breeze and see beautiful scenes. The white sand and deep blue water contrasted perfectly with the clear skiess and hot weather was a much needed slice of heaven. I felt as though we were at Sea World as the dolphins tried to keep up with our fairy ride. The seagulls were swarming all of the tourists in hopes of finding some amused child wanting to watch birds go crazy for tossed french fries. Serious amusement.

Finally getting to the island was a breathe of fresh air. Just the two of us. Reminiscing the new feelings of becoming husband and wife. Watching my boyfriend-turned-fiance-turned-husband wearing a sexy tungsten band around his ring finger and suddenly feeling more qualified as a person and growing man.

Aaron and I had an absolute blast riding on this darling, little cart that made us squeal. Every twist and turn made us laugh and giggle as we found our selves zipping down a hill or on uneven and crumbled roads.

Oh boy, do I cherish these moments.

I love the afternoons we left the beaches soaking wet while covered in sea salt and sand to hurry back to our hotel room to get ready together for a fun night out on the town. Getting dressed up together. Another fun and new, exciting thing to do as husband and wife. 

Sometimes I feel like we are the only two people in the world.

We dined at a southern-style restaurant called Suga's. Complete with a Louisiana jazz band. I have a confession. I love fancy dinners. There is something to say about fancy dinnerware, impeccable service, a cute outfit and the best company around that makes my heart skip a beat or two.

We then strolled over to a theater to watch Brian Regan in action! He's my favorite comedian. Ever.

After the show, we headed back to our hotel and my Sweetheart had sneakily adorned our room with everything romantic. Chocolate and Blue Bell. You make my taste buds dance.

Aaron,

They say the best kind of love awakens the soul and makes us reach for something better than who we are. This brings peace to my soul. And that's what I hope to bring to you forever. Within the first few weeks of officially calling myself your girlfriend, I knew that you were the man I would someday marry. I fell in love not only with your smile, patience, gentleness and sincerity but your genuine heart and giving soul. Somehow you've made me feel like the luckiest girl alive.

As your wife, I promise to be completely in love with you like how I do now.  I promise that when we're eighty years old that we'll have as much fun now even if we like to go to bed at 9 o'clock at night. I promise to never forget the importance of back rubs, love notes, extra long glances, winks,  or a batch of your favorite chocolate chip cookies. With every ''yes'' we share, I promise to respect and care for you not only as my husband but as my best friend and partner for the eternities. 

Thank you for saying "Yes."

Yours truly, Me

Crunchy-goo Cinnabun Popcorn

I adore cinnamon caramel popcorn. Not popcorn, but the combination of warm cinnamon-butter glazed over semi-crunchy-gooey popped popcorn is pure bliss. It takes me back to my childhood love for Crunch 'n Munch popcorn. Besides being easy to whip up, this popcorn compliments the divided parties among dessert-lovers. Some like it gooey and sticky. Some like it crunchy and dry. I learned this the hard way when I sold this deliciousness at a local pharmacy. I mean really? Who complains about objective preferences? After tweaking this a bit, I think this has the best of both worlds. 

I love to make this for the teachers that spoil Aaron daily with delicious Kolaches and croissants. He's sort of the young and determined celebrity teacher that reminds them of their own children. Cute, huh? I think it's darling and it makes me happy. 

So here's payback, grab your popcorn popper and kernels and let's get baking!

Crunchy-goo Cinnabun Popcorn
adapted from Ourbestbites

16 cups popped popcorn or 1/2 C kernels

1 1/3 C brown sugar

1 1/4 t cinnamon

3/4 C real butter

1/3 C karo syrup

3/4 t baking soda

1-2 t vanilla

1 C halved pecans

What's the worst thing while eating popcorn? Breaking your precious teeth on the tiny kernels you've forgotten to take out of your batch. Biggest understatement. Ever. I use two bowls--one bowl to catch the flying popcorn that's spewing from the popper and another large bowl to transfer the fresh, natural popcorn into. Set aside.

Stir together brown sugar and cinnamon in a 2 Qt microwaveable dish. Cut in butter. Top with karo syrup. 

Microwave for 1 minute. Stir with a large, rubber spatula (this won't crush your beautifully large popcorn pieces later on.) Microwave for another 2 minutes.  

You want it to be hot and bubbly. BUT, but.... don't overcook this. You may end up with a hard clump that won't drizzle nicely over your popcorn but your husband may be a little more optimistic by thinking it'll still be scrumptious as sugary globs and you'll then need to whip up another batch really quick and pour it over your popcorn. Don't over cook it. I'm just saying... 

Next, stir in vanilla and baking soda which will make it pop and bubble into a foamy-mess. Quite divine. This is also the part where you'll be tempted to lick the spatula. Don't. Not yet.

Sprinkle the nuts on top of the popcorn (don't mix in) and quickly pour the caramel mixture on top of the nuts and popcorn. Stir it all together and pour onto a foil-lined jelly roll pan.

Bake at 250 degrees for 20-25 minutes, stirring once after 15 minutes.

When it's done, stir it again to cool off and remove the foil from the pan. Melt 2 squares of almond bark or 1/3 C white chocolate. Using a fork, flick the white chocolate onto the cooling popcorn. 

This is my favorite part! INDULGE. 

If your household is anything like mine then half of your batch has already been sampled and devoured.

(You can place it in the fridge if you need the chocolate to set quickly.)

These make gorgeous little gifts and they taste even better than store-bought gourmet popcorn!

And here you have it. Cinnamon caramel corn with pecans and white chocolate.

 Sincerely, Little Bakin' Blonde

Tech Support for Installing a Husband

When marriage get's frustrating, it sometimes works to have a little humor. Every once in a while, try laughing at the things that irritate you, because you should know, we all deal with our share of marriage frustrations.
                                                                 
                          Here's a funny for you....

Dear Tech Support,

Last year I upgraded from Boyfriend 5.0 to Husband 1.0 and noticed a distinct slow down in overall system performance particularly in the flower and jewelry applications, which operated flawlessly under Boyfriend 5.0.

In addition, Husband 1.0 uninstalled many other valuable programs, such as Romance 9.5 and Personal Attention 6.5, and then installed undesirable programs such as NBA 5.0, NFL 3.0 and Golf Clubs 4.1.

Conversation 8.0 no longer runs and Housecleaning 2.6 simply crashes the system. Please note that I have tried running Nagging 5.3 to fix these problems, but to no avail. What can I do?

Signed,

Desperate
———————

Dear Desperate,

First, keep in mind that Boyfriend 5.0 is an entertainment package while Husband 1.0 is an operating system. Please enter the command: ithoughtyoulovedme.html, download Tears 6.2 and be sure to install the Guilt 3.0 update. If those applications work as designed Husband 1.0 should then automatically run the applications Jewelry 2.0 and Flowers 3.5.

However, please remember that overuse of the above application can cause Husband 1.0 to default to Grumpy Silence 2.5, Happy Hour 7.0, or Beer 6.1. Please note that Beer 6.1 is a very bad program that will download the Snoring Loudly Beta.

Whatever you do DO NOT under any circumstances install Mother-In-Law 1.0 (It runs a virus in the background that will eventually seize control of all your system resources.)

In addition, please do not attempt to reinstall the Boyfriend 5.0-program. This is an unsupported application and will crash Husband 1.0.

In summary, Husband 1.0 is a great program, but it does have limited memory and cannot learn new applications quickly. You might consider buying additional software to improve memory and performance. We recommend Cooking 3.0 and Hot Lingerie 7.7.

Good Luck!

Tech Support


StrengtheningMarriage.Com, Loveactually-blog.blogspot.com

Disclaimer: Aaron would like me to note that a tech support in our home wouldn't be needed ; )

Yours truly, Me