The night the lights went out

Last night we had quite an adventure.  I haven't been feeling very well (achy, cough/cold, sore back, tired, etc) lately and was having a really hard time falling asleep last night.  Ben suggested I soak in a hot bath, so I got up and went into the bathroom.  It was a very nice HOT shower, and felt great.  I was sure I'd be able to fall asleep.  Before I left the bathroom, I turned the fan off then did a final check on my zits.  As I was walking out of the bathroom, I flipped the switch to turn the light off, took two steps into the hall towards the bedroom and had the biggest scare of my life.  There was a sudden burst of light and a loud electric frying sound.  I WAS SO SHOCKED! It was pitch dark in the apartment (because it was about 1:30 am), and I had no idea what had happened. Luckily, Ben was still awake and he immediately came to my rescue when I yelled for him.  Ben checked the circuit breaker, and sure enough, when he flipped the circuit the same flash of light and frying sound happened again.  Both bathrooms, the living room (minus the outlet the TV is hooked up to), the entry way, and the kitchen are all on that circuit, so we had a dark apartment until this morning.

Here is what happened:  During my shower there was some water condensation build-up above the light switch.  As I turned the light off, some of the water dripped down the switch and behind the face plate.  It built up in the box and once it reached the electric parts, it sizzled and created the awesome fireworks show.  The box had a hole burnt through the metal. Yes, right through the metal!

Luckily, Ben had a spare, non-burnt, new light switch and put it in first thing this morning.

Our apartment is still safe to stay in.  Visitors are still welcome  :)

Fall Break

Ben had his fall break this week, and since I was working both Thursday and Friday we spent some time together today on a mini-break visiting some fun things here in St. Paul.  We went to the Capitol Building and had a fun tour, walked along the Capitol Mall, and visited the Minnesota History Center.  We did lots of walking, but it was a fun filled day.

Inside the State Capitol

 

The Minnesota History Center

He knew

Ben knew he recognized a certain species when he first met the family.

 

The resemblance is uncanny.

A customer came into the bank the other day and shared this poem by Emily Dickinson.

The morns are meeker that they were.
The nuts are getting brown;
The berry's cheek is plumper.
The rose is out of town.

The maple wears a gayer scarf,
The field a scarlet gown.
Lest I should be old-fashioned,
I'll put a trinket on.

This morning Ben's 9:00 class was cancelled. He was finishing up studying for an exam. Since today is my late day at work, I took time to make us breakfast, and boy, was it good! We had some extra pumpkin leftover from a pumpkin spice cake I made last week, so I searched for a pumpkin scone recipe and found the perfect one. Ben kept raving about the scones all during breakfast.

Pumpkin Spice Scones
2 C. all purpose flour
1 1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. ground nutmeg
1/4 t. ground allspice
1/4 t. ground ginger
6 T. unsalted butter
1/2 C. raisins (optional)
1/3 C. pumpkin puree
1/3 C. heavy cream
6 T. brown sugar
1 t. vanilla

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Mix the dry ingredients together and cut in the butter.

3. Mix together the pumpkin, cream, raisins, brown sugar, and vanilla, then pour into dry ingredients and mix. I used my hands to get it all mixed together at the end.

4. Pat into a circle about 1 inch thick. Cut into eighths (like a pie). Put on baking sheet. Bake for 13 minutes.

I didn't make any icing for them, but we had cream cheese frosting (also a leftover from the pumpkin spice cake), and Ben really enjoyed it with the frosting. I also used plain milk instead of the cream and they turned out just fine. I can't wait to eat the leftovers for breakfast tomorrow . . .

Fall

Well, it is definitely fall time. The leaves are changing colors. The days are getting shorter. There is a chill in the air, well, if you are out late, maybe. The weather has been strange and thinks it needs to be in the 80s, but I'm much happier about it being 80 then snowing like it did a year ago at this time. Last night we ran around Lake Como and enjoyed the changing fall colors and listen to the ducks quack as the fly south.

We haven't really been up to too much lately. Ben has been studying extra hard with several mid-terms coming up. He turned the first one in yesterday, and is studying away for one on Monday. Lucky for him, haveing mid-terms means that the finals won't be as inclusive as last year meaning Ben doesn't have to keep four months of information in his head. He has also been meeting with all of his clubs and organizations and even crafted a poster for a fundraiser the SBA does each year.

I keep working at Bank of the Lakes. All the drama of the summer still continues. I try and let it all pass by, but occasionally it is too much to handle and I come home driven crazy by my coworkers. One thing that keeps me sane is knowing that one day I'll be gone from the bank and enjoying long days with our kiddos.

We've enjoyed following the Twins as they try to make it to the World Series. Unfortunately, we've been disappointed with their last two performances. Hopefully, they are just waiting to stun the Yankees in New York. We also enjoyed a night at the temple, especially since it has been closed and we've hadn't been in over a month.

Now that we have our own place, I've enjoyed being domestic and decorating our home. I've also had lots of time to do some crafty things, even though the latest project isn't working out so well . . . I'd love to have these hanging on our front door for Halloween, but we'll have to see if I can make it around to these fun candy corn.

We are slowly getting more comfortable in our ward. We helped clean the church last Saturday, Ben was asked to speak in Sacrament meeting in a few weeks, and the Bishop has promised that callings are on their way. It would be pretty sweet if we got to pass the hymn books out each Sunday! We even have been visited by both our hometeachers and my visiting teachers.

We are excited for the upcoming holidays and can't wait to enjoy the rest of our fall!

Popovers: FAIL

Clearly I can't make one of Mom's best recipes.

Domesticity

We've had a very productive month on the domestic front. Here are a few of our projects.

Cards and some Halloween decor.

TheFamily: A Proclamation to the World

Ben made some homemade pasta sauce.

It was delicious on our chicken/eggplant parmeasan.

And, he canned some peppers that Andy would be proud of.