Orange Harvest Cookies

I always crave these come Autumn time. This is another of those recipes that I grew up with; my mom's family knows these as classic fall cookies! They are originally called Carrot-Orange Cookies, but Brian and I decided to start calling them something different so that they sound more appealing. :) He was worried when I first made them when we were newlyweds (because of the "carrot" in the title!), but he has been converted!!! They are always a hit-trust me. For some reason, the combination of carrots (which mainly just add texture) and orange is a perfectly sweet and harvesty pair.

*Featured on My Recipe Magic!
http://myrecipemagic.com/recipe/recipedetail/orange-harvest-cookies


Orange Harvest Cookies 
(AKA Carrot-Orange Cookies)
Makes about 2 dozen cookies

COOKIE
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup shortening
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup mashed, cooked carrots
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt

FROSTING
Juice concentrate (1/4-1/2 cup)
1 Tbsp butter
1 cup powdered sugar

1) Cream shortening and butter until fluffy. Beat in sugar. Add egg, carrots, and vanilla. Beat well after each ingredient is added.
2) Add dry ingredients to carrot mixture. Mix well and chill in the refrigerator for 30-60 minutes.
3) Drop batter onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 350 degrees.
4) Cool and frost.

To make frosting: Combine all frosting ingredients. You made need to add more butter, juice concentrate, and/or powdered sugar in order to get the consistency to the way you want it. The frosting should definitely have an orange flavor, but should also be sweet and slightly creamy.

The Best Lemon Bars

I'm not joking when I say that this recipe makes THE best lemon bars. I grew up with my mom making these, but I think the recipe originally comes from my grandma. The crust is perfectly buttery and flaky, while the filling is gooey and totally sweet! The powdered sugar on top is essential!

*Also seen at MyRecipeMagic!
http://myrecipemagic.com/recipe/recipedetail/the-best-lemon-bars


The Best Lemon Bars

CRUST
2 sticks butter (softened)
2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

FILLING
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup lemon juice

1) With a mixer, mix the three crust ingredients together until crumbly. Pat into a 9x13 pan. Bake at 350* for 15 minutes. (You can bake it for up to 20 minutes if you like your crust more golden/brown.)
2) Beat the eggs, then add the rest of the filling ingredients (sugar, flour, lemon juice). Pour mixture over the baked crust, and bake for another 25 minutes, or until light brown on the edges. (22-24 minutes on this part is usually enough for me.)
3) Dust with powdered sugar.

Amazing Homemade Brownies

One night recently, I had a craving for chocolate. So, naturally, I made brownies. Can't beat a batch of homemade brownies- frosting and everything! This recipe comes from the Cupcake Diaries blog... And I am definitely coming back to it again!
http://www.cupcakediariesblog.com/2013/10/lunch-lady-brownies.html

My Education Journey

For those of you who are interested, here's a summary of my college journey:

Brian and I met just 6 months after I graduated from high school, and 6 months after he returned home from his LDS mission (to the Oklahoma, Tulsa mission). We met in our hometown in WA. (No, we didn't meet or know each other before this fateful meeting, probably because we lived in different parts of the same city, and because he is 3 years older than I am.) At the time, I was awaiting my departure for Rexburg, ID, where I would attend Brigham Young University-Idaho. BYU-I has a track system, which means that in order to allow the maximum number of students as possible to attend the school, there are 3 semesters each school year- Fall, Winter, and Spring (also with a Summer term). Each student, when accepted into the school, is assigned a track, which include 2 semesters; these semesters make up a student's school year. A student is allowed to attend an extra semester if desired, but a certain process and special permission are required (at least that is what I've been told). So, when I got accepted into BYU-I, I was assigned the Winter/Spring track, which meant that I would attend school from January to July. The Summer and Fall after I graduated from high school were difficult, as I had to wait a whole semester to attend school! It all worked out perfectly though...

Anyway, Brian and I met a few weeks before I would leave for school, and while he was on Christmas break at BYU. After meeting and really hitting it off [to say the least ;)], we decided to try to stay in touch while we were at the different BYU's. Luckily, BYU and BYU-I are only about 4 hours away from each other, so we each spent a lot of time making weekend trips to visit each other over the course of 6 months. We got engaged 5 months after meeting! I had always thought about transferring to BYU at some point, so getting married to Brian and moving to a different city- the city that his college was located in- was not a very daunting change in my mind. When we got married, I had just finished my freshman year at BYU-I, and it was assumed that I would eventually transfer to BYU so that we could graduate from the same place.

Little did I know then that BYU-Idaho has AMAZING online learning opportunities! Not only are there tons of options for online classes, there are several online degrees offered (meaning that you can receive the entire degree online, with the exception of some internship requirements, depending on the major). After a few months of marriage, a lot of pondering and praying, and some research into the online degrees, I decided that I was meant to finish my degree through BYU-Idaho, online. I chose to change my major to Marriage and Family Studies, with a Professional General emphasis. 

A short time after deciding this path, we found out that I was pregnant with our first son, and I continued on with school until I graduated in December 2015. Here are the things I love and appreciate about online learning:

1) I got to stay at home with my son, while finishing my degree.

2) I didn't have to take breaks from school; unlike an on-campus student, I don't have an assigned track, so I can go to school year-round.

3) For the most part, I actually enjoyed my online classes more than I enjoyed my on-campus ones. (My on-campus classes at BYU-I are not the only college classes I have taken on campus... I took college classes my senior year of high school.) I feel that I get to connect on a more personal level with my peers and instructors in my online classes: there are required and regular discussion boards and group meetings, as well as daily or weekly-depending on the professor- emails and/or podcasts.

4) I loved the flexibility. I got to study throughout the day, whenever I had the time. Plus, I didn't actually have to GO to class; I could study in my jammies if I wanted to! :)

5) Online classes at BYU-I are designed to be as identical to the on-campus classes as possible. Receiving an online degree through this university is completely legitimate, and the academic experience I had was not that different than the educational experiences the students receiving an on-campus degree experience (other than obvious differences, like being in a physical classroom).

Online learning is not for everyone. But I have been so blessed by this opportunity, and I am so grateful that there are so many opportunities out there for all different kinds of life situations. Me: I'm a wife, a mother, and a college student- and I truly feel that BYU-Idaho has made my experience the most convenient and enriching it can be, given my circumstances!

Oh- and I want to add that from start to finish, my degree took 5 years to finish.