Organizating Tip of the day:

My latest organizing tip is simple, old fashioned and most likely frequently used; labeled boxes and baskets.  Labeled boxes are not just for storage, the same concept works great for everyday safekeeping as well. My latest organization project was our master bedroom walk-in closet and Sofia's large closet. I started with hers because I needed to get her organized and prepare her closet for another baby, Nadia. (They will be sharing rooms).  Her closet has to levels of shelving so I bought pink baskets to line the shelves with.  I organized her things and labeled each basket according to what it holds.  This made her closet look appealing and cute as well as gave everything a place.  I then did the same thing for our master closet.  I like the cleaner look it gives our closet.  It also fills the shelves with these baskets so my husband can no longer shove random things on the shelves. ;)

                                                 OUR CLOSET:

We have boxes for sheets, spare comforters, extra bathroom supplies, hats and belts, and even shoes.

THE GIRLS' CLOSET:

Baskets hold wipes, wipes, shoes, misc. baby supplies such as binkies. and large blankets. (Their changing table has several more baskets that hold more diapers, blankies and sheets).

Introduction of self

INTRODUCTION:

I created this blog site almost a year ago with the intention to blog.. Write my thoughts down, journal a little and even share some stories, pictures and ideas from my life. Well, as you can see have done just the opposite of that... I haven't even attempted to blog. My apologies. Not that I'm concerned there is anyone looking for my posts, but more of an apology to myself. I want to do this for no one other than myself and I owe it to myself to do it.

My life has become more of a fairy tale that I'd never even dreamt would be my future. I struggled through my childhood and never once thought I would have all that I do have. I feel very blessed and fortunate. I never want to lose sight of what I do have:

MY FAMILY:

I have a fabulous husband who adores me, loves me, and makes all my dreams come true...(even before his own), together we have created the most adorable little girl, Sofia who is now ONE, who happens to be a spitting image of her handsome father but all her mother's wild personality rolled into one little human... and the three of us are impatiently awaiting the arrival of Despotovich number four, Nadia (due September 2) who we assume will be a Sofia part two. ;) I imagine that Nadia will look just like her sister although I'm sure she'll have a personality all of her own but I guess we won’t know for sure until September. Maybe Nadia will be a little more subdued like her father... or maybe she'll be more trouble like her mother and make Sofia look like the angel... ha no matter what, we are more than excited to introduce her to her family and make her one of our own.

MY EDUCATION:

I am young, I am 24 years old (my husband just turned 29 so I'll always be young ;) ... younger at least), and it has taken me years of soul searching to decide exactly what I want to do with my life. I never wanted to "waste time" on anything I was unsure of... therefore here I am still working on my bachelor degree... I have about a year left but I am proud of myself because there were many points that I never thought I would get the "career thing" figured out. Here I am 24 and my whole heart is dedicated to my future being a teacher. I've gone to a community college and a state college but finally found my match at a private university that offers me night classes and short terms rather than long semesters. I have found that I can focus and be more successful during shorter terms and flexible schedules that allow me to be home with my family during the day. So as I stated, I have about a year left before I start student teaching... and for now, I have just recently made the transition from working nanny (I took Sofia with me) to stay at home MOM!

MY CAREER:

Although figuring out my career goals was a struggle for me until now, there is one thing I have never questioned and always been "so sure" about and that is that I would be and now am a fabulous mom. I was born in this world to be a mother! I never doubted that! That’s why I enjoyed Nannying so much... not only was a best friend to the children but I was a third parent too... but NOTHING compares to being a MOM. I love my husband with all my heart... and my grandmother told me I'd never love anyone as much as I loved my husband (he'd always be my number one) but I sure do love him in a whole new light now that he has given me the best present in the entire world, our daughter. AWW I love her.. I find myself staring at her in disbelief many times throughout every day.... ANYWAY, I am rambling! We just recently made the change for me to stay home and it has been the biggest blessing I could have ever imagined. I love spending my everyday being more of a wife than just a mother. I cook, clean and play with Sofia all day. It's my dream come true.

MY HOBBIES:

I am a creative soul... I really enjoy using my mind toward creativity... hence wanting to be a teacher and enjoying being a mom, wife and stay at home one at that. I have always loved scrap booking.. I have been doing it since I was a young teen. I find that I don’t have the time I used to so I have picked up digital scrap booking and focused the last year one Sofia's first year.. This next year will be Nadia's first year and the girls' first year as sisters. I do try to make books for our vacations as well, although I have been slacking in that area. I love to garden! My father encouraged us to start a garden last summer after we bought our house and we threw one together to "give it a try" and now it has become one of our favorite activities to do together. We just planted our garden for this year and yep we are just like the old couples who go outside just to watch their gardens grow. I also enjoy doing flower gardens and landscaping as well. We bought an older home so our yard needed lots of work.. our house too... and there has been nothing more exciting than remodeling and improving our home and yard together as well as decorating and designing everything ourselves... it's something we do together and we enjoy it. HA Colby and I, we do EVERYTHING together. We are one of those sick couples that spend every spare second together... although that's kind of changed now that I am home all day. I enjoy DYI projects and as I stated, home improvement projects. Don’t worry we hire a contractor for the big jobs but I am very hands on and my husband doesn’t touch tools so I do enjoy seeing what I can handle doing myself... sometimes it works out, others it does not. I enjoy family time... watching movies, playing games (mainly cards) and being outside.

MY GOALS:

-Finish college and become a teacher someday

-Get my masters in administration and become a principle someday

-Cook homemade dinners 6 days a week only eat out once a week

-Learn how to save... I'm a "shop-a-holic" and I’m trying to replace shopping with saving and I like getting creative on how to save a penny here and there (I never used to care).

-Make exercise part of my lifestyle (once Nadia is here...I'm in no rush for this one).

-Get Organized (One room or spot at a time ... and I mean extreme organization).

-Vacation all over the United States (My husband and I aren’t big on "world travels" we enjoy the US)

-Provide the world and more to my daughters and husband

THIS BLOG:

I will share with you my life... good and bad and my goals and achievements ... even failures along the way. I will share pictures and stories of my daughter as they grow at incredible speeds. I will share my thoughts and ideas and so much more. Hope you enjoy reading and continue to follow me and my family along our journey.

That's all for now,
Katie

Recipe of the Day: Baked Doughnuts

Baked Doughnuts



Makes: About 15 doughnuts (& donut holes)

For the Dough
3/4 cups Warm Milk
1 packet Active Dry Yeast
1 tbsp. Unsalted Butter
1/3 cup Sugar
1 Egg
2 ½ cup All Purpose Flour
Pinch of Nutmeg
½ tsp. Salt

For the Glaze
* Enough to glaze all the doughnuts
¼ cup Milk
1 tsp. Pure Vanilla Extract
2 cups Confectioners Sugar

For the Cinnamon Sugar Topping
*Enough to cover all of the doughnuts
½ cup Unsalted Butter
1 cup Sugar
1 tbsp. Cinnamon

To make the dough, place ¼ cups of the warm milk in the bowl of a stand mixer. Sprinkle the yeast over the milk. Let sit for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, combine the remaining ½ cup of milk with the sugar and butter. Add it to the yeast mixture. Stir to combine. Add the egg and stir until incorporated. Add the flour, nutmeg, and salt and stir until the dough starts to form. Change to the dough hook and knead for until the dough starts to become smooth. If the dough is too sticky, slowly add more flour until it is no longer sticky.

Transfer to the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic and has formed a ball. Place the dough ball in a large lightly greased bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place for about 1 hour, until doubled in size.

Once the dough has risen, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until ½ thick. Using a doughnut cutter (if you don’t have a doughnut cutter, you can use 2 biscuit cutters – 1 that is about 3 inches, and the other that is about 2 inches for the inner circle) cut out the doughnuts until you have no dough left. If desired you can gather up the scraps into a ball and roll it out and cut out more doughnuts. I prefer not too because I feel the dough becomes too tough.

Place the doughnuts on a baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper, about 2 inches apart. Cover with a clean towel and let sit for about 45 minutes.

Preheat the oven 375 degrees F.

Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 7 minutes, until lightly golden brown. Be careful to not overbake these. You want them to be light and doughy inside. Let the doughnuts cool for about 5 minutes until ready to top with either the glaze or cinnamon sugar topping

While the doughnuts are cooling make the glaze and/or cinnamon sugar glaze. Each recipe makes enough to cover all the doughnuts. I made a half recipe of each and topped half of the doughnuts with each topping. Or you can choose to just do one of topping for all the doughnuts.

To make the glaze, combine the milk and the vanilla in a small saucepan. Heat over low heat until just warmed. Slowly add in the confectioners sugar and whisk until the mixture is smooth. Remove the glaze from the heat and place over a bowl of warm water.

To glaze the doughnuts, dip them halfway into the glaze and place on a draining/cooling rack set over a baking sheet. Sprinkle with sprinkles if desired. Let set for about 10 minutes.

To make the cinnamon sugar topping, melt the butter in a saucepan or a microwave, and place in a small bowl. Combine the sugar and cinnamon in a medium sized bowl.

To top the doughnuts with cinnamon sugar, dip the halfway into the melted butter. Then dip them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. Set on a draining/cooling rack to set, about 5 minutes.