Cheesecake Bliss

Keali'i had been begging me for what seemed like weeks to make a cheesecake with him. He bought some chocolate baking squares, and on the back of the box it had a recipe for chocolate cheesecake. I told him we couldn't make it until we had a springform pan. He didn't understand, but I insisted it was necessary to make a cheesecake.

This weekend, we bought one of those springform pans, and we tried our hand at making our first cheesecake together. Here's how it turned out:

It's a chocolate cheesecake with Oreo crust and a strawberry topping. If I do say so myself, it turned out wonderfully!

I did run into a tiny problem though. I had to cook it a little longer than the recipe said because the middle didn't seem "set" enough. But when I took the cheesecake out of the oven, it started to develop two massive cracks throughout the top! They reminded me of the Grand Canyon in cheesecake form!

Anyway, I googled how to mend the cracks, and it turns out a lot of people have this problem with their cheesecakes. Basically, once it's cooled down completely in the fridge, you use your fingers to sort of push the cracks together as best you can. Then you take a spatula, or a flat metal device, (I used a spoon), and you dip it into hot water to smooth and fill the cracks. Voila! It looked almost perfect. I should've taken before and after pictures to illustrate... And once I put the topping on, you couldn't tell anyway.

Happy Baking!

Lesly <3

Pregnancy: 17 Weeks

I notice my belly starting to stick out a little more each day it seems. It's coming to the point where it's harder to hide. I find myself thinking: "What if people just think I'm just gaining weight around my waistline?" Before I know it, it will be a lot more obvious that I'm pregnant.

A coworker of mine gave me a Prenatal Yoga DVD a couple weeks ago, and I have yet to get started on it. I know exercise is important during pregnancy and I don't want to let my baby down. So... Maybe I'll start on that this week.

Like my whole pregnancy so far, I have yet to experience morning sickness. I guess I'm just lucky! But, I do lose my appetite to eat sometimes, when nothing in the whole world sounds good.

If any of you were wondering, we will find out if it's a boy or a girl when I'm at 20 weeks. The ultrasound tech at the clinic I go to is apparently picky about when she does the complete panel ultrasound. I honestly have no clue what he or she is. I will be equally happy with either.

Until next time,
Lesly <3

A Few Things This Week

Some days I feel really motivated to cook and clean and make things perfect. Other days... Not so much. This week had a mixture of the two. 

I made one of our favorite meals: Stuffed Green Peppers.

After this picture was taken, I covered them with foil and put them in the oven. Then after they were nice and warm, and sprinkled them with cheese. After it melts, you have a meal! It was really delicious, but Keali'i wanted to have a side with it. They're really filling on their own though. He even had one to take to work the next day for lunch!

I also took some pictures of my dogs.

They are such great subjects, even if Sonic's fur makes him look a little wild. (He needs groomed.)

We're looking forward to a long, Memorial day weekend ahead.

Until next time,

Lesly <3

New Look

This is just a random post for me to express my excitement for my new blog header! (In case you didn't notice, it's the big collage at the top of the page.) EEEE!!!! I spent two hours last night working on it and making it just the way I wanted it. All the while, my husband, Keali'i, was fast asleep on the couch "watching" TV.

I will reveal my secrets... Here's how I did it. First, I used the free photo editor, Picasa, made by Google. It can be found here. It's super easy to use, unlike Photoshop, and it's FREE! It doesn't take too much space on my computer, and runs smoothly; which is always a plus. Second, I searched for a tutorial on how to use Picasa to create a header or banner for my blog. I came across another bloggers site. Her tutorial is very helpful and it can be found here.

Having my blog finally look somewhat like what I've envisioned, makes me really excited to keep the posts coming! And just to forewarn you, I might be changing things around randomly, because that's just how I am!

Happy blogging!

Lesly <3

Plans

We've got a few things up our sleeves...

For the duration of our stay here in North Carolina, we've decided that we're going to request to get into base housing this summer. It'll be easier on our budget since we won't have to worry about certain bills, and we'll be able to save a little more. It'll also be a step up from the apartment we're living in now. Not that we're not grateful we live here, it's just that these apartments are a little old, and living on base, Keali'i will be closer to work. I'm hoping we get a 3 bedroom, since we're expecting a little one soon, but a two bedroom will be more than enough room for our little family.

If you didn't know, the military gives Keali'i extra pay each month called Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH.) Ideally it's enough for rent and utilities. By moving into base housing, we will be forfeiting that allowance each month. We've already figured out that we'll be able to do it. And for me, it'll be a lot less stressing out making sure those bills get paid on time, (since I'm usually the one who takes care of them anyway... No offense sweetie.) We've already checked out a couple houses they would have available for us, and they're really nice. Most of them have fenced-in yards, so that'll be nice for our doggies.

Speaking of our doggies... They're the only things holding us back from turning our request form in right now. In order to have pets living on base there's a whole checklist of what they need done. They need to be microchipped. They both need to be spayed/neutered. They need to be up-to-date on their vaccinations. They need to have collars with their ID tags and rabies tag. And lastly, they need to be registered on base. So far we have most of this done already except Cera needs to be spayed still, and they need to be microchipped. I wanted to get that done for them anyway. Then after that, we can get them registered! It's a bit of a hassle since we both work during the day, but I will find time to get it done.

Look at them... They don't even know how much trouble they cause.

Well, I'm off to go make some banana bread and relax with my husband. I hope all of you out there have a nice week!

<3 Lesly

Update and Exciting News

Hey everyone! So, this is the first official post in our new blog. I'm excited to start sharing more with you readers out there. I hope that I can live up to updating on a more frequent basis. Blogs are a fun way to share with friends and family what you're up to, especially if you live far away like we do.

First and foremost, today is a special day. Happy mothers day to every woman out there. Mothers are so important to our society.

Okay, I'm too excited to delay this news any longer... Keali'i and I are expecting! Here's is our baby's first ultrasound photo, taken at around 11 weeks:

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Alright, here are the details. I'm due on November 5th, my Granddad's and one of my best friend's birthday. (Roxanne!) I am officially 15 weeks along, and I feel great! Everything is going good so far. Although we cannot wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl, we have no preference on the gender. What we get is what we will be happy for.

Keali'i has already showered me with mother's day gifts and love. The card he got me says "Happy Mother's Day to my wife -- the woman who gets all my love, all my devotion... and all the blankets!" I don't particularly agree with the last part, but it was cute nonetheless.

Again, happy mother's day!

Until next time,

Lesly and Keali'i

First Post

This is a test post, nothing special. It is just to see what a blog post will look like. So, in other words, it's a sample post. Have a tiggerific day!