These are a few of my favorite things

I'm having so much fun this year getting to know new people, a new place, and getting better at old things I did back home. So here's a couple things I've enjoyed been spending my time doing while here in WV.

Being crazy with my amazing roommates! 

We have lots of fun with my Macbook camera and effects!

We have had such a mild winter with hardly any snow, but we took advantage of  one small one we had and went sledding in the park by our house!

Baking! Along with making dinner for all the 9 people I live with, I've started doing a lot of bread baking. One of our church members wrote a cookbook that I use a lot. One of my favorites is cinnamon rolls with banana in them! It's another good way other than banana bread to use over-ripe bananas. It's a bit time-intensive, but I love making them on Saturday mornings when we don't have much planned for the rest of the day!

Banana Buns

2 pkgs. dry yeast

1 cup warm water

1 cup mashed bananas

1/3 cup oil

1/3 cup sugar

1 egg

1/3 cup instant nonfat dry milk

1 t. salt

1 t. vanilla

3 ½ - 4 cups flour

1 ½ cups whole wheat flour

1.     Dissolve yeast in water.

2.     Combine bananas, oil, sugar, egg, dry milk, salt, and vanilla.

3.     Combine dissolved yeast with banana mixture.

4.     Add 2 cups flour and mix well.

5.     Stir in whole wheat flour and mix well.

6.     Add additional flour to make soft dough.

7.     Knead on lightly floured surface for 8 mins.

8.     Place in a greased bowl, turning once. Cover and let rise till double.

9.     Punch down. Divide dough in half. Cover and let rest 10 minutes.

10. Roll each half into a 16” x 9” rectangle. Spread lightly with softened margarine. Sprinkle each rectangle with half of the following mixture:

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup chopped nuts

½ t. allspice

2 t. cinnamon

11. Roll dough up from long side as for jelly roll. Seal seam well. Cut into 12 pieces.

a.     Place on greased baking sheet, cut side down.

b.     OR place the cut pieces in a round, square, or rectangular-shaped baking pan.

12. Let rise till double.

13. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes for single buns; 20-25 for pan buns.

14. Ice with confectioner’s sugar icing if desired, or drizzle with a mixture of 2 cups confectioners’ sugar and 2-3 T. lemon juice.

Ta da! I even figured out how to make them into little heart shapes for Valentine's Day. :)

Exploring Philippi and the surrounding area. Although it's a small town and we sometimes get a little stir-crazy from being in our house, there is lots to do in Philippi! There's an 8 mile bike trail that Mike and Ben ride every week and I've tried once, a park by our house, a national park about a 30 minute drive away, a restaurant that has lots of live bluegrass music, and many other places! We also enjoy visiting other people from our church. Several families live together on a farm and raise chickens, sheep, and ducks. They also have some really good sledding hills! 

Allison and I scare unsuspecting passersby in the pajama section.

The view from the top of the bike trail.

And... My job at the Myers Clinic of course! The nurses I work with have become good friends, so I never dread going to work! I'm also learning so much helping them, and love getting to interact with all the patients that come in everyday.