The Chocolate Factory

Wow, it has been a long time since I have posted. I wanted to share a funny story and tell you a little bit about one of my favorite things: Italian sodas. Prepare yourself...it is kind of a long story.

In fall/winter of 2007 I was a nanny for a family that lived in the Avenues in Salt Lake City. Their last name was Peiffer. They had 3 boys Peter (Peter Peiffer, sad) and Liam, who were twins (7) and Eric (4). They also had two dogs: Buddy and Grommet. Grommet used to eat worms out of the ground and then roll in the worm guts and get them stuck in his fur but this information is useless and has nothing to do with the story. Every day from 6:30 am to 6:30 pm I would take care of the boys; get them to school, set up play dates, make them dinner, and take them out for treats. The best part was taking them out for treats. Especially when I happened upon Hatch Family Chocolates with the help of my sister Stephanie. Hatch Family Chocolates is owned and operated by two little people, John and Katie. I had never had an Italian soda before, and was curious when I saw it written up on the blackboard behind the delightful little chocolate counter. I tried one. It was cranberry flavored. I fell in love.

Needless to say, they started to have a soda made for me when they saw my car pull up. It was amazing.

For those poor unfortunate souls who have never had an Italian soda, it consists of the following:
Syrup (cranberry is my favorite)
Club Soda
Ice
Half and Half
(I have theories that they also contain love)
But you cant just put it together like that...there are rules for making an Italian sodas. RULES!

You have to fill the glass with ice first. Then you pour the syrup in the bottom of the glass. Then you fill the glass with club soda. DO NOT STIR or you are basically breaking all the rules of the Italian soda. You then pour enough half and half in the glass to make you happy. Now you can stir it...but only a little! - I dont really stir mine, I just kind of mash the ice with my straw and that seems to churn it up just right. You have to drink your Italian soda through a straw, all the while commenting on how amazingly delicious it is. That is the only way to have an Italian soda...like I said....there are rules.

I have yet to taste an Italian soda that measures up to the ones they make me at the chocolate factory (that is what we lovingly call it) and I have always taken all of my boyfriends there to share a delicious soda with me. One boyfriend that I had took me there quite often. Later, long after we had broken up and John and I got married we were opening wedding gifts and found a huge box full of like 18 Italian soda glasses. It was awkward.

Back to the story. I still try to visit the chocolate factory every once in a while but hadn't been in over 4 or 5 months. I had been craving it for the last few weeks. It was on my mind almost every day. Then this happened: I came home from work one day and John was watching t.v. "Did you know that they are doing a show about little people that run a chocolate shop?" he asked me. "Is it our chocolate factory?" I asked. "No" was his response. Later we were watching t.v. when a commercial came on for 'Little Chocolatiers' on TLC and sure enough, it was John and Katie making their chocolates.

I was panicked. I had been planning on making a trip to the chocolate factory after my last final was completed, you know, to reward myself for all of my hard work...but knowing they were on t.v. made me feel like I couldn't go back. And I needed to go back. So, last week after my last final, I drove over to the chocolate factory and went inside only to find a giant camera crew hovering around (I guess I assumed that they would be done filming since their series had already started). It was horrible. ALL I WANTED WAS MY SODA! Inside, the owner John greeted me. "We haven't seen you in a while." It was true, it had been too long. I ordered my Italian soda and hurried out. It was so worth it. It was divine.

I dont think that I can live without my Italian soda, and I really hope that they dont get too popular for me to keep going back. I need them. I need my chocolate factory.

The end

Netflix anyone?

John and I canceled our Netflix when John started school. In the mail yesterday we got a letter from Netflix that gave us four cards to give to friends that would give a full free month of Netflix rather than the usual two week free trial. SO, if you happen to come across this and you would like to try netflix for free for a month, let me know and I will email you the codes.

Welcome baby Tess!

August 1st 2009
Baby Tess Marie Gormley



5 lbs. 14 oz.

This morning at 1:30 a.m. my older sister gave birth to her first baby. Mom and Dad are now officially Grandma and Grandpa (both are completely smitten-as we all are). We are all already in love with this little girl who joined us 11 days before her due date.



This little munchkin has a full head of dark hair, feet the size of a five month old-hands too. Maybe someday she will grow into them.

Welcome baby Tess!

Third Time's the Charm

After a second move in one month John and I are finally settling into a new-new apartment. The one with the backyard and all the fancy stuff turned out not so great and we were only there for two days. Maybe someday I will tell you the story if you haven't heard it yet.

We finally moved into a new place on the 4th of June. We were staying with my parents in-between moves, it was wonderful to have a place to stay and homemade dinner every night. We ended up having to move all of our belongings a total of 3 times in one month. We were lucky enough to have a moving van one of the three times (courtesy of John's dad, Dave) and lots of help from my siblings.

Most of our stuff is still in boxes and the only thing that we have all set up is the living room, but it already feels like home. Sally even has a new little friend, a black mini schnauzer puppy named Star. We are sleep deprived, stressed and tired of moving all around but happy nonetheless.

We are thrilled with our new place and I will definitely post pictures when everything is all organized.

Seriously?

There are only two of us.

You probably wouldn't guess that if you saw our half a dozen sets of dishes though.

However, you can never have to many pyrex dishes...and this is only one third of them.


Moving is so much fun.

Moving Day.

John and I are in the process of moving. We are currently sleeping on our mattress in the living room(which is highly reminiscent of when we were living at my parents house) and living on just the basics. I just read my post from when we moved into the apartment that we are currently in, it was nice to move here and all, but we are even more excited to move this time around.

The place we are moving to is a basement apartment in the neighborhood I grew up in. I am so excited to be in the same ward I was from ages 1-18. We are also pretty close to the Sugarhouse area where John spent the majority of his teenage years. The apartment is about twice as big as where we are now and we get to have our own backyard! I have already started my tomatoes, strawberries and zucchini plants to be ready to transfer them when we move!

We have been able to do a bunch of work on our soon-to-be home. The landlord let us paint the rooms whatever colors we wanted and pick out light fixtures and stuff like that, so it starts to feel more like ours with every project that gets done. Our current project consists of a whole bucket of joint compound, a cement like substance, primer and paint. We still have a bunch to do - does any one like painting cabinet doors? - but the work is worth it. If we love it enough we are hoping that we can stay at this new place throughout John's adventure through law school.

I don't have any pictures because, quite frankly, it is a disaster right now. After some heavy duty cleaning and decorating, maybe I will feel more compelled to share.

~Daniel update: John and I got to visit with Daniel yesterday. It was great fun, he is back to his old self and we got to share stories of our criminal adventures(Daniel and I were good friends in high school) with Christine and John. He is doing really well and recovering amazingly.

Daniel's Blog

Daniel's uncle has set up a blog so that we can all receive information on his condition. I haven't been able to be to the hospital and Christine hasn't been there since yesterday afternoon (she is in Provo attending her classes until 5 this evening), so the information that I actually receive is somewhat limited. If you read from the beginning you will be able to catch up on all of the details.



Christine and Daniel on the mountain after getting engaged


As you get ready for the day today, please pray that Daniel will be strong enough and in a more stable condition so that he may receive the surgery that he needs. Also pray that he will remain strong during the surgery if he does go in this morning at 10:30 (the surgery is scheduled for a *fingers crossed* final, and long term fix for his elbow).



Rock Climbing - Daniel's favorite


Christine will be back this evening to spend the weekend with her fiance. Keep her in your prayers as well, I am sure you can understand why this is such a stressful and terrifying time for her. She has been doing all she can to stay on top of her school obligations driving back and forth from BYU sometimes more than once a day. I was discussing with someone yesterday how I personally would not have the strength to keep on top of other things if I were in a similar situation. Although it is unfortunate that she should have to deal with this, it has been amazing to actually see the love that she has for Daniel, and the determination that she has to be her best, and do the best for her future family. Christine and I have not always been the best of friends, but this has been a reminder of the importance of family, and I want Chris to know that I love her so much.


Sisters - I think we must be somewhere around 5-6 years old


If the link doesn't work, the blog address is: http://www.danielconner.blogspot.com/


Muddy butts after mountain biking at the cabin (aren't they are perfect for eachother!)

Thanks to everyone for your prayers and support.

-Danielle