Happy Halloween!

Paisley The Dinosaur!

Trick or Treat....give me a good bone to eat!

Hear me rawwwrrrr!!!

All dino'd out from celebrating Halloween!

It's been a pretty quiet day and night around here for it being Halloween! I spent the day lounging with Paisley, watched old horror movies on TV and drank enough orange juice and emergen-c to last me a year! I'm really hoping whatever bug and illness is trying to bring me down moves on sooner than later! Since I was still at risk for infecting the kiddos at the hospital (have to be fever free for 24 hours), I had to stay at home again. And who wouldn't love a free day off from work?! Normally I would...but since it was Halloween, I am super bummed I missed it! All of the kiddos were going to get dressed up in their costumes then have a parade around the hospital while trick-or-treating....ahhh sooo cute!!! Since I missed out, I got Paisley dressed up for a little bit. She's such a good sport and always goes along with getting dressed up. I think it's because she knows she'll be spoiled with treats afterwards! The only other exciting thing today that happened was I got a new phone! My blackberry lately has been nothing but unreliable. To send or receive a message, I had to turn my phone on and off to first read it and then on and off again just to reply! It would rarely let me answer a call and usually wouldn't connect if I was trying to call someone...so after 3+ish years, it was definitely time for an upgrade and since Jordan gave me the go-ahead, I got the new iPhone 5! My life is already better knowing I have a reliable phone! And I was shocked to find out that it actually was cheaper than an Android phone...who knew?! So I spent the rest of the afternoon playing on that and getting it all set up! Since it was nice out today, Jordan grilled out hamburgers to get the most of the awesome fall weather we've been having because I have a feeling it won't be around for long. Now we're going to spend the rest of the night watching a horror movie and eating some Halloween candy since we didn't have any trick-or-treaters stop by our place! Happy Halloween everyone! 

DIY flannel infinity scarf

I've spent the day lounging and fighting off what I hope is not about to be strep throat and/or double ear infections. Sucky. My immune system chooses to fail at the most inopportune times but what can ya do. Between naps, studying, reading and hacking up some nasty stuff from my lungs, I couldn't stand just laying around anymore. Which led me to Pinterest of course and I saw some pictures of flannel infinity scarves made from old flannel pajama pants! Every year on Christmas Eve, Jordan's family has a cool tradition of giving new pj's to sleep in and then everyone spends Christmas morning kicked back in the new pj's while opening presents. So I figured Jordan would have a few pairs of flannel pants that he doesn't wear anymore or that have shrunk so I started rummaging through his closet...and low and behold, I found two pairs he was willing to let me refashion into an infinity scarf! Good thing Christmas is less than two months away so he can get a new pair of flannel pants (and hopefully I don't shrink them...whoops, my bad. I dry things just like my Dad...) Anyway, this project took me only 30 minutes to do and the result is a fun, flannel infinity scarf that will keep me nice and cozy! And even better, I can wear it on game days because it is black and gold! I combined a few different tutorials that I read through and came up with one that worked the best for me so here's the directions!

frumpy flannel pants before...
fun game day infinity scarf after!

start by cutting the inseam of the pants to the top.
do for both legs.
this works great if you have a puppy staring at you who wants
your attention instead of a another craft....

cut off across the top where the inseam ends.

next, open up the two pant legs and lay them on top of each other
wrong-side out (so the outer seams from the original pants should be facing out)

pin the bottom end together and then sew.

after sewing the ends together, that doubles the length of your fabric!
now, fold the fabric long ways (hot dog style) with seams still wrong side out.
basically, you should have a tube formed
then pin the sides and sew up the long side.

once the long side is sewn, turn the tube right-side out.
then take the two ends (cut off one of the hems because this makes the fabric really bulky and hard to sew through)
and feed one side into the other just like a half inch or so.
Then pin and sew the ends.
Since it has the original hem on it still, this makes for a clean seam!

And that's it! A very easy peasy project! And probably free for most people because who doesn't have a pair of flannel pants stored away somewhere that you can't quite part with yet?! Well, now you have reason to and give them a fashion upgrade! I love the new combination of two of my favorite things for the winter: flannel and scarves! 

wedding weekend recap

Love Hug dressed and ready to go to the Weibring-Bogue Wedding!
Dress: Target, $19.99 (on sale!)
Tights: Target, $4.00
Heels: borrowed from Leah
Jewelry: made by my mom!

Congrats to the new Mr. and Mrs. Bogue

first time as wedding guests being Mr. & Mrs. Easton :)

party on! 

3 shades of Grey

slow jam dance together...

sending off floating lanterns to end the night!

We had the most amazing weekend and got to witness a truly beautiful and incredible wedding ceremony between our close friends, Jared and Heather. The sun was shining and the wind held off so it made for a perfect fall afternoon to watch them exchange their vows outside with all the fall colors, sounds and smells surrounding them. Seeing Jared cry as he watched his bride make her way to him down the aisle was enough to get me choked up but once they started reciting their own vows they each wrote, well, that really made me (and every other guest there, besides Jordan) turn on the waterworks. Their love for each other that they share is so evident and it shined through in every aspect of their wedding--from their vows to the songs and readings all the way to the speeches their families and friends gave about them and to the way they looked at each other while dancing. We had a blast celebrating with them and with all of our closest friends! Jordan and I are so lucky to have such awesome people in our lives who encourage us to show the same sort of love and respect to one another like what we witnessed on Saturday. It was a magical day filled with family and friends, one heck of a party and mounds of love and laughter! Here's to your happily ever after, Mr. and Mrs. Bogue! Congrats! :)

Friday Funnies - 10.26

It's that time of the week....time for another edition of Friday Funnies to jump to your weekend! Since Halloween is next week, I figured I'd show you a classic and easy costume that is bound to cause some laughter. Whether you like cats or hate cats, everyone looooves a good ol' Crazy Cat Lady!!!!

The happiest crazy cat lady in all the land
image via Pinterest

buckle up and enjoy the ride!

Poor Janice, how did you enjoy that ride with that punk screaming in your ears?!!
Better stick to the carousel and tea cups kiddo.

And on that note, happy Friday and happy weekend everybody!!!! Our close friend's Jared and Heater are getting married this weekend so we have some good friends coming to town tonight to stay with us...and then we'll all be celebrating their marriage tomorrow! Can't wait for a big reunion and party! Hope everyone enjoys the weekend, fall weather and some football!

nightly rituals

There are some things that happen every night around our place. Some things like having dinner together, taking Paisley for a walk, and competing with each other during Wheel of  Fortune just to name a few. And then there are those things that happen every night like clockwork that I wish didn't happen. Like for instance, Paisley will jump up on my lap and right when I think she's going to cuddle with me, she lets a fart go right in my face. Has anyone ever eaten a dog's fart? I have. They are the worst. Actually, I would bet that there are very few things that smell and/or taste worse than a dog's fart. Another one is when I'll be having a conversation with Jordan then look over and realize he's snoring and has been asleep for probably the past 5-10ish minutes. So obviously that means he agrees with everything I was saying by default, it's only fair that way. Or one more is when I get all cozy in the recliner or on the couch to watch the news specifically for the next day's forecast only to fall asleep right before the weather portion of the news starts and then wake up right after the news is over. Seriously? Just my luck! The only reason I even stayed up and in the living room in the first place was to hear the weather and now I missed it? I need to pull it together. 

However, all of that ills in comparison to the worst of the worst of our nightly rituals that happens at our place. You might think I am exaggerating this one, but you would in fact be wrong to think that....and besides, there is no exaggerating something so obscene as this. It all starts out so innocent and every time, I'm so unsuspecting of it. Jordan and I brush our teeth, wash our faces and then get in bed. Usually I'll grab my nook to read or turn on whichever movie I picked out for that week and start it from where I left off. Meanwhile, Jordan flops around like a fish out of the water, shifts the blankets all around the place and finally gets comfortable. And before he falls asleep for the night, he always does two things: 1. gives me a kiss goodnight and 2. turns over to face the wall and simultaneously farts into the fan. Yes, folks you read that right. HE FARTS INTO THE FAN WHICH IS OSCILLATING AND POINTING RIGHT AT ME. Then he starts laughing and chuckling at himself. Literally, every single night, Jordan CROP DUSTS ME. It's like I'm living an awful fortune from a cheap fortune cookie every night that says, "tonight you will be crop dusted and you will taste it. (in bed.)" I only wish I were making this up. But, unfortunately, I'm not. And there is no winning. Whatever fart escaped over the blankets I've already breathed in and tasted. And if I try to hide from it under the blankets, the stench that is trapped underneath is respectfully 100x worse. Talk about a serious dutch oven and that's without eating Mexican or Chinese for dinner. And you know that statistic that says people eat something like 8 spiders a year at night while sleeping? Well, I eat like 38 farts a week thanks to Jordan and Paisley. And you're right, there could be much worse things that happen but whether it's an SBD (silent but deadly, obviously) or a loud fart that vibrates, they are all gag worthy. And what's worse than having that be the last thing to happen to you in a day? Oh nothing came to mind? Exactly. I rest my case.

Me: dramatic? Never.
Jordan's farts: deadly? Always.
image via Pinterest

Perfect Picks

Oh yeah, we're the highlighted team...at the top!

Jordan and I play in an NFL Pick 'Em Pool with my dad, sister, brother, several uncles and then lots of co-workers and friends of my uncles. We thought it would be a fun thing to get into and give us all something to talk smack about with each other. Well.....it has quickly turned into MUCH more than that. Basically, it's a really easy concept: you pick who you think is going to win every NFL game for the week and then give a tiebreaker score. That's it. No picking individual players or a defense. And the people who finish in the Top 3 each week win money! This pick 'em pool is perfect for me and Jordan because it's a great combination of my luck and his football knowledge (although, I know my fair share of football facts.) After a few kind of rough weeks, we've slowly been creeping our way back up to the top. Then the past two weeks, the Top 3 places came down to the tiebreaker score and we got beat out. Devastating. And so this week we came back with a vengeance!  AND WE TOTALLY DOMINATED!!!! We had PERFECT picks across the board for a solid 13-0 showing and no tie breaker to determine the winner. We outright won it and made some huge ground for the overall points for the season to get within 3 of the winner. Whoop whoop! Now that's what I call teamwork, baby!

Carved pumpkins & Roasted seeds!

Now that Halloween is getting closer, we thought it was finally time to carve our Great Pumpkins!!! After the search we had for these bad boys, we obviously couldn't let them go to waste! And with the perfect weather we had today and a lazy Sunday, there was no better time in our mind to carve them than today! 

And there's the finished products after lots of concentrating and carving, perfecting the cuts, and cleaning the seeds! I went with a monogram and Est. 2012, which is no surprise. I love monograms and since it's our first Halloween as a married couple, I couldn't pass it up! Jordan likes to carve out a challenging design so he went with Hades from Hercules! I think they look pretty awesome and now our porch is ready for Halloween! 

Now for the pumpkin seeds recipes! I made these in two separate batches today because I didn't know if cooking them in the oven at the same time would mix the flavors or have them end up tasting funky and since I was home all day anyway...I figured, why not! So the two different flavors I did were salty/spicy garlic and cinnamon-sugar apple cider! Yummmy they are tasty! I know it might seem like a lot of work to separate the seeds from all of the pulp and goop, but one taste of the seeds, and you'll know that it was worth the work! The first thing to do for whichever seasoning you decide to go with is to soak the seeds in a bowl of hot water then rinse them off and pay them dry. That really helps to get the pulp off easily!

Salty-Garlic Seeds:
2 cups pumpkin seeds, cleaned and rinsed
1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter OR olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt (I like using corse salt)
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
1/8 teaspoon cracked black pepper

Directions: **Same directions for both flavors of seeds!**
1. Preheat oven to 275*F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper 
melt the butter in a mixing bowl then add salt, garlic powder and garlic salt, worcestershire sauce, and pepper. Mix this up well then add in the seeds.
2. Once the seeds are fully coated, spread evenly onto the parchment paper in a single layer.
3. Bake for 1 hour, checking occasionally and tossing them around. Bake until the butter mixture is dried and until they are  nice and golden brown.
4. Take out from the oven and take the parchment paper with seeds still on it off the baking sheet to cool. Store in an air tight container!

Cinnamon-Sugar Apple Cider Seeds:
2 cups pumpkin seeds, cleaned and rinsed
1 1/2 cups apple cider
1 1/2 tablespoons melted butter OR olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

mmm fresh roasted pumpkin seeds!
Salty and Sweet!

Aside from the Hawks losing terribly yesterday, we still had an enjoyable weekend! It was beautiful fall weather here, we spent time with friends and each other, and got to carve our pumpkins! Next weekend our good friends Jared & Heather are getting married we're really looking forward to celebrating with them!!! Eeek and that means that my girl friends Leah and Hilary will be coming to town on Friday for the weekend/wedding! Really looking forward to next weekend already so let's hope that doesn't make the week drag on, isn't that the worst?! Enjoy the last few hours of the weekend and here's to a not so manic Monday! :)

homemade mini pizzas for gameday!

Well right now, our Hawks are playing and it's halftime. And they look awful. Man, we spent the day tailgating, hopping around seeing a bunch of our friends, soaking in Melrose Madness, and walked past the roar of Kinnick Stadium before heading home to catch the game. We were going to try and get tickets but two things in the end made us decide to come home: a. the tickets people were selling were from $50-75 a piece and we just don't roll like that. and b. I was already cold and had all of my layers on that I brought. So sue me, I forgot to bring a hat and gloves! Anyway, now after watching the first half in the comfort of our home, we're both pretty happy we passed up the tickets! Since it's gameday, I figured we'd go for a fun and easy dinner that's like the other tailgate food we had been snacking on all day. And the first thing that came to mind was, mini pizzas!!! We actually make these bad boys every Thursday night at the hospital for Bingo & Pizza with the kiddos and they love them! This seriously is a 15-minute dinner and about a $5.00 meal and it's delicious. Is there anything better than a quick, cheap and tasty meal? I think not!

Ingredients:1 can of homestyle biscuits (I used the smaller ones that had 10 in the package, but you could use the big fluffy ones that have 6-8 in the can)
1 jar of Ragu pizza sauce
1 cup of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup of mini pepperonis (I used turkey pepperoni--70% less fat than regular!)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400*F
2. Take biscuits out of can, flatten them down between your hands and then spread evenly on an ungreased baking sheet.
3. Cover biscuits with the pizza sauce (however much sauce you like), then layer the cheese and pepperonis on top. 

equal peps on each pizza...
I forgot how much they spread so I would add more next time!

4. bake for 10 minutes or until the biscuit is golden brown and the cheese is baked to your liking.

5. let cool and enjoy! 

Then cheer on your team like crazy to play a better second half! Come on Hawks, pull it together! And there's talk of carving our AMAZING pumpkins tonight...so that could be happening! Since it's already getting so late though, it might be a two-day project but I'm excited to carve mine because I have a great idea instead of just decorating it....and then I'm going to make roasted pumpkin seeds! Mmmm! 

Friday Funnies - 10.19.12

Can I get a helllll yeah for it being Friday?!! I decided today that after a long week of work, school, volunteering, cleaning, cooking, dealing with kids, and trying to not go crazy, everyone needs a good old pick me up to start off their weekend! And I love to laugh, it's actually one of my favorite things to do! So with that being said, I have decided to start a new weekly tradition on my blog called "Friday Funnies" and I plan on sharing a funny picture and a funny video that I have found while wasting time on the internet! Without further adieu, I give to you, my first of many "Friday Funnies":

ahhh so that's the problem!
image via Pinterest

the classic grape smashing lady fall.

it truly never gets old.

oooh oooh can't breathe!

Buffalo Chicken Garbage Bread

Garbage bread, ewww, what the heck is that?! Well, it's essentially the same thing as a stromboli or a calzone somewhat. But calling it garbage bread makes it sound like the kind of pizza my parents always used to order when they referred to it as "garbage gut." Which come find out, is great pizza. So basically, this was a big pile of delicious goodness, rolled up into some pizza dough and baked. Super easy, cheap and quick to make as well! And Jordan loves all things buffalo so I knew this would be a win-win for us and an easy dinner because these are all staple ingredients we always have on hand!

Ingredients:
2 boneless chicken breasts1 tsp. olive oil1 pizza dough (I used Wal-Mart brand and let it sit out for about 20 minutes)4 oz. of shredded mozzarella cheese4 oz. of shredded cheddar cheese1/2 cup of Franks Red Hot Sauce (or any kind of hot sauce you prefer)1/3 cup of ranch or blue cheese dressing

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 425*F
2. cube chicken, season it with salt and pepper, add olive oil to skillet and let heat up. Once skillet is ready,  fully cook chicken. 
3. Once chicken is cooked, add 1/4 cup of Franks sauce, stir, and let the chicken simmer for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside.
4. On a well floured surface, spread pizza dough into a long rectangle shape (or the best you can, kind of hard to get a perfect rectangle!)

 5. Before adding stuff onto the pizza dough, make sure you leave about 1/2 inch around all sides so when you're done rolling, you have extra dough to pinch it shut with! Add ranch dressing or blue cheese dressing (depending on your preference!) and remaining 1/4 cup of wing sauce.  Spread across the dough mixing the two together.  Add mozzarella and cheddar cheese, layer chicken on top, then layer chicken with remaining cheese.  You can also add a bit more of the wing sauce on top of the cheese if you want it to be a little bit spicier.

 6. Roll the dough like a big pinwheel. It worked best to use bigger folds and both hands to keep all of the toppings inside.

 7. Pinch the ends shut or fold them over to keep all of the goods from oozing out!

 8. Spray baking sheet with light coat of non-stick cooking spray.  Place garbage bread on the pan and bake for 20 to 25 minutes. (may need to adjust cooking time so keep an eye on it!)

 9. take out and let cool then cut into it and enjoy! 

Mmmm! This was great and will likely be making frequent appearances on our weekly meal menu now! And it tasted great with a big ol' glass of milk to wash it down, so enjoy!

bye bye blondie

Lately, I've been wanting to make some changes in my life....and by "in my life" I mean, only to my hair. It's just so much up keep with the blonde and highlights with the outgrowth. I just feel like it was getting blonder and blonder and that I was sort of "outgrowing it". Literally and figuratively. I was thinking maybe I should just keep it a more natural blonde but then I feel like it looks like dirty blonde. So I've been stuck in a dilemma: either dirty/natural blonde to avoid the outgrowth effect, keep highlighting and deal with the outgrowth, or go darker that would blend better with my natural. After much debating with myself about it, I finally pulled the trigger and made a decision. Jordan is always telling me to "be bold" and "go big or go home." So I was bold and I went big....

Paisley is the only blonde left in the house!

and going dark won out over the other choices! One day in and I already love it! I was nervous it would wash me out because of my fair skin but it actually compliments my skin tone and makes my green eyes pop! It is much more fall weather appropriate as well and who knows, maybe it will stick! And even though I'm not a blonde anymore, I guarantee I'll still have more fun!

Dance With My Father

Tonight on my drive home, I heard the song "Dance With My Father" by Luther Vandross start playing on the radio. At first I was like, "oh wow, I haven't heard this song in forever...." and then my thoughts quickly changed to, "oh wow, holy shit, this song is making me an emotional hot mess!" And I didn't change the radio station. I couldn't change the radio station! And before I knew it, I was a bawling and blubbering mess trying to sing along with tears streaming down my face! The song brought on so many emotions, all good ones, and reminded me of the most special day I've ever shared with my dad which was of course, my wedding. He constantly supported me and Jordan throughout our year long engagement (well, he always did and has, but especially during our engagement!) and he did whatever he could to help give us the most wonderful and amazing wedding that he could give us. And wonderful and amazing it definitely was. I will always cherish the pep talk we had before walking down the aisle together and seeing the smiles exchanged between him and Jordan as he handed me off. Then, my Dad totally blew us away with his hilarious and heartfelt father-of-the-bride speech. His speech left us laughing, crying and laughing some more. And the song "My Girl" will always hold a special place in my heart after dancing to it with my Dad. A simple song tonight on the radio instantly flooded my mind with some of my most cherished and favorite memories with my Dad. And it reminded me just how lucky I am to have such an all-around truly caring, genuine and loving Dad. Can't wait to see him and my mom at Thanksgiving!!

Out Of The Fog.

If there is one type of person that I have a hard time dealing with and seeing eye to eye with, it would be a person who victimizes themselves. I'm sure many people can agree with this and probably even know a self-victimizer. This type of person is no fun to associate with. And sometimes it may seem like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. But it doesn't have to be like that. So first, we need to know who and what we're working with here:

A Victim is....
1. Selfish
2. Self-centered
3. Manipulative
4. Delusional
5. Parasitic

So there we have it, a "victim." There are few things that frustrate me more than when a person doesn't take responsibility for their own words and actions. I would be lying to myself and everyone if I tried to honestly say that I've never said or done anything, whether it was intentional or not, that may have caused hurt feelings or offended someone. And you know what? That's okay because I'm human. And we can all be bitches sometimes and we all make mistakes. BUT the difference between me and a victim is that I can and do own up to my mistakes, apologize for the things I need to apologize for, and I don't let it happen again. I would like to think that any sensible, level-headed, logical thinking and respectful person would do the same. 

But unfortunately, that's not how our world works. For a victim, someone else is always at fault and to blame, they get defensive and hostile when confronted, and quite frankly, they are a drain on society and those who are associated with them. Who wants to always be around and engaged with someone in a relationship that is a constant take and take and take and take and then never get anything in return, besides of course a big guilt trip and pity party because you probably stopped giving! A victim believes that they have no control over a situation and that any and all outcomes are not their fault. They also tend to cast themselves in positive light, by again, neglecting to take any responsibility for their words/actions and making someone else out to be "the bad guy" by exaggerating and sometimes being blatantly dishonest in order to get a sympathetic response from those willing to listen. This of course, leads to people having to choose sides if a victim is a member of a family or a close group of friends. And that's never pretty.

Like I said, when dealing with a self-victimizer, it may seem like there is no light at the end of the tunnel. It can feel like a classic "damned if you do and damned if you don't" scenario. It's like as soon as problem A is solved, suddenly problem B appears. It's a vicious cycle and can lead to feelings of resentment and frustration, some that I have felt all too frequently. However, I have started to learn how to handle dealing with such people and it definitely hasn't been an easy task. I have learned that I don't need to admit to or apologize for anything that I haven't done wrong. Sticking to the truth is best. I don't think it is fair to have to apologize for something that someone else believes to be "wrong" just because they don't agree with me or have the same opinion as me. That makes neither of us right or wrong, leaves no one at fault, and no apologies are necessary simply because of a difference in thoughts, values, and opinions. I no longer retaliate or strike back because that just adds fuel to the fire. And for as an emotional person as I am, I try to remain as unemotional as possible because I think it's important to judge on facts rather than feelings. And above all, I am going to keep doing what is right and best, not only for me but also Jordan, regardless of what a self-victimizer tells me and throws at us. We don't have the time and energy to deal with victims anymore so we've decided together that we're no longer going down that road. And damn, that feels good. 

Sunday Snuggles

snug as a bug.

It's been a cold and drizzly day here all day long so that calls for some Sunday Snuggles! I actually had to work this afternoon at the hospital so I made the most of the morning and got a good snuggle session in with Paisley. I spent the afternoon at work checking on some kiddos and making sure that they have enough activities and games to keep them busy for the day. Then I hung out with the sweetest and sassiest 7 year old I know! She is a recent relapse but her spirit, sense of humor and big bear hugs would definitely make you think different. It's hard to complain about an afternoon at work when I get to spend it being inspired by such amazing kids.

Once I got back home though, it was right back to the sweats and hoody to enjoy the rest of this lazy Sunday! The afternoon NFL games were still on so I got to catch the second half of the Vikings game....as well as Jordan freaking out excitedly one minute and ranting the next. Always hate to see the Vikes lose but at least our Hawkeyes won and pulled off a huge upset over Michigan State! And since it's so cold and crappy out, I opted for some go-to comfort food tonight and we had the rest of my homemade beef stew. Yummmy! I whipped it up after making a pot roast last week then with the left overs, I added a packet of dry onion soup mix and a can of beef broth....just like my Grandma does and it was just as delicious! Now it's time to settle in, snuggle up and enjoy some of our favorite Sunday night shows, Dexter and Homeland! Hope everyone had a good weekend, enjoyed some R&R and are geared up to start another week!

can I get some daylight here??

Whoever thought of daylight savings time needs a swift punch in the face, just throwing that out there. This waking up in the pitch black to get ready for work stuff is for the birds. For the birds I tell ya! I can handle a lot of things....however, waking up thinking it's still 3am and then realizing no, it is indeed 6:35am, is the worst. It's like the ultimate worst trick ever. The past two mornings I have woke up to my alarm, looked around the room and out the window, then went to the kitchen to realize the microwave confirmed it was in fact time to wake up. Ugh, big woof. It just throws everything off. Jordan doesn't want to get out of bed. Paisley doesn't even budge. I just whine. It's really a lose-lose for all of us and offers no motivation to get up and moving for the day. Not only that, but then going to work, still in the dark mind you, working all day, going to class and then finally making my way back home, only to STILL BE IN THE DARK! Talk about an immediate self-diagnosis with SAD and that's me, right here, in the flesh. I NEED daylight savings! I can't continue to function like this in the mornings without the light! It makes me that much worse of a morning person and it is not a pretty sight... November 4th can't come soon enough!

And the good thing about it being Thursday night is that means it's kicking off another weekend of NFL football! Whoop whoop! Jordan and I are going head-to-head this week in our fantasy league and well, I'm probably going to win. He's sitting at 0-4 and I'm 2-2 so the odds are in my favor and my team is pretty solid. There's going to be lots of smacktalk going on this weekend pulling for each of our teams! And the Hawks are back in action and playing in East Lansing, MI against Sparty at Michigan State. Hopefully they come out strong, get a good lead and don't look back! Here we go Hakeema Matata (that's obviously MY fantasy team...an excellent combination of Disney's The Lion King Hakuna Matata and Hakeem Nicks) and let's go Hawks!

He's officially MR. EASTON!

As of today, Jordan is half-way done with his student teaching! Eeek! So happy and excited for him but more importantly, so happy and excited that he already has a full-time substitute teaching position lined up for the Spring!!!! Whoo whoo!! There is a teacher that teaches 11th grade Earth Science and she just happens to be pregnant and going on maternity leave right around the time he will be finishing his J-term class which means....he was offered the position for her maternity leave and officially accepted it!! YAYYYY!!! He is pretty stoked for it as he should be and I'm super pumped for him! It'll be a great thing to add to his resume and it will be a nice way to ease him into the teaching field without feeling really overwhelmed by taking on a whole year right off the bat! And the neighboring teacher to his room is the head baseball coach so he's hoping to get to know that teacher even more so he can hopefully get in on coaching any level of baseball for the school. Double score! We celebrated tonight by going to dinner at Red's, a local restaurant here in North Lib, which has awesome food and an even better beer selection. We couldn't let his first big payroll job go by without a little celebrating of course! And I made some pumpkin bread this afternoon for Jordan so we're going to test that out and call it a night! Congrats Mr. Easton, your Mrs. is so proud of you and happy for you! Those students are lucky to have you as their teacher and I can't wait to be part of your first teaching adventure!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Happy Birthday, Mom!

You are the most amazing and wonderful person 

and I am so lucky that you are my mom.

You make one hell of a mom, mother-in-law, wife, sister, grandma, aunt, cousin, and friend...just to name a few of your awesome roles and titles that you own! Without you, I wouldn't be nearly as independent and goal-driven as I because of you. You constantly support all of us and encourage us to go after what we want in life and that's something I could never thank you enough for. Some of my best qualities are a direct reflection of you and I'm proud to be your daughter and to have you as a role model in my life. You have taught me to always stay true to myself even if that means pissing people off along the way and to always put my family first. I respect you more than words can say and more than I could ever show. You are truly amazing.

Sending lots of birthday hugs and wishes from Iowa down to Texas today!
Love you, Louskilou

crock-pot pot roast...and homemade beef stew for later!

If there's one type of dinner that I love, it would be the easy crock pot meals! Throwing all the ingredients and goods into the crock pot in the morning, working the day away and then coming home to a delightful aroma and knowing all we have to do is dish up the goodness that was cooking all day....ooh boy! I love crock pot meals so today I threw together one of our favorite comfort foods: a beef pot roast! And there was a good sale going on in the meat department this weekend which is why I bought the roast in the first place! Growing up I remember always raising my nose when my Dad said we were having roast for dinner and now I love it...funny how that happens! But I have put a twist on Dad's classic roast recipe and it really amps up the flavor! The second best part of this is since it's only me and Jordan, we always have tons of leftovers so I can make beef stew after. Such a great two-fer recipe!

Beef Pot Roast Ingredients:
2-3 pound beef roast (round, chuck or rump...we always have chuck)
6-8 russet potatoes, cubed
1/2 white onion, sliced and chopped
1 small bag of baby carrots
1 packet of dry Italian dressing
1 packet of dry Ranch dressing
1 packet of dry brown gravy
1 1/2 cups of water

Directions: 1. peel, slice and cube the potatoes, slice onion then throw those along with the carrots into the crockpot. 2. place beef into crock pot on top of the veggies. 3. mix the italian, ranch and gravy packets with the water in a small bowl (helps to keep them from clumping together) and pour the mixture over the meat and veggies. 4. cook on low heat for 8-10 hours (medium heat for 6-8 or high heat for 4-6) 5. enjoy!

If you have leftovers (and you probably will if you add in extra potatoes, lots of carrots and/or have a big roast like we usually do!) here is what you'll need to make the beefstew:

1 16oz can of beef broth
1 packet of dry onion soup mix

Directions: 1. take out the meat from the crockpot and shred with two forks. 2. cut potatoes into smaller cubes if necessary. Add meat and veggies back to the crock pot. 3. add the beef broth and dry onion soup packet and stir together. 4. place crock in refrigerator to store if you plan to eat it the next day or in a freezer safe tupperware to enjoy on a cold day! It defrosts great and tastes just as good as it was fresh from the day I made it! We like to pair it with some crescent rolls and a big glass of milk! Perfect for a chilly fall or winter day meal!

cinnamon apple cheesecake with streusel topping

fall flavors on a plate. and in a glass.
you know you want it.

Well, if it's not already obvious, we are obsessed with the fall, especially all of the flavors and smells that come with it. So I couldn't resist making this awesome dessert once I saw it floating around on Pinterest. I had never made cheesecake before until this so I was kind of hesitant at first but once I got done making it, I realized it was actually a lot easier to make than I would have thought! My only problem with the recipe was and this was entirely my fault because I got way too excited and ahead of myself to realize the mistake....I made the crust and cooked it in the pie pan BEFORE I realized it needed to be in a 9x13 pan. Of course, the whole "cheesecake bars" thing didn't make sense to me until after the fact. Beginner's mistake! The only thing I did different because of this since in the pie pan it was soooo much thicker, I cooked it for about 20 more minutes and it still turned out amazing! I think this will be my contribution to our family Thanksgiving dinner along with my never fail and always amazing puppy chow! We paired this delicious dessert with an Angry Orchard Cider Beer and it made for an awesome Sunday snack...and probably Monday morning breakfast, minus the beer. Or will I minus the beer?! Who knows! If you have apples you want to use up and feel the itch to whip up something besides apple crisp, I would highly suggest making this because you won't be disappointed!
I followed the recipe from The Girl Who Ate Everything blog and it turned out great! Besides having to add extra cook time, I'll mark where I made some changes from what she did! So here's what you'll need:

Crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened 

Cheesecake Filling:

3 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened **I only used 2 1/2 packages**

3/4 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons, divided

3 large eggs

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Apples:

3 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and finely chopped

**I used my food processor to really get chopped up fine and super tiny...I didn't want big apple chunks like apple pie**

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

**I added a few extra pinches of both cinnamon and nutmeg to add extra flavor with the apples**

Streusel Topping:

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup quick cooking oats

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, softened

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, combine flour and brown sugar. Cut in butter with a pastry blender (or 2 forks) until mixture is crumbly. Press evenly into a 9x13 baking pan sprayed with cooking spray or Pam of some sort. Bake 15 minutes or until lightly browned.

In a large bowl, beat cream cheese with 3/4 cup sugar in an electric mixer at medium speed until smooth. Then add eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Pour over warm crust.

In a small bowl, stir together chopped apples, remaining 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Spoon evenly over cream cheese mixture.

For the streusel topping:
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients. I like to really combine it by using my clean hands to thoroughly combine the butter into the mixture.

Sprinkle Streusel topping over apples. Bake 40-45 minutes, or until filling is set. Drizzle with caramel topping and let cool. Serve cold and enjoy! Make 16 servings.

Off to the Pumpkin Patch we go!

fun fall day together!

Charlie Brown and his Great Pumpkin

best seat in the patch

Today we did one of my favorite fall activities....we went to the local apple orchard and pumpkin patch!! Because of the nasty spring weather and frost that we had combined with the brutal heat in the summer, I was bummed to find out that they had lost a lot of their apple crop. So we were unable to pick our own apples from the trees but we still got to enjoy some freshly made and still warm apple turnovers and some piping hot apple cider! Umm YUM! I would have been happy and satisfied right then and there! But Jordan was bound and determined to walk down the giant hill, across the field and to the pumpkin patch to search for THE PERFECT CARVING PUMPKIN (his words not mine and in all caps to really get across his enthusiasm for the perfect pumpkin...) So we made the walk and got to the pumpkin patch and started the search. And searched. And searched. We even set a few pumpkins out and carried them around to compare with other pumpkins because you know, we had to have the two most PERFECT pumpkins. And I think I devastated Jordan a little when finally I said, "well I think I just want to decorate mine and maybe not carve it..." Man, with the look I got after that comment, I'm surprised I'm still alive! Apparently pumpkins of this caliber are strictly for carving and showing off then making roasted pumpkin seeds with all the guts! Anyway, after freezing our buns off, tripping over one too many pumpkin stems and debating between some solid choices, we found the perfect pumpkins! But this didn't happen before I started calling him Charlie Brown and saying that he was searching for the Great Pumpkin....fall festivities at its finest! Now the search is on the find the PERFECT carving template and design! 

safety first! let's not mention we were driving with
the gas light on but hey, the PERFECT PUMPKINS
were good to go!

the only logical way to carry a heavy pumpkin
with hot apple cider...boom box it!