How about a non-Friday favorite post??

I told you all that I went to Mayra's baby shower almost two weeks ago.

Well I have pictures to prove it!

Enjoy!!

Mayra, the cutest little pregnant lady! Seriously I think her belly looks to cute to be real!!

Food! Mayra made the cake pops by herself! So cute and delicious!!! 

The whole picture taking thing was kind of an after thought, so they are all pretty much of Mayra opening gifts.

Sad news, we didn't even take ONE photo together. : (

Just another reason to go visit. 

And to meet my pseudo-niece : )

Want to see what I made the little munchkin? 

Two little dresses. I was going to make another, but considering that I made one the hour before I left, I didn't have time.

Another reason to visit!!! 

Until next time!

Friday Favorites

Someday soon this blog will be more than just Friday Favorites....

Someday....

1) I went to Mayra's baby shower last weekend and it was soo fun!

We had plenty of girl time which was awesome! Mayra- I'll send you some pictures/post them when I get a chance. Maybe this weekend, maybe Tuesday. : )

2) We also watched "The Lucky One" with Zac Efron. It was pretty good.

I had read the book last summer, and the movie followed it quite well.

3) I am done with classes!!

4) My stupid Political Science project is OVER!!! We worked on it all semester.

4) Oh! Sam and I celebrated our second wedding anniversary on Monday. There are limited options for dining in Pocatello that aren't too expensive, so we went to the Golden Corral. Wouldn't suggest going on a Monday night.

5) I got to talk to my sister this week! Always love that!

6) Chuck and I made super good fried chicken. Here is the recipe. The only thing we would change is using less ginger, it was a bit over powering. And Sam said in the sauce that you make, maybe use less soy sauce

 (soya sauce=soy sauce).

Well I'm off to study some more for finals! : (

Good news is I'll be finished Wednesday!!! : )

Until next time!

Weekend Review

This was a odd weekend compared to the ones that I normally have.

I braced myself all week with the knowledge that we wouldn't get to leave the dreadful city of Pocatello.

So when Friday finally came it wasn't the most awful feeling in the world.

We had to stay here this weekend because Sam and I both had our interviews.

Sam's was Friday and he think that it went pretty well.

They send out acceptance letter March 29 and 30.

My interview was Saturday. Everything went pretty well.

They had us take a reasoning test which was super lame.

One of the questions was like this:

An ID badge or guest pass is required to get in the maternity ward.

What does this mean?

A) If you are in the ward you have to have an ID badge.

B) If you are in the ward you may have a guest pass.

C) If are were not allowed in the ward you did not have a guest pass.

And blah blah blah

It was slightly ridiculous.

But I did it and got it done.

I should hear whether I am accepted by April 1.

Hopefully we will both get in and be one step closer to finishing.

After my interview, the weather was absolutely beautiful.

So we went and got some frozen yogurt.

Then Sam's parents came down to take us out to dinner.

We went to the Red Lobster. 

It was delicious as usual!

We all love seafood, so the Red Lobster was a no brainer.

Did you guys do anything fun this weekend??

Let me know!

Seriously!

Until next time!

Peanut Butter Pie

Today I am sharing with you the most coveted recipe in my family.

The most coveted dessert at ANY and ALL family gatherings.

It's called Peanut Butter Pie. 

My aunt makes it for every holiday and makes one for my Christmas present each year, because I love it that much!

 You only need one bowl, a measuring cup and a mixer.

Here are your ingredients. 

Peanut Butter Pie

4 ounces of softened cream cheese

1 cup of powdered sugar

1/3 cup of peanut butter    

1/2 cup milk

12 ounces cool whip    

2 gram cracker crusts

Directions:

Using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until fluffy.

 Add the peanut butter and powdered sugar. 

Blend together. 

Blend in the milk. 

Fold in the cool whip.

 Poor into the crust. And freeze until firm. 

This may or may not have been my second piece. : )

Eat this baby and enjoy.

 I also may or may not have had this for breakfast today.

Don't tell. 

Until next time!

One Tough Cookie

My Chuck Sam has been sick for the last week.

And when the boy is sick, he is a little tough to deal with.

He just gets grouchy and whiny.

But he also becomes more of a push over when it comes to buying things.

For example, I love donuts. 

And pretty much want to buy them every day.

Or least every time we go to the store. 

Normally the boy is a serious tight wad and says no.

But this week, we bought donuts TWICE.

You read that right folks.

We bought donuts two times in one week.

The first time we bought six, and I am ashamed to say that we ate them all by the time we got home.

Do not judge me. Nor my Chuck.

Today we bought a dozen donuts and a pizza. 

The oven in our apartment is really terrible. Like the temperature is whack. 

It burns pretty much everything we try to cook.

So we cooked the pizza today and it was completely burned on the bottom.

So the unusual husband of mine said to buy another.

And we did. 

And it burnt that one. But not as bad.

The point of this post is to say that even though Chuck is grouchy when he is sick, he is a lot looser on the money front. 

His sick all pays off in the end. Sort of. 

Until next time!

Cookin' and Bakin'

I've been cooking and baking up a storm these days. 

Trying lots of new recipes. 

And enjoying all the new delicious food that goes with new things.

Here are the recipes that I have tried lately.

Reese's Pieces Cake Bars

Lemon Chicken Gyros

Chipped Ham BBQ Sandwiches

Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

Thick and Chewy Chocolate Cookies

5 Minute Nutella Chocolate Cake

Roasted Cauliflower

Lots of new recipes.

 And I have probably made them all within the last two weeks. 

And I have loved everyone of them!

Yum yum.

Have you guys tried any new delicious recipes lately??

Let me know!

Until next time!

Pizza Pizza

Remember yesterday when I complained all about my life here in Idaho?

Well I still don't have anything nice to say about Pocatello, but kind of okay city is Idaho Falls. It's the FOURTH largest city in Idaho. 

Can I get a what what?

Thanks.

Anyways, so I heard this ad on the radio about a New York style pizza joint.

And while the New York accent that was attempted really sounded like a Jersey accent, I figured I would try this pizza out.

So Sam and I went there, me being the New Yorker a little skeptic, that anyone in Idaho could replicate my beautiful New York pizza. 

Let me tell you I was converted. 

The pizza was so good. It tasted just like the pizza from my home town.

I was in love. And pretty much want to go here ALL. THE. TIME.

You may be wondering what this fancy dancy place is called.

Well I was getting to that.

Lucy's Pizzeria.

So delicious and not make you want to cry expensive.

If you are ever in Idaho Falls, you HAVE to check it you. 

I promise you won't be disappointed. 

Just plain cheese is my favorite, but they do have a dang good Buffalo Chicken pizza.

Let me know if you ever go and what you thought.

Until next time!

Christmas

I know Christmas was approximately 17 days ago, but I figured it's never too late to post about it. Just like I figure it's never too late 

for me to send my sister her Christmas presents.

Ha.

Here is a run down of my Christmas day.

We woke up and proceeded to open some presents. 

And then we ate some breakfast.

Got ready for church. 

Went to church.

Came home and started preparing our crab dinner.

Good thing we didn't prepare too much.

Because Sam then proceeded to go upstairs and get sick a few times.

He fell asleep for a while.

I proceeded to eat Top Ramen for Christmas dinner.

Pretty sad, I know. 

Then I am not exactly what I sure did to pass the time.

Went to bed. 

Here are some pictures for you to enjoy of our Christmas.

Until next time!

My Day.

Today was one of those lazy days that was beautiful. 

Sam and I originally planned on going skiing.

But we woke up at 8:00, checked the weather and the high was going to be like 25 degrees, which isn't bad, but the wind

was going to be around 29 MPH up to 44 MPH. 

So we nixed that plan and fell back asleep.

We woke up for the second time at 11. Sam went downstairs, while I stayed in bed and watched Sex and the City. 

Then Momma Syd did a little knock knock knock at the door and said that

we were going on a little pony ride. 

I got up took a quick shower and then hopped on my pony. 

I just about had a heart attack. Now folks I have ridden horses before, but sometimes the fact that there is a half ton animal between my legs and it could kill me or seriously harm me, gets to me and I get a bit more

freaked out. Now the horses that Sam's parents own aren't the typical horse that you are imagining. They are called Norwegian Fjords. (These are my in-laws actual horses. The link is to the actual horse I rode today. Pronounce like echo)

They are cute little buggers and generally very calm. 

But like I said I still get scared. The one I ride is pretty chunky. She is on a strict  diet and in what we call "The Fat Girl" pen. 

Ekko wouldn't exert anymore energy than required.

Anyways. After said pony ride. We loaded, more like I watched, a bunch of 

stuff in the truck to take to the D.I. 

Then we went out to eat. Were planning on going bowling, but it was league night, so here I am at home, with no other plans that to watch some more Sex and the City. 

Do you guys have any fun New Years plans??

I'm going to party with some friends from New York that are in Rexburg for school. I can't even wait!!

Until next time!

Beyond Happy

Today I am beyond happy that two of my three finals are over.

That's right folks, OVER, doneso, finished, never to be thought of again. (Well I will think of them again when I get my scores)

Today I had my anatomy final at 7:30 am. Cry. And then at 10:00 I had my statistics final. Sooo happy that one is over!

Also for other good news today, I sold back my chemistry book. I got $50 for it, even though I bought it online and spent $2.75 for the book and like

$5.00 for shipping. Sheer profit.

Awesome! Sam took me to lunch at Five Guys. I love that place. Some serious good food.

Now I need to go and stick our dinner in the crock-pot! We are having mole chili. What are you guys having?

Until next time! 

Things

Just a couple of things. I am no longer freaking out, to the point to crying my eyes out, about school. It was really just

my statistics class. Because I had absolutely no idea how to anything.

I can still hardly wait for finals to be over. I finish Wednesday 

Sam finishes Thursday. Thursday will be a 

happy day because we get to leave Pocatello for almost a whole month. And then I get to spend endless amounts of time with cute little 
Lecil. Can't wait. She is fun!


Here are some things that I have been doing while avoiding studying for finals.

This cute little Christmas Sprocket Pillow.

Sam gave me some moral support and made the fabric buttons. 

I love them they are so cute!

I pinned this mac and cheese a while ago and just got

around to making it. Sam will have you know

that he did help with this meal! For the recipe go here.

For now I am in the throws of studying my brains out 

and attempting to finish up some pajama pants.

Until next time!

Monday : (

Obviously you all know that today is Monday. I am quite unhappy about this. I wanted my break to last a little longer and never have to come back to school. But alas break ended and here I am at school waiting for class to get over.(Yes I am writing this in class. Statistics is extremely boring.) Break was a lot of fun and a lot of travelling. There were hardly any days that I didn't travel for more than an hour. I will give you a run down of my break.


Friday 11/18- Finish school/anatomy test, pack apartment. check in at new apartment, cry because I hate it(more on that later)


Saturday- Move entire apartment to our new apartment, drive 1 hour to Idaho Falls


Sunday- church


Monday- play with the new puppy and hang out


Tuesday- leave for Bountiful, Utah 3 hours away


Wednesday- Go to Provo, Utah to visit my step sister 1 hour away, go back to Bountiful and play a billion games of Settlers of Catan


Thursday- stuff my face, go back to Idaho Falls 3 hours away


Friday- wake up at 5 am to go to Joann Fabrics (what was I thinking?!) go home, pack for skiing, travel about 2 hours to ski resort, and ski for a couple hours


Saturday- Go skiing from 10-2ish, travel 2 hours back to Idaho Falls, go out to eat


Sunday- pack everything from Sam's parents and travel 1 hour to Pocatello, realize I left my birth control in Idaho Falls and drive back there.


Folks that is 16 hours, when you count the round trips, of driving that I did over break. Yikes mcgikes. At least I only have one week of classes left, then dead week and then three finals until Christmas break. I will be completely done with this semester come December 14. Hallelujah! I can hardly wait. Hopefully Christmas break won't be as chaotic. I know that there will lots more skiing which I am so excited for. I'll post the very few pictures that I took over break later! Hope you guys had a great break(if you are still in school). 


Until next time! 

No bake cookies.

These little babies are currently on my counter setting! I haven't had some no bakes in a long time. My sister used to make them all the time, but

I haven't been around long enough to enjoy any if she has made them.

I called her on Sunday to get a recipe for them and she was like oh

yeah I'll email them to you in 10 minutes. Well I still haven't gotten that recipe! What a jerk. If you are reading this Joanna, I have some fighting words for you! ahah. But I got this recipe off of The Brown Eyed Baker. Most of the recipes that I looked at were basically the same. I just choose this one, because everything else I make from her is delicious! Well now I am going to go and enjoy these bad boys! 

P.S.- Sam smelled the chocolate/peanuty goodness and asked me if something was baking. I told him no. ha Maybe I won't tell him about the cookies and see how long he takes to notice them. I give it 5 minutes after I eat one!

Until next time!

Butternut Squash Soup

About a year ago, maybe a little more, my friend had a bridal shower that 

I went to. One of the dishes there was 

Butternut squash soup and it was seriously sooo good. It came from Kneaders. For those of you who are not from Utah, Kneaders is

this great little restaurant that is famous for their all you can eat french toast. Well it just so happens that they make super delicious soup.

Ever since then I have wanted to make some of this soup. But I never found a recipe, actually I never even looked for one. But I go the craving for

some the other day and hunted the web for a recipe

that had a picture that looked similar to the soup I ate. Most of the ones I saw the soup looked pretty runny, this one looked perfect. I found this great food blog called the Brown Eyed Baker and she had this recipe. I made it and it was amazing! Just like I remembered it to be. P.S you should totally check out some of her other food, AMAZING. 

Here are a few things that I did differently. I didn't steam the squash because I don't have that contraption. So I just cut them in half, took out the seeds, and plopped them in the oven at 350 for 

about and hour. Then I tried to take into account how much water would have been used in them steaming process. The recipe calls for 6 cups of water. I used 4ish and think it was a little too much for my liking. The soup was a little bit runnier than I wanted. But you should definitely try the recipe!

It is seriously so good and pretty easy to make!

Until next time!

Apple pie!

About a month ago I helped my momma-in-law can a bunch of apple pie filling. When I say a bunch, I'm talking it took us two days to get it all done.

One on the jars didn't seal all the way, so I took it home,

to "test" it out. It was soo good. I wish

the crust that I made was a more flaky,

but that was probably my own fault. Sam and I gobbled this baby right up. 

Mmm thinking of pies, I can hardly wait until Thanksgiving!!!!! My favorite holiday!

Until next time!! 

Chocolate Zucchini Bread.

I had gotten some squash and zucchini from my upstairs neighbors. They had been sitting on my counter for a little over a week and I needed to use them up. We used one of the squashes for a side dish for dinner, but with the zucchini, I made some chocolate zucchini bread. Well technically I made one loaf of bread and twelve cupcakes. The recipe that I used makes two loaves but I only have one bread pan. Anyways you can find the recipe here. I like this website, because the comments are always helpful. People just add what changes they made and how it affects the recipe. So go check it out and read some of the comments. Here is the way I made mine.

Ingredients

• 2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
• 3 eggs
• 2 cups white su
• gar
• 1 cup vegetable oil
• 2 cups grated zucchini
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate until melted. Stir occasionally until chocolate is smooth.
2. In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil, grated zucchini, vanilla and chocolate; beat well. Stir in the flour baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean.    

Like some of the comments suggested, I mixed all of the dry ingredients together with the chocolate chips. And slowly added this to the wet ingredients. I baked the cupcakes at 350 for 30 minutes, but that was too long, as mine were a little burnt on the bottom, or as my grandpa says, they had a little black stuff on them. I would suggest 20-25 minutes but check them. I didn't have unsweetened chocolate squares, so I just used three tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa and one tablespoon of butter for one square of chocolate. I also added 1/2 cup of sour cream to make sure the bread was moist. I believe that applesauce would work. These were seriously so delicious. Now go make some! Until next time!

A dye and cream puff

Well I colored my hair. Again. It's actually been almost a year since I dyed my hair. Last summer I got on a little hair dying kick. First I dyed it a kind of red and kept it that color for the summer and then when school started I colored it dark brown. At least it was supposed to be dark brown. Instead it turned out black. It faded over time and then just washed out. This time I purposely dyed it black. It's not pitch black, but I like it. I will post some pictures later. When I actually get around to taking some pictures. Also today Sam and I made some creme puffs. It was the first time that I had ever made them but they were super good. And they weren't that hard to make at all. Like with my hair, I will post a picture and the recipe for them at a later time. This weekend has been pretty mellow, just hanging out around the house, doing some homework and making and eating good food. For our hot Saturday night date, we went to the laundry mat. Ha. Pretty embarrassing. BUT. Since Sam has not looked very hard for a washer and dryer, we are stuck going to the laundry mat. It's a grand life that I live. Until next time!

The Holidays Part I

When I was in elementary school I had this friend named Mike and every year on the last day of school before Christmas break started we would always say, "See you next year!" and it was probably the high light of my grade school years. I loved it because it the saying sounds like it will be forever until you see each other again, but thus it's not the case. Any way there is a point to this rambling and it is this, I HAVEN"T POSTED SINCE LAST YEAR!!! haha. I know I am kind of lame.

So I realized that I never posted any thing about what Sam and I did for Thanksgiving yet, so I shall attempt to catch you up a little. This Thanksgiving was a little different than last year. On Wednesday we drove up to Bountiful for a dinner with Sam's sister, Mindy. His parents also came down from Idaho. Then we drove up to Idaho that same day. On Thursday we didn't really do anything Thanksgiving-y. It kind of made me sad, but I survived. We did go and see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I. I thought it was a good movie, and that it followed the book really well, but I think that they changed things and added things that didn't need to be there or there was no need to change it. I love the books so the movies are usually a let down for me. Then we went bowling. Sam's parents love to bowl. It's a lot of fun to do all together. Sam and I bought season passes to Grand Targhee, a ski resort on the border of Idaho and Wyoming, so on Friday we went bowling. It was a lot of fun, but a lot of work. Then later that night we drove up to Rexburg and got to see Jill Hirsh. She is a girl from my home ward and comes from the most amazing family. I hadn't seen her since she left for her mission. It was so nice to see her and her sister Bethany. I love that family. I can't remember what we did on Saturday. We came home on Sunday. It is normally a 4 hour drive, but we hit traffic right around Pocatello, ID and Bountiful, UT so it ended up taking us about 6 hours which was pretty frustrating.

I don't have pictures from Thanksgiving, Sam's family isn't as much of a picture taking family as mine. I'll post about our traveling Christmas break soon!

Until next time!