Innovations

Alex and I decided during FHE a few weeks ago that we were going to try one new meal a month. We had gotten several cookbooks for our wedding and we are going to put them to good use.
The first one we decided to try was from a Campbell's book which is really simple because a lot of their recipes involve a can of soup. They had some interesting ideas, but one of them called "Maccaroni Bake" sounded worth a try. The first time we made it though it seemed kind of bland. Here's where the innovation comes in. The second time I made it I thought to myself, what would make cheesey noodles taste better.... hmmm what if I added some oregano? and what's even better than campbell's cheesey soup but REAL cheese! So I dumped three different kinds of shredded cheese into the mix. Then when it came to the topping - bread crumbs - I thought plain ol' bread crumbs. I wish they were Italian, so I added Italian seasonings and it was surprisingly scrumptious!!
For our second choice this one wasn't really a new recipe, but a new idea. I LOVE soup and bread, why not put them together. A coworker told me about Bear Creek's creamy potato soup. It sounded yummy so when I made it, instead of all water and soup, I did half water and half milk. (that heats up extremely fast, keep an eye on it) The milk makes the soup so much creamier. I also took inspiration from our previous innovation and added CHEESE. Yes we LOVE cheese in our house. So with a few different types of cheese just melted right in it was, again DELISH!!! It has become a favorite and we have it often. It's a good comfort when it's cold outside.

Life is full of time to experiment... wait did I hear that from Alex ;) But wherever you do it, the kitchen, the garage, with electronics or your wardrobe it's always fun to mix it up a bit. It may not work out the first or last time you try it but at least you tried. Of course I left out the times it hasn't worked :)

What new things have you guys tried?

Journal Entry

So last week we decided to finally do something about our mattress that definitely was not holding up to its end of the deal. Sagging in the middle, whether it was actually happening or subconsciously, we just couldn't stay away and always rolled towards each other. Some would say this is a positive thing when you're newly weds. However, imagine always sleeping scrunched with the person next to you. Not cuddled or relaxing, SCRUNCHED. So our solution - take the mattress back and say good bye to the strangely popular SUPER PILLOWTOP!

This is how our plan got a little muddled. We had to take our mattress back and get our refund before we could buy a new mattress. Well we looked and looked and looked. After a tough week at work and a night learning how to swing a golf club, my back could definitely tell when it was getting relief. We found a mattress Monday night that was SUPREME!! It actually made me feel relaxed. The only problem was that, of course, it was the last night of the sale. SO the challenge was, take the mattress back, get the refund and return to the original store to purchase the second mattress before they closed... Clever people will see the potential problem with this. Well it was raining and we needed a truck. So we hurried home, stripped the mattress, loaded it in Jacob's truck and returned it. THEN we called the gentleman who said he'd wait at the store after clossing for us to come pick up our new mattress.


Wouldn't you know, the lady accidentally switched the phone system off when they closed at 8. Meaning we couldn't get ahold of the salesman. So, yes we were without a mattress for the evening and thus we improvised.....

Alex made us a bed out of every blanket we could find and then some. It was like a nice little sleepover camp-out in the living room. I don't know if I'd call it fun at the time, but for sure a fun journal entry to always remember that AWESOME experience.
So what I've learned from Alex during all of this is, "if you can't do anything about it, there really isn't a reason to complain. So enjoy the ride, cause it'll all work out."

LOVE YOU HUNNIE

PS We did get our new mattress the next day, thanks again to Jacob and his AWESOME truck. And so far our mattress has definitely been all we could ask for, without all the fluff, it's just a plain old mattress! Now we sleep next to each other by choice :) We are sleeping fantastically. So I say to you all, sometimes fancy is not always better ;)

I've got some blogging to do.....

So pretty much the whole month of October needs to be blogged about. Here we go.
The very beginning of the month we invited Jacob and Elaina over to try our chicken salad in a pita and they brought corn on the cob.
The corn on the cob was a tradition from Elaina's family. Grilled and then with the right seasonings.... DELISH

We'd braved the "dangers" of a pressure cooker and it was well worth it

I have never had such tender shredded chicken from frozen to cooked in 20 min. I LOVE the pressure cooker! Thanks Rachel

LAKE POWELL
The next day we took a trip to Lake Powell with the Martins and Thorums.

We stayed in a trailer, which I've never done before. We loved being in Lake Powell with everyone. Playing games and taking trips on the lake were all in a good days' play!

We all learned to wake surf and although it looks easy, Carter and I will tell you it's work to learn how to get up.

Hang Loose

Surfin' USA - I left out the pic. of Ryan with the rope in his outh on purpose ;)

Dur, Liv and Carter made the most divine chocolate brownies

Everybody worked hard, but these girls are tuff!

The last day there was pretty crazy wind and we got a little wet....

WITCHES
October means withces!!!! and Gardner Village.

This witch and mom think alike... ;)

Watch out PorSha!!

We had such a fun day. Jus the girls

Saturday Night Live.... at the batting cages

Nice helmet

And then we took our turn at the driving range. It was a first for Elaina and I, and kind of Carter. I think we all did pretty well. It's a lot harder than they make it look on tv. I give them props.

Good Job Al!

He was a great teacher

Everyone could use a little help....
One, two, three, fore.........

Carter probably improved the best. It was a lot of fun!

We were wtching out for stray balls

This is where Happy Gilmore got his move

All in all it's been a very successful October so far and it's not even Halloween yet!!
I LOVE OCTOBER!

Family Night, with some friends

My parents know how to bring us together..... ROCKBAND with the Beatles!!! That's right, my parents bought The Beatles Rockband for us to play, when we bring our rock band to their house. ;) And it was AWESOME!!! So finally my parents know the songs we were playing and singing which meant we were all singing along, even if it wasn't our turn.

Do they know The Beatles or what? ROCK ON mom and dad

It was only fitting to use my English guitar

We decided to share our family night with our neighbors, the Grays, who just happened to be sitting on their porch when I took my fresh air break and invited them over. They did pretty well considering they'd never played rockband before, and didn't know any of the Beatles music... that's just blaspheme.

And this of course was dessert. So maybe dad just happened to hear us mention that we should have caramel popcorn because he pulled out Grandma Randall's famous recipe and we DEVOURED IT!!!

Thanks Dad and Mom, for the popcorn and rockin' with us to the BEATLES!

Eat, Fair, FUN

So this Saturday was breakfast with the girls and we brought 2 of my nieces to share in the fun. PorSha wanted oranges and salad for breakfast. She has always been our little rabbit, but man she could brush her teeth a little more..... ;) Crazy that Lexus is Ben's child because she can down chocolate milk like you wouldn't believe. (Ben doesn't like anything chocolate)

The Utah State Fair is kind of a tradition with us... yes we have a lot. So mom took us girls for a fun Saturday afternoon. This was a needlepoint of Harry Potter that I saw in the craft section. It only won second place.... I was impressed either way. They were such good sports at not showing how nervous they were standing so close to these sheep. baaaa

We decided to take a picture of me with a goat (or a sheep as Lexus kept calling them) for Alex, he's allergic and thought he'd get a kick out of it. We didn't plan on the goat sticking his tongue out while we were taking the picture.

Elaina was so excited to see the cows. The cows were too busy eating to smile for the camera.

PorSha almost looked like she was born to be a rodeo queen. That wave came so naturally to her.

Now Lexus is a goat.... yes it's a goat Lexus, not a sheep.

I really like moose. But I wouldn't have one hanging on MY wall.

I don't know what kind of flower this is, but it was beautiful. And whoever submitted it to the fair didn't win, but I would have voted for it.

All PorSha wanted was a fan, and my goodness she has the talent for that too.

It was hot, but the snow cones and ice cream bars cooled us down. The fair's always the same; always traditionally fun!!! THANKS MOM

Ready, Aim.... what am I doing again?

With Friday off, Jim decided to take us to the shooting range. It was so much fun, warmer than last time and it seemed like I'd completely forgotten how to shoot. There was a really nice guy there to help correct the things I was doing wrong. Then he just kind of made me nervous. I don't know what magazines these are for, but we had a 9 mil, 22, and our 40 cal. Beretta Cougar.

That Cougar's got some kick.

Jim, Elisabeth, Alex. Al gets really into his target shooting, that he covers up the holes he's already made with tape so he can see when he makes new ones. I just try to tear it up as much as possible.

Papa Bear shooting his new gun. Thanks for the ear protection!

The master, and the student

And when we got home we were both so tired we had to take a nap. I had to post this picture because after our nap Alex had to have chips and salsa - kind of a daily thing, and he was so into his salsa that he couldn't even stop to really smile he just kind of kept eating while smiling. He loves that salsa!! My man is HOT :)