happy 2 months

ammon and i have now officially been married for a little over 2 months. to commemorate this slightly epic event, i left a few decorations around the apartment for ammon to come home to. the decorations included a few streamers, balloons, and this beauty:

as you can see, someone got really lazy when it came to coloring the dinosaur.

how come when we were kids, it seemed much easier?

ammon came home from work and really enjoyed the decorations. funny thing about the decorations... ammon didn't notice them all at once.

initially he noticed the poster. that's good.

10 minutes later... the balloons. (i think he stepped on one...)

the next morning: "oh and you put streamers up! when did you do that?"

this put a smile on my face. :)

these past 2 months have been a blast! here are some highlights:

classic skating!

this was my first time in YEARS! i survived. barely. only one fall and i even attempted going  backwards.

my favorite was watching ammon! he had better moves than i did.

after classic skating, we went and got pizza in provo. while waiting for it to get done we went on a walk and took some pictures. anybody know where this is?

 the following picture is of me holding my finally finished quarter collection! when i found it, alaska was the only one missing. (i guess i put my collection in storage that long ago.) in case of an emergency, i officially have twelve dollars and fifty cents! that's enough to buy a large pizza at pizza hut! oh thank goodness.

probably the most embarassing highight from the past 2 months is re-living our childhood days with computer games. my favorite: rollercoaster tycoon. his favorite: age of empires. 

we are pleased to announce that a good amount of theme parks and empires have succesfully been made under our care.

 the following highlight is about ammon's brother. who happens to be a genius. so i'm pretty excited that this highlight also includes me. after a good game of blokus with ammon, nephi and i decided to see if we could succesfully place all the pieces on the board using 90 degree symmetry. for you math nerds, you know what that means. (did i mention i'm a math nerd?) needless to say, we were pretty excited when we did it:

 al'right. last but not least! we got a beta! his name is minion and he is the best fish either of us has ever had. he is the most curious thing. any time you place something by his bowl, he swims up to see what it is. if it scares him, he swims away like a scared dog. if he feels threatened, but brave, he will puff his little angry face at you!

and yes... there is a dinosaur in his bowl



Pumpkin and Chili?

ammon and i have been looking to eat healthier and as a result i came across a recipe worth sharing! it is pumpkin chili! the great thing about this recipe is that it's easy to make, tastes just as good (if not better) as leftovers, is fairly healthy, lasts for many meals, and is inexpensive.

side note about this recipe: your house will smell like Thanksgiving. this was a really weird experience due to the high temperature outside and lack of family members hanging around. but the smell goes away and it makes a good chili any time of the year.

probably one of my favorite things about this recipe is that a 15 oz. can of pumpkin puree is just enough to make the chili and my all-time favorite: pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.  so while the chili was cooking on the stove, i made pumpkin chocolate chip cookies. ammon and i enjoyed sharing the cookies with neighbors and eating them oursevles for days. along with the chili. i will use this recipe time and time again!

Pumpkin Chili

Rated: Submitted By: BMWRIGHT69 Photo By: comicfairy Prep Time: 20 Minutes Cook Time: 1 Hour Ready In: 1 Hour 20 Minutes Servings: 8

"Ground beef and kidney beans are joined by pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice in this fall twist on chili!"

Ingredients:

2 pounds ground beef  (i used ground turkey)        1 large onion, diced 1 green bell pepper, diced 2 (15 ounce) cans kidney beans, drained 1 (46 fluid ounce) can tomato juice 1 (28 ounce) can peeled and diced

tomatoes with juice 1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice 1 tablespoon chili powder 1/4 cup white sugar

Directions:

1.	In a large pot over medium heat, cook beef until brown; drain. Stir in onion and bell pepper and cook 5 minutes. Stir in beans, tomato juice, diced tomatoes and pumpkin puree. Season with pumpkin pie spice, chili powder and sugar. Simmer 1 hour.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © 2012 Allrecipes.com Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies Recipe from Joanne Brown Ingredients: 1 1/2 C sugar 1/2 C butter 1 large egg 1 C canned pumpkin 1 tsp. vanilla 2 1/2 C flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. baking powder 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. salt 1 C chocolate chip cookies Directions: In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add egg, canned pumpkin and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Gradually add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture, beating until smooth. Add chocolate chips. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-16 minutes. falling in love every day with the same person moment: ammon and i subbed in the nursery today. i loved watching ammon interact with the little kids. he's such a sweetie and a tease all at the same time and i just know he's going to make a good dad. i fell in love with ammon again this morning.

summer lovin'

i have always loved the summer season ever since i was in grade school. but nothing beats summer AND being married all in one.

here are the recent summer lovin' happenings:

art city days

art city days were fun. we sat in the grass eating cotton candy and listening to various bands play.

the following sunday ammon and i were craving chocolate cake.

we didn't have very much butter, but we did have mayonnaise.

and guess what? mayo makes the most delicious, moist, chocolate cake i've ever tasted!

here is the recipe:

Chocolate Cake

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 eggs
1 2/3 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mayonnaise
1 1/3 cups water

Preheat oven to 350ºF.

Grease and flour 2 - 9" round cake pans.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and baking powder. Mix well and set aside.

Beat together eggs, sugar and vanilla in a large bowl for 3 minutes, using the high speed of an electric mixer. Mixture should be smooth and creamy. Reduce speed to low and beat in mayonnaise until blended.

Add flour mixture in batches, alternating with water, in 4 equal additions (1/4 of the flour, then 1/4 of the water etc). Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the center of the cake springs back when lightly touched or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake is clean when removed. Cool in pans on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from the pans and allow to cool completely before frosting with your favorite frosting.

Serves 10 to 12.

Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 ozs cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/4 C unsalted butter, room temperature
• 4 C sifted powdered sugar (You can decrease this amount if you don't care about it being as stiff for piping)
• 1/2 C cocoa powder

1. Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth and creamy.
2. Mix in powdered sugar, one cup at a time.
3. Mix in cocoa powder

(we doubled the amount of frosting to fully cover the cake)

now my last item of business. acrylic nails. i hate them so much. i got them done for my wedding day. a month and a half later, i am pleased to say i finally removed the last nail! here is what was left over:

i will NEVER get acrylic nails again. ever!

creativity

a couple days ago, ammon and i made cookies!

one of our co-workers, Chad Hansen, took pictures on our wedding day and we wanted to show our gratitude in a creative and delicious way.

here is what we came up with:

we had a lot of extra cookie dough. so we made some for the neighbors as well:

aren't they cute? i'm sure the neighbors would have loved them! 

                                     ...but we ended up eating them...

but hey! at least chad got his cookies. and we got our pictures. :)

perspective

in the movie, Ratatouille, a hard-to-please food critic orders some  fresh, clear, well seasoned perspective
he is given ratatouille, a dish that brings him back to moments spent in the kitchen during his childhood
this pleases him and he gives an astounding review

a few weeks later, i was swinging on a swing with my head upside-down
i've always done this, but never really knew why
then it hit me, i did it because because i saw things with a new perspective

a few weeks after that i was pondering in the temple, and again, the word perspective stood out to me
i prayed to see things how God wants me to see things
i prayed my perspective would be changed with his help
then maybe the things that i have been worrying about might go away

right now, i am looking back and i see that this prayer is being answered
my perspective is changing!
negative thoughts are hard to replace; especially the ones about yourself
but i feel different. better. and i'm so grateful for the gospel that is helping me gain a new perspective on things