Happily Ever After: 3 years

Boy how time flies! Seems like not long ago we were driving to Manti on our way to get hitched with butterfly stomachs. Yesterday we celebrated our 3 year wedding anniversary, and since we were also married on our 5 year "dating" anniversary it made for 8 years worth of celebrating!

We have been wanting a smoker for quiet some time now and decided that's what we wanted to do for each other for our anniversary gift instead of going on a trip for the weekend as we initially had talked about. (Besides, a smoker lasts longer anyway :) We've had a lot of fun with it and have put it to LOTS of use in the short week or two that we've had it. We have done brisket, ribs, chicken (a couple of times), pizza, and today I made some s'more cupcakes on it. Yum!

So we decided to stick around town this year which was fun. We both took the day off of work and it was nice to kind of kick back and just spend all day together. We started the day off with a trip to Kneaders for an all-you-can-eat french toast breakfast. If you haven't had their french toast, you are missing out, it's amazing! We then went "out on the town" (I just like to say that..) and hit up Sportsman's and the mall and just bummed around for the most part. We followed that up with a nap (while we're not 80 yrs old, this was rather enjoyable), a trip to the theater to see Moneyball (great movie), and then dinner at Costa Vida followed by snugglin on the couch while watching our favorite Monday evening TV shows. To some, it sounds like a run-of-the-mill type of day, but I think Brad and I both could agree that it was awesome. I really love that we, for the most part, are perfectly content just doing little things and enjoying each other's company. It doesn't have to be anything extravagant to be just as memorable or enjoyable. Simple is good, life is good.

For those of you who are wondering if we still even have faces anymore...it's been a LOOOONG time since I've posted photos of Brad and I, so proof that we do is below.And of course, what's a post...or celebration for that matter, without pics of Charlie? He was very excited about our anniversary too as you can see.

Preserving the Summer

I may have just found another domestic hobby that I enjoy...canning. Seems like I have been going crazy the past few weeks canning any and everything (watch out Charlie! You might be next!)

This year was the first for Brad and I to have a garden--benefit of renting your in law's home while they are away--and while I absolutely HATED the prep work to plant--both Brad and I have really enjoyed watching our little plants grow, produce, and feed our bellies!

Our intent for the garden was to be able to can salsa, but our tomatoes have seemed to have had a tough time ripening enough at once to do so, so we have been enjoying fresh salsa throughout the summer and it has been delicious! We planted the tomatoes, onions (next year will be better now that I know to break up the onions in the pkg you buy and plant them individually rather than in the clump you buy them in, haha! They each seriously got to be about the size of radishes, but were good none-the-less), green peppers, jalapenos, habenero peppers (while plant shopping I recognized the name from the Food Network Channel and bought 3 plants...turns out one thing I DIDN'T remember was that they are way high up there on the "hot" scale for peppers...good thing we like spicy stuff and I only bought 3 vs 6 jalapeno plants we planted), zucchini, yellow squash, lemon cucumbers (that we only saw a few of has Lucy really seems to enjoy them and frequently treated herself to them before we could pick them) and some poor bean plants that never made it through the cold beginning.

After finding a canner at Walmart for $19 (best $19 I've spent in a long time), I decided to start preserving some of our summer goods! Here is what I have put up so far:

• Strawberry Rhubarb Jam (done earlier this summer with my mom--totally yummy)
• Jalapenos (pickled)
• Peaches
• Pears
• Rhubarb-Orange Jam
• Peach Freezer Jam
• Apricot Freezer Jam
• Applesauce (to come in the next few weeks)
  

I guess I have been rather ambitious this year, and hopefully this doesn't come back to bite me next year by making me look bad if I don't produce the same results! Nothing like a healthy competition with yourself eh? Overall I have really enjoyed preserving food and am looking forward to expanding our garden next year for even more opportunities!

Recent Happenings

Well, it's obvious I've been a terrible blogger lately. So here is a "catch-up" post of what we've been up to.

July

• After over a year of dreaming and talking about it, we bought ourselves a 4 wheeler. We have had a lot of fun on it so far, and enjoy going out and spending time on it together. And when I say "together" I mean, all 3 of us--including Charlie. He loves the 4 wheeler like you wouldn't believe. As soon as that thing starts up, Charlie is barking and crying in excitement. He may be a little obsessed. He LOVES to run while we ride it, and we were impressed at how well he did, we thought for sure he'd be all over off the trail and running off but we quickly found that once he got so far ahead of us to where we couldn't see him any more, he'd be stopped in the middle of the trail looking back and waiting til he could see us again. I think we were both amazed, and it really is cute to see him looking back every so often to see if we are still coming, with his big ol' tongue hanging out the side of his mouth and the happiest look you'd ever see on a dog's face
  
• My parents also have a 4 wheeler, so we took a trip up to Fairview one weekend to camp and ride ATV trails. SO MUCH FUN. The weather was absolutely perfect, the scenery was beautiful and we rode over 70 miles on various trails that weekend. Luckily, for Chuck, we rigged up what is known to us as "Charlie's Hillbilly Box". It's a wooden "basket" of sorts for Charlie to ride in on long trail rides (while he loves running next to or a head of the wheeler, there is no way that big pooch could've survived running over 70 miles that weekend). He loves riding in the box, luckily and surprisingly, and it works out perfect for longer trips! (see photos below of this glorious invention).
• We went to Arizona. Brad's brother, Steve, moved down to Glendale for dental school and so we traveled down with him to haul a U-haul trailer with our truck. Let me just tell you, the Phoenix/Glendale area is no where I would want to be for longer than 5 minutes. Talk about melting! (I really hope that Steve is surviving). It was such an intense heat! Of course, Charlie came along for the 13 hr drive and seriously slept in the backseat THE ENTIRE ride. Amazing! I thought for sure we'd have a stir-crazy 60lb dog on our hands, so I was happy about that! (I have some hilarious photos of Charlie's sleeping positions on the trip, but they aren't on my comp right now. I'll put them up sometime). Traveling home we took a different route, through Tuba City, AZ into Monument Valley and finally into Blanding to spend the night with my Aunt Kim and her family. (We were so thankful they were so willing to house us for the night on such short notice! Cutting our journey home into 2 days sure made it more tolerable.
• Brad celebrated his 25th birthday the day after we returned from Arizona. We spent the day with a trip to Cabelas, went to the theater, and cooked up some awesome steaks (I am not a steak person, but I will say, these ones were delicious!) with garlic mashed potatoes, a caesar salad and finished it all up with some brownie cheesecake. Happy birthday to one the best guy's I know!
  

August (thus far):

• Charlie survived to see his first birthday! What an accomplishment! If you know anything about Charlie, you know he's had one heck of a life. From being on his death bed as a tiny tiny puppy, to constant battles with stomach issues, and most recently a fall out of the 4 Runner--while MOVING-- followed by a dive into the creek while for a ride up Provo Canyon. Talk about an intense year! He has grown up A LOT over the past year though, and is turning into a really great dog. We love his guts. I don't think I have ever laughed as much as I do now---he is the ultimate goof with a ginormous personality.
• I made one of the hardest decisions I have had to yet. I interviewed for, and was offered, a graphic design job for a publishing company in Springville. But, after much back-and-forth with myself, and a few tears I decided to turn the offer down. After weighing all pros and cons I just felt that this was not the right opportunity at the right time for me, even as difficult as it was because opportunities for junior designers are rare and I had been on the look out for such an opportunity for probably 6 months. But, as I said, I just didn't feel it was going to be the best fit for me right now---for numerous reasons---and so I am hopeful there is something else around the corner for me in terms of designing. I have been doing a lot of stuff, freelance, in the past month or two and have been really enjoying that. So we'll see where it leads!

Here are some photos of the "hillbilly box" on our Fairview camping trip.

It's Great To Be A Cheapskate!

Ever seen the TLC series "Extreme Couponing"? Those people are INSANE. They have found ways to save up to 99% on their grocery bills---that are usually over $500. I don't remember if it was just after, or just before, seeing this show for the first time that I decided I wanted to try and find ways to save on my groceries. I grocery shop once a week, and over the past 6 months I was seeing a steady $10-$20 increase on my grocery bill---and I pretty much buy the exact same things every week. It really was getting ridiculous. So I decided to give couponing a try...and let me tell you I think I have found an addiction---only this one is beneficial and SAVES money.

Here are a few of our latest steals:

20 tubes Crest toothpaste (reg size) Retail : $40 / We paid : $ 8
30 boxes of Ronzoni Pasta Retail : $60 / We paid : Not a penny, FREE!
10 boxes of General Mills Cereal Retail : $30 (roughly) / We paid : $7.50
10 boxes of Betty Crocker Cake mix Retail : $ 20 / We paid : $10
5 boxes of Cascase Dish Detergent Retail : $20 / We paid $12.50
10- 18oz bottles of Dial Body Wash Retail : $30 / We paid $10
4 bottles Purex laundry soap Retail : $16 / We paid : $4
2 Lysol Toilet bowl cleaners Retail: $6 / We paid : $1.50
2 Lysol Kitchen Disinfecting Sprays Retail: $6 / We paid $1.50
2 Lysol Bathroom Cleaners Retail : $6 / We Paid $1.50

Total Retail Costs: $234
We Paid : $56.50

Call me an old lady, but I get so excited to run home from work every Tuesday and start searching through the grocery ads! I have had people ask me what we are going to do with all of that stuff, and my answer is always "food/hygiene storage". These are essentials that we use on a daily basis, (okay--except for maybe the cake mixes--but then again....) and it's nice to know that if money ever got super tight we would still be able to go about our daily lives as far as (some) food and hygiene is concerned. (Looking to build up the food end of our stock).

Another thing that people bring up is the fact that I "end up spending more money than if I were to just buy one item". And yes, initially I do pay "more" because I buy more than one item---but when I can buy 3 for what I would normally pay for the price of 1, why not buy multiples?! In the long run this saves us a lot of money because it's stuff we use on a daily basis---in a couple weeks or so I'd be guaranteed to be buying the product again. I could spend $3.00 upfront every two or three weeks, or $10 upfront and not have to buy that item for 7-8 months.

So, needless to say, I can't wait to add to our stock pile!

Camping: Vernon

Okay....is this not one of the happiest faces you've ever seen? Who knew a dog could be so expressive! This pooch is so happy because he was on his very first camping trip!

This weekend we had plans to go to Moab with my parents but through a series of unfortunate car problem events on both their end and ours, it didn't end up playing out. So, having bought all of our food, the day off work Friday, a new tent, and a compulsion to escape what we know as "everyday life", Brad and I decided to load up the 4Runner for an overnight trip to Vernon Reservoir.

Charlie had never been camping before...and well....if you know Charlie at all, you could imagine what type of images were playing through my head as I envisioned this overnight trip with him. In a tent. Surprisingly he was a really really good dog! He loved every minute of it including the car ride there and back because he could stick his head out the window full speed. Never once did he cry during the night and just hung out with us around camp and the campfire, relaxing.

We set up camp, built a fire (Charlie LOVES sticks...so this part was interesting as he kept stealing them out of the fire pit while Brad was trying to start the fire), roasted hot dogs and just enjoyed each other's company. While it was no Moab it was a nice little get away for us and we all really enjoyed it! Pics from our trip:

Charlie has to be involved in EVERYTHING. Including the driving, and he can often be found taking over the center console in the front seat of any car we are driving.


Doing what he loves best on car rides...if we let him I'm pretty sure he'd hang out the window by his back toes.
"Family photo", the best one we got this trip:

"Helping" with the fire:


Our campsite and new tent

Bountiful Baskets

I don't know how long it's been that our brother & sister in law have tried to get us to sign up for Bountiful Baskets...but after finally giving in and trying it I would say it was too long! I'll admit, I have gotten pretty excited and had a lot of fun trying to find ways to use the goodies from our basket. One of our latest experiences was using the diakon we were given (it's like a white radish, from Japan) ---we ended up putting it in a stir-fry and I took a liking to eating it raw.


Another trial I've faced was finding a way to use the 6-8 sweet potatoes we were given, and the only reason this was tricky is because Brad does not like them--and I wasn't about to down all of those on my own. So against my taste buds better judgment I found a recipe and gave it a try. And that recipe was for muffins. A Sweet Potato-Banana muffin. (Maybe not news to some people, but I didn't know such things existed). And they. are. AWESOME. And the best part is, Brad even likes them! Yahoo, mission accomplished! You can check out the recipe here, (which is from a website dedicated solely to North Carolina Sweet Potatoes) if you're interested in trying them yourself. I substituted cinnamon for the Allspice.

I am excited to see what this week's basket brings. I'm always up for a challenge. Bring it on!

(And thanks to Dave and Jana, and a few others, for insisting we give this all a shot!)

A Quarter of a Century

It's true. It was my 25th birthday last week. And I have lived to tell about it.

I had a great day, with my side of the family coming over the night before to celebrate. For the occasion I made these oh-so-Erica-esque cupcakes to share. (Brad family is doing a combined bday party for Tom and myself this weekend, and I'm excited to get to see all of them then).


The morning of my birthday I woke up to Brad making me a yummy French Toast & bacon breakfast. We followed that up with a trip to the Peppermint Place--which happened to be having a way-to-good sale on their candy and chocolates. I was literally a kid in a candy store!
Afterward, Brad had to go to school for a few hrs so I worked on a graduation announcement and when he returned we headed out for a night on the town--which included going to the theater to see The Lincoln Lawyer (good movie--and I'm not just sayin that cause Matthew Mc-hottie-hey is in it), dinner at Goodwood & then a trip back home to grab Charlie and head to the duck park to hang out for the rest of the evening.

While I'm not expert in life, there a few things I have learned in the quarter of a century of my little-world:

• Never be afraid to follow your dreams--no matter what that means (I know I've said that before).
• The older you get the more you appreciate your parents and everything they have done for you. I could never ask for a better friend than my mom, or a better role model than my dad. It's too bad it takes as long as it does to realize that--and some never do.
• After parting ways--in a sense--after highschool graduation, you will always miss your true friends--even when surrounded by others you love. Sometimes I find myself tearing up as I take strolls down memory lane, missing those two silly sisters who I was once totally and completely inseparable with until the craziness of "adult life" reared it's ugly head--whatever THAT is.
  
• When in an argument with someone you love, sometimes you just have to laugh it off and try to forget who is wrong or right. This usually, and often, happens when Brad realizes that I have said something really stupid in my attempt to make a point when I'm angry. Which of course makes me want to be even more angry, but it's pretty much impossible to take the topic seriously after that.
  
• Family--and those few amazing friends---are absolutely irreplaceable and often taken for granted.
  
• True love is someone who still agrees to sleep in the same bed as you even when you do crazy things in your sleep---and REAL true love is someone who will laugh with you about it at 3AM after waking you up to tell you what you did or said. EVEN ON A WEEKNIGHT.
  
• Money isn't everything. Who woulda thought!? ;)