November 2014

November.....was fairly normal. I was taking Spanish 1010 this semester so life seemed REALLY busy. We hosted Thanksgiving again this year, but this time with my family. Thanksgiving was so late this year it really felt odd. So here you go, our November adventures!


Allan has been going to Crossfit for sometime now and has been getting stronger! We're trying really hard to live healthier lifestyles, and for him this is how we works out. :)

Granted, living healthy is hard so every once in a while, we need a deep fried fix. :)

I made some new thanksgiving decor for my house. Love these banners.

We went to a silent auction the YSA ward put together for a fundraiser, and I got these SUPER delicious cupcakes that looked like a tv dinner.

 Just enjoying a lovely fall day

Veteran's day! We always go out to eat, and this year was so no exception...

After a dinner and games party with friends we got the lovely opportunity to drive home through the canyon in the snow. NOT my favorite thing in the world.

A new fall wreath for my door:

 Cotton Candy!

 We finished our laundry room project in November, but I already did a whole little diddy on that project here....

Thanksgiving prep! I made my favorite cranberry sauce and a brine for the turkey.

Our thankful turkey with thankful thoughts from everybody on it.

 Rusha!

Games while we waited for the food to be done...

The golden bird.

My favorite thing about fancy meals is getting to set the table all fancy like. :)

All the girls went out shopping early for Black Friday. Gotta start them young!

Fun times with Rusha and Sammy!

We went to visit Allan's mom and she had the most adorable kitten....

And that folks, was November! On to December!! :) Just a warning, I think I'll do December in two chunks....just so it's not so long. ;)

My most favoritist stuffing

So, there are some things at the holidays that I just have to have to eat. My mom has an Apricot-Craisin Stuffing that makes my heart oh so happy. I have decided to share it with the world because the world needs this stuffing. It is THAT good.

So, here you go:

Mom's Apricot - Craisin Stuffing                                                              350 degrees - 30 min.

 

1 - 10 oz. pkj. Mrs. Cubbison's stuffing (make sure it is cube style)

1/3c. butter

1c. chopped onion

1c. chopped celery

1 - 14 oz. can chicken broth

1c. finely chopped dried apricots

1c. craisins

1c. chopped nuts (pecans or walnuts)

 

Melt butter in saucepan. Add onion and cook until translucent.  Add chicken broth heat until very warm.  (do not boil) In a large mixing bowl pour in stuffing, celery, apricots, craisins and nuts. Pour broth mixture over top.  Toss lightly, do not over stir. Pour into a 13 x 9" cake pan. Cover with foil or lid. Bake 20 minutes.  Take foil off and cook 10 minutes more.

Happy Thanksgiving EVE!!!

Happy Thanksgiving eve everybody!

This year Allan and I are hosting his Mom, Gary, his brother Peter, his brother Fred and his wife Judith. We're very excited to have family over and to get to play games and eat good food. :o)

I have been posting pictures of my prep and such on Instagram and thought I'd share them with you.

On Monday I made Cranberry-Pomegranate sauce. I love this recipe!

Here we have my FAVORITE Cranberry Jello Salad. It's not Thanksgiving for me without this salad. We also have the brine I'm using for our turkey that I got at a turkey farm here in Ogden.

This is LeRoy the turkey. Yes we named him. It makes everything so much more exciting. :o)

And here's LeRoy in his brine bath.

So there you go. The beginnings of Thanksgiving dinner. I'll be posting many more pics over the next few days - we have friends and family coming over Friday and Saturday and we're going to play and decorate and do all sorts of fun things. :o) I'm excited!

Once Upon A Time....

I got engaged!!!!!

That's right! It's officially official! I'm getting MARRIED!!!! I am so excited and stoked to get to marry my best friend. Last night was AMAZING.

It all started shortly after we both got home from work, Allan suggested that we go to the Blue Iguana for  dinner. This restaurant holds a lot of memories for us as it is one of the places we went near the very beginning of our relationship (before we were officially dating, in fact). The food was delicious as always.

After dinner Allan suggested that we go to the Gallivan Center Outdoor Ice Skating Rink. This was something we had seen as an idea to do this weekend, and I was so excited to get to do that with him. :o)

At one point I gave Allan a really hard time about not having a ring yet...and he teased me by suggesting that it would happen up in his hometown because he knows the area better over there. Not five minutes later we were on the ice again "dancing" in the middle and he looked at me, told me he loved me and I said, "I love you too!" and he then said "really? well then...." and he got down on one knee pulled out my ring and asked me to marry him.

my ring. this picture doesn't do it justice. It is gorgeous!!

:) :) :) :) :) 

I said yes and that folks, is how I got engaged to my best friend last night! I'm so excited to start the process of planning this wedding and start our life together. :)