A Magnificent Weekend

So with finals out of the way and the semester done, it felt SO amazing this weekend to be able to just relax and not have to worry about anything.... (until Tuesday, for me, that is ;) ). Sam and I hardly knew what to do or where to start! Finals ended Wednesday and boy were we glad! The line for the testing center on the last day stretched out of the testing center, all the way across campus, past the library  to the JKB! Luckily my finals were in-class finals and Sam got in line when it was only in front of the Eyring Science Center (he still had to wait 2 hours to get in). WHEW!

Thursday: I had to work during Commencement till about 4pm. Then we had a shopping date in Orem at the bank, at Target, and at Winco and had a blast!

Friday: After work we met Sam's fam in Salt Lake to eat dinner, walk the temple grounds, and we were going to spend some time checking out City Creek Mall but it closed at nine and there wasn't much time (for next time!). We had a great time! I will be honest, my heart did flutter a little when I saw all those draft horses pulling carriages in downtown Salt Lake. It's been years since I've ridden! So fun to see them.

That night it felt so good to go to bed and not set an alarm!

 Nothin' like true love at the temple :)

Forget-Me-Nots!

 Bleeding Hearts

 The flowers at the temple are exquisite, oh my!

 The above pink-ish tulips had the most amazing LONG stems! Probably a foot and a half to 2 feet tall!

Saturday: Sam and I woke up and made french toast!!! We had about a tablespoon of syrup, so we improvised and made homemade blackberry syrup with water, jam, corn starch, vanilla, and a spoonful of sugar, and it actually turned out pretty well (for what we had and no recipe, haha)! Then....

We played LOTR Risk! Oh yes, we did (we even nerded it up to the extreme and listened to the LOTR soundtrack WHILE we played! Rolling dice was never so intense). 

It really was a lot of fun! I forgot how great this game was... Did I mention Sam totally whooped me? This was his face of glee at the victory of his strategies:

And this was mine (hehe):

Then we jogged to Kiwanis Park and played Frisbee and relaxed in the grass for a while, soakin up some rays. The sun's finally come, and even brought some warmth with it! It's going to be 77 degrees this Sunday! YES!

 Best Buds :)

On to finish the weekend with the temple, church tomorrow, and preparing for Spring term classes for me and work for both of us! Looking forward to a change of pace. 

Fantastic Food Finds: AMAZING Apple Dip!!!

Okay, everyone. So you have to try this apple dip Sam's mom found and made during conference weekend. It's only two ingredients:

1- Vanilla Greek Yogurt (it's gotta be the greek, and it's gotta be the vanilla)
2- Peanut Butter
*I don't know the exact measurements, but the dip should be a creamy beige or light tan (basically to taste... whatever proportions you prefer)

It's healthier than the cream cheese/brown sugar dip AND tastes a lot like Nutter Butter filling! Booyah. Let me know what you guys think if you try it!

Food Recommendations

Sam and I have been LOVING trying out new recipes here and there. We've also been lucky to find some very delicious treats we hadn't seen or heard of before and thought we would share them with you. Trust me... once you try these puppies you'll never be the same. (Or you will, but you'll just really like them :D )

RECIPE 1: "Mighty Meatballs with homemade Honey Mustard Dipping Sauce"
the recipes can be found here: http://acozyplacecalledhome.blogspot.com/2013/01/migthy-meatballs-honey-mustard-sauce.html. Sam took one bite and made his "I'm in heaven face." They are super tender, moist, and flavorful. We substituted a few ingredients with what we already had (spices, mainly) and added a little dollop of sour cream to the meat mixture. YUM!

RECIPE 2: Super Fast, Delicious, Easy, and Ooey Gooey Caramel Corn (from Allrecipes.com)

Serves: 10-12     Yield:12 cups

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup corn syrup

12 cups popped popcorn, old maids removed

Directions:

1.)    In a saucepan, bring to a boil butter, brown sugar, and corn syrup.

2.)    Place popped popcorn in large bowl and drizzle caramel mixture gradually over popcorn, while tossing and stirring to coat evenly.

3.)    Make sure to scrape the bottom as the mixture settles.

   

  RECIPE 3: AMAZING KEY LIME PIE

  This key lime pie is to die for! NOTE: if you freeze it and eat it partially frozen it's extra refreshing and not QUITE as rich... it is super rich, though, so be forewarned! Recipe here: http://babygabespage.blogspot.com/2009/06/key-lime-pie-yum.html

RECIPE 4: Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies (I think from Allrecipes.com too)

Original recipe makes 2 dozen

 1 cup canned pumpkin

 1 cup white sugar (*or half white / half brown sugar)

 1/2 cup vegetable oil

 1 egg

 2 cups all-purpose flour

 2 teaspoons baking powder

 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon (*add a little nutmeg too!)

 1/2 teaspoon salt

 1 teaspoon baking soda

 1 teaspoon milk

 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Combine pumpkin, sugar, vegetable oil, and egg. In a separate bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, ground cinnamon, and salt. Dissolve the baking soda with the milk and stir in. Add flour mixture to pumpkin mixture and mix well.

Add vanilla, chocolate chips and nuts.

Drop by spoonful on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for approximately 10 minutes or until lightly brown and firm.

*NOTE: I like to substitute part of the oil or all of the oil with applesauce!

AMAZING TREAT FIND 1: Black Raspberry Dark Chocolate ice cream... WHOA. 

This is definitely one of my new all-time favorite ice creams! One spoonful and you're a changed person.

AMAZING TREAT FIND 2: Blood Orange Sorbet.

So refreshing! And blood oranges have such a beautiful color and wonderful flavor!

The Washing Machine Whisperer

A simple touch, and water flows through the pipes in perfect melodious glug-glugs. They call him...

...the Washing Machine Whisperer.

Actually, we were blessed with a total miracle this week. A few weeks ago we found this washer on ksl.com for only $40 and we jumped on it. A super nice family in Herriman was selling it (they had bought a new set and didn't need this one). We were thrilled to not have to go to the Wash Hut! We did a few loads and it worked beautifully. Then it went crazy during one load. Our washing machine decided to stop draining and the diverter wasn't working right either. Apparently we have some weird australian washing machine?! The design is really neat though and we like it a lot (and for $40?! awesome.). We were so busy and stressed with school stuff, though, that we decided to leave the problem for a day or two and then figure it out. We rinsed and wrung out all our clothes in the bathtub and hung them to dry. A couple days later I came home from a study group to see our home like this:

Did I mention old washer water SMELLS?!?!

Anyways, we were worried about needing a new part and figured that'd probably cost more that the machine, so instead Sam decided to research and found Youtube videos on how to fix and troubleshoot our very machine! He found out there was a "secret" service manual hidden in the control board, unscrewed it, found it, and read through it and figured out how to trouble shoot each major part of the washer (what a smart cookie and handyman! sheesh!). Everything was working fine, though. So we finished draining it and flushing water through the system, and then put in a couple towels and started it up to see.....

AND IT WORKED! We've done laundry successfully since then and are so grateful for this blessing and miracle from the Lord. Even though we could easily have gone back to baggies of quarters and trips to the Wash Hut, Heavenly Father blessed us with a working washing machine that apparently has no problems. So grateful! Hopefully it'll continue to work! :)

Oops I did it again!

Has it really been since November?!?! I am the worst blogger who never actually quit. Though things have been fairly busy. Spring and Summer should be a little better! I'm so happy to update this fun blog finally! Welcome back, everyone. :)

So... I guess I'll start with a small series of posts that sum up how the last few days have been... Stay tuned :)