The Payton Periodicals

Happy Two Years to us!

2011-12-12T08:00:00.021-06:00

Happy Anniversary Jared! We have been married for two years today! We have yet another year under our belt. Last year, for our 1-year anniversary we spent a romantic (snowy) weekend in Breckenridge, Colorado (pictures at this post) and I also wrote a blog post listing all of the memories that we made our first year of marriage (that post is here). I wanted to do that again this year because as time goes on, the little memories and funny moments are easily forgotten. I even went back and read that post from last year and was reminded of several things that made me smile.

Here are just a few memories from year 2 of marriage (2011):

We spent Christmas 2010 in Florida with my family for ten days. While there, we had a wonderful time with my family and friends. We had such a special Christmas with my family. My memories from this trip include: Dennys' Christmas Eve, Jared and Thomas gaving matching plaid PJs, Dad's amazing cooking, Jared's birthday at Dunkin Donuts and bowling, Christmas night at Granny and Papas with everyone, our flight home to Colorado was cancelled so we stayed an extra day in Florida.
Spending New Year’s Eve with Jared’s family in Estes Park, Colorado. Jared and I staying in our own bunk house on the rental property. I remember Jared and me in our sleeping bags staying up late chatting about our excitement for the future and wondering where we would end up.
Jared's last semester as a Graduate student and job search began in January 2011.
My birthday spent in downtown Denver.
I started my Etsy business in January.
Our car battery dying one day, the next day we had a flat tire and that night getting a call from campus police that our car was broken into. At the time it was not funny but looking back, it was quite a memory. Bad things happen in threes right?
Spending all of Valentine's Day weekend applying to 50 universities in Jared's office.
UNC Hockey games.
Seeing the Footloose musical .
Both of us getting strep throat at the same time. Wonder how that happened?!
Jared passing his comprehensive exam in order to receive his Master's degree .
Jared's traveling began with his on-campus interviews; Texas, Arizona, etc.
Driving to Boulder, Colorado frequently to watch see the snow melt into spring.
Spending Easter with Jared's family
In May, Jared graduated from the University of Northern Colorado with his Master's, the same weekend Jared's twin sister Kirsten got married in Colorado (which was also Mother's Day weekend) Let's just say it was a busy weekend for us.
Jared surprised me with my bend-wood rocking chair AND reupholstering my bar stools.
Finding out Jared was hired at Baylor University and we would be moving to Waco, TX in July 2011
My brother Thomas visiting us in June to spend some time with us in Colorado before we moved to Texas in June 2011.
While Thomas was visiting us in CO, we made the 6-hour drive to go camping in South Dakota near Mount Rushmore. While driving through Wyoming, Jared got his first speeding ticket. We camped in one of the most amazing camping sites. It was located in a wooded area on a big lake. We went hiking and exploring around the lake and went exploring. We did "hard core" camping with a tent and sleeping bags but no air mattresses AND I cooked almost all of our meals over the camp fire.
Taking Thomas to the Rocky Mountain National Park and driving up to 12,000 feet. There was 20 feet of snow on both sides of the road and we got out to hike and take pictures. We started at 5,000 feet and it was 70 degrees and it was June, we were wearing shorts and flip flops.
Jared and I went camping just the two of us in Estes Park, Colorado. We had the weirdest camping spot where we had to walk right next our neighbor’s tents every time we went anywhere. We had a wonderful time together hiking through the woods, getting ice cream in downtown Estes and taking the shuttle up the mountain to see the snow…in June!
Renting our Penske moving truck, packing it full and the night before we were supposed to drive off from Colorado to Texas, the car towing thing came off the truck in the middle of an intersection in Greeley. We waited on the side of the road for hours for the Penske people to bring us the proper equipment. Because we had so much trouble, they gave us a big refund when we returned the truck in Texas!
Making the 16-hour drive in our Penske Truck moving from Colorado to Texas (our 3rd state of residency in 1 1/2 years of marriage!)
Arriving in Texas on July 1 and experiencing the hottest summer Texas had on record. Over 80 days in the triple digits.
Taking a vacation to Florida to visit my family after we had moved into our new place at Baylor. Jared breaking his foot the 2nd day of our 10 day vacation in Florida.
Jared starting his new job as a Hall Director of an all male hall at Baylor.
I started selling my handmade headbands and scarfettes on consignment at a local craft store and making over $300 my first month (in headbands!)
I did some job searching for a job at Baylor and I landed two part-time jobs in one week.
Us adopting our first dog - Wylee (pretty much on a whim one Saturday.) We found him on Craig's List and we waited in the Kohl’s parking lot for the owner to meet us.
Me - Getting hit by a car as I was walking through the parking lot on my first day of work.
Watching Late Night with Jimmy Fallen almost every night in bed and laughing so hard that my eyes would water, so I would take my glasses off to wipe my tears of laughter and I look over at Jared and I said “we have turned into my parents!”
Baylor Football games and all the other fall Baylor festivities – homecoming, Christmas, etc.
Paying off our first car that we bought together!
Spending our 2nd Thanksgiving as a married couple by ourselves and having a wonderful time relaxing, decorating and eating at Cracker Barrel
Black Friday shopping all night on Thanksgiving night, into Friday morning (funny story from that night at this post)
Spending our 2^nd wedding anniversary in Austin, Texas!

Dearest Jared,

Year two has been even more wonderful than year one. The memories we have made together are absolutely priceless and I hold them so dear to my heart. The life that we have together is more wonderful that I ever could have imagined. The unconditional love that you have for me runs so deep. Your patience, forgiveness, encouragement, kindness and mercy never seems to run out. You have the ability to make me laugh so hard even when I’m at my lowest. I love our adventures of moving across the country (a few times) and having new places to explore. Even in the routine of everyday life, you make things fun and exciting. I love how we have to ability to be thinking the same thing at the exact same moment. You have taught me how to be more giving, merciful, and patient with others. I truly appreciate your leadership with our little family in everything, especially spiritually. You represent Christ in all you do. I love you more and more each day and I can’t wait to make many new memories with you. You are my hero, my bestest friend, and I love you with all of my heart.

Your Loving Wife,

Carlee Joy

Thanksgiving

2011-12-07T09:48:00.000-06:00

Thanksgiving week could not have been more wonderful. Yes, we were by ourselves on an empty campus and Yes, we missed our families but have a 5-day vacation and we enjoyed every minute of it. It was our 2nd thanksgiving as a married couple but our first by ourselves. We slept until 10am everyday, watched NetFlix, decorated for Christmas and I cooked some of Jared's favorite meals:

Cheesy Chicken Casserole
Homemade Pizza
Chili
Cheese Tortellini with spinach in Alfredo sauce
Cinnamon Rolls
Christmas Cookies
Pumpkin Pie Bars (see recipe below)

Pumpkin Pie Bars is one of Jared's favorite recipes. It is a Payton family staple during this time of year. His mom would make it for Thanksgiving and Christmas most years so it is a dessert that Jared requires during this time of year. I wanted to share the recipe on my blog because it is always a favorite in our home:

Pumpkin Pie Bars

CRUST:

1 pkg. yellow cake mix (Reserve 1 cup for topping)
1/2 c. melted butter
1 egg

FILLING:

1 (14oz) can pumpkin pie filling
2 eggs
2/3 c. milk

2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice*

TOPPING:

1 c. reserved cake mix (dry)
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 c. butter (softened)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease bottom of 9 x 13 inch pan.

2. Combine crust ingredients: cake mix, egg, and butter. Press into pan.

3. Mix pumpkin, eggs, milk, and pumpkin pie spice. Pour over crust.

4. Mix topping ingredients and sprinkle over filling.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour and 15 minutes. (Top is crusty!).

6. Serve with whipped cream.

*Pumpkin Pie Spice:

4 TBSP ground cinnamon
4 tsp ground nutmeg
4 tsp ground ginger
3 tsp ground allspice

(Mix ingredients and measure out 2 ½ tsp for this recipe. Store leftover spice in an airtight container.)

Wednesday (before Thanksgiving) we decorated our apartment for Christmas. This is our 3rd Christmas as a married couple and each year we have lived in a different apartment (and in a different state.) It's always fun finding a new place for all of my Christmas things.

Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) we watched the entire Parade! I cannot remember a Thanksgiving when I actually watched the entire Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I made Jared cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Around 2:00pm we decided to have our "Thanksgiving dinner" at Cracker Barrel. We thought that because it was 2pm and because it was Thanksgiving that it would not be busy. Well -- we were mistaken, big time! We had to wait almost 45 minutes to get a table for just two people. The food was delicious though.

Thanksgiving night at 9:00pm - we headed to Wal-Mart for the Black Friday deals, which started at 10pm. Wal-Mart sets up their black Friday deals on pallets, wrapped in plastic around the store and people are just there hovering around them, waiting for 10pm so that they could start tearing through the plastic to get into the deals. There was no line, no order, just hundreds people hovering and waiting. Jared and I were waiting near the $10 Wii games and at 9:55pm, we heard a commotion nearby and we looked over and saw pancake griddle boxes being tossed in the air (yes, they were literally tossed) but those of us waiting near the video games, knew it wasn't 10:00 yet so everyone was hesitant but then I yelled "Go! Go! Go!" and everyone went crazy tearing to the plastic-covered pallets. Jared I just started grabbing whatever we could get our hands on. Once I had my hands full, I realized I didn't want anything that was in my hands so I just threw it all back. We also got $5 blu rays and several TV series that were $12 (regular $40)! We went straight over the the dvd section then to check out and we were out of there by 10:15. Next - we went to GameStop and waited in line outside for their midnight opening. At around 12:45am, we headed to Target. After grabbing all of our deals at Target, we stood in line for 1 hour and 30 minutes. We made it home by 3:00am to sleep for 2 hours then we were up at 5:00am to be at the Joann's Fabric 6:00 opening. After Joann's we went to the mall to check out Forever 21 and the department stores. We were home by 9:00am with almost all of our Christmas shopping done!

Friday - we slept most of the day to recuperate after our long time of shopping.

Saturday - we did more shopping and I wrapped all of the gifts I had bought up to that point.

We had a very productive Thanksgiving week and I really appreciated the time I was able to spend with Jared. We made it special and we made some fun memories.

Lately...

2011-11-16T16:10:00.004-06:00

I'm still here...I promise! And we are doing great too. My new work schedule has left me with very little precious free time and that time is when I get to spend with my husband so blogging just hasn't been a priority lately. Here is an example of what a week looks like for me:

Sunday
1:00pm - 6:00pm = Starbucks

Monday through Friday
8:00am - 12:00 = Baylor Office of the Registrar

Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday
7:00pm - 11:00pm = Starbucks

So my time off in the afternoons are very productive with house chores, baking, and crafting. However, it means that when Jared gets off at 5:00pm, we only have about 2 hours to eat dinner and spend time together. We really treasure that time together. My only true day off each week is Saturday so we are very selfish with our time together and do our best to not commit to anything else that will take away from our time together that one day off.

I really enjoy my new jobs here and this new schedule is becoming more normal. Jared is doing great as he is finishing up his first semester as the hall director of martin hall at baylor. He is so wonderful at what he does. We have found a church home here! We are attending a baptist church that is located about 15 minutes away from campus. I'm thankful that even though I do have to work at Starbucks on Sunday, I can still go to church on Sunday morning. Our new church collected the Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes and it was our first year as a couple to create a box for a little boy.

I want to share some of my recent desserts:

Banana Bread

Ingredients

1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup mashed ripe bananas (*I used 2 medium size very ripe bananas)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cups flour
1/2 cup macadamia nuts (*I sprinkled mixed nuts on top)
Pinch of cinnamon

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Oil and flour a 9x5x3-inch loaf pan.
Using an electric mixer, cream the shortening and sugar. With the mixer running on medium speed, add the eggs one at a time. Add the bananas and mix well. Add the baking soda, salt, flour, nuts and cinnamon and mix thoroughly. The dough will be sticky.
Pour the dough into the prepared pan and bake about one hour or until the center is brown and set. (**55 minutes and mine was perfect) ALSO - the bottom seems to cook faster than the top so keep loaf closer to the top of oven.

Recipe Here

Pumpkin Pound Cake

Recipe Here

Ingredients

2-1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil
3 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
Confectioners' sugar

Directions

In a large bowl, combine sugar and oil until blended. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and cloves; add to egg mixture alternately with pumpkin, beating well after each addition.
Transfer to a greased 10-in. fluted tube pan. Bake at 350° for 60-65 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack. Remove pan and cool completely. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Yield: 12-16 servings

**I added a bit more of the spices because the reviews said there wasn't quite enough.

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving next week. We both get Wednesday through Sunday off of work! It will be much needed time off and time together. It will be our first Thanksgiving without any family around but don't feel sorry for us because we are starting a new tradition. We will start the day with decorating our house for Christmas, make Christmas cookies and blaring Christmas music. We will eat Thanksgiving dinner at Cracker Barrel and ending the day with a date to the movie theaters. We are actually really looking forward to it. We think it will be a fun tradition and plus, Thanksgiving food isn't really my thing.

I will try to blog again soon!

Two Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins

2011-10-12T14:34:00.000-05:00

I posted a picture of this dessert on facebook and it got a lot of attention so I wanted to share it on my blog.

I host 10 male students every Tuesday during Jared's weekly staff meeting in our home. Each week I make coffee and a dessert for them. I was at a loss for something to make this week until I saw this recipe on a friend's facebook. What caught my attention was "2 ingredient pumpkin muffins." I love desserts but I also love easy and I love even more healthy, tasty desserts.

These pumpkin cupcakes (or can be called muffins) really only take two ingredients. I did add some extra spice to bring out the pumpkin flavor.

Two-Ingredient Pumpkin Muffins:

Ingredients:

1 box of yellow cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
1 (15oz) can of Pumpkin

**That's right, just the cake mix and the pumpkin - no oil, no eggs, no water, nothing else.

I also added:

1 1/2 tsp of pumpkin pie spice (which is 1 tsp of Cinnamon, 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg, 1/4 tsp ground ginger, 1/8 tsp ground cloves) *I have found that if you just use canned pumpkin in desserts without this pumpkin pie spice, it won't taste very pumpkin-like. I highly recommend using this spice in this recipe.

Directions:

1. Mix cake mix, pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice together with a hand mixer.
2. Scoop into greased muffins cups.
3. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes.
4. Cool muffins on cooling wire. I removed my muffins cups but you can also serve with muffins cups if you wish.

Glaze:
(I used an easy glaze on top)

Powder sugar, milk, dash of cinnamon. I mix those ingredients together until I get a thick (but spreadable) glaze. I put my glaze into a ziploc bag and make a small cut in the corner. I squeeze out the glaze on the "cooled" muffins.

*Other bloggers say that this recipe is Weight Watcher-friendly but when I served them to 10 college guys, they could not even tell they were "low fat." All the muffins were gone in minutes. They loved them.

The recipe is from this blog. If you read the comments, other bloggers give ideas on how they made the recipe a little different.

Also, this site has great pictures of how to make these delicious muffins:

http://sweet-verbena.blogspot.com/2011/08/pumpkin-muffins.html

Please be careful...

2011-10-12T13:50:00.000-05:00

I was hesitant to share this on my blog. It's not that I'm trying to keep my life private, I just didn't want to create drama, etc. but I feel that we all need to be reminded of this because I know we all do.

On September 29, I was hit by a car while walking through a parking lot.

My body landed on the hood (this bruised my hip) and rolled off the hood onto the concrete, I landed on my elbow, which scraped up my hand, arms, etc. and I my elbow was bleeding.

I walked away from the accident with just bruises and a bloody hand and elbow. I was thankful that I did not hit my head or hurt my neck or back through the accident. The Lord really protected me.

The lady that hit me was distracted while driving, and I too was distracted while walking across the parking lot. I did look both ways before crossing but because my head was down while walking, I did not see the car fast approaching me.

I share this story with you for two reasons:

Texting, eating, changing the radio, digging in your purse are not just things that you should not do while driving on the road but also while driving in parking lots; even more so not in parking lots because people are walking every where and the moment you put your head down, you may hit someone, like in my case and it could be a lot worse than my accident.

ALSO, walking through a parking lot and not being fully aware of drivers while walking is not a good thing. Sometimes, we think that all drivers see us walking and that they will stop for any pedestrian but like in my case, the lady did not see me (for whatever reason) and she hit me.

The lady that hit me was just going to work. She wasn't drunk; she wasn't a teenager; she wasn't anything that they show on those "don't text and drive" commercials. She was just going to work. She felt awful about the accident. She probably felt worse about it than I did - I was just bloody and embarrassed.

All this to say - please be careful while driving/walking. A child could easily run out in front of a car and if your head is down for a moment - it could be tragic.

I'm back...

2011-10-11T13:11:00.001-05:00

I have been a bad blogger. I haven't been able to take a moment to chill in the past few weeks. I actually wrote the below post on October 1st and I'm just now finishing it.

Here are some of the latest with me:

I have been hired at not one job but TWO jobs! I am now an employee of Starbucks AND Baylor University.

I did a "light" job search starting in August and I was not expecting anything to really come up. The job market here in Waco is not the greatest. When I would talk to people here they would be on the discouraging side about searching for jobs so I was not expecting to find a job so quickly.

I applied to a few jobs and decided to wait it out. Last week, I got a call to do a phone interview with the Office of the Registrar at Baylor for a part-time Admin Assistant position that would be Monday through Friday 8:00am to noon. Things progressed with the interview process and I got a call this week that they wanted to offer me the job.

Meanwhile, during the interview process with the Office of the Registrar, I got a call from the Starbucks on Baylor campus about interviewing for the part-time barista position that would be mostly on nights and weekends. I got a call from them to offer me the barista job.

I am truly blown away by the Lord's blessings to me. He is so good to us to provide me with not one but two jobs. I will be a busy girl but I am very thankful for both opportunities.

Jared is doing a wonderful job connecting with residents and students here at Baylor. I'm so proud of him and all that he is doing here.

Another bit of news is I have completed my ~~5th week~~ (now 6th week) of the Insanity workout.

Two of Jared's staff members and I have started a program here in Martin Hall. We do our workout every night at 10:00pm in the lobby. We have recruited several residents and I'm proud of us for not giving up. We only have ~~4 weeks~~ 3 weeks left in the program.

Our puppy to growing so fast! He is ~~10-weeks old~~ (11 weeks old) and he really keeps us busy. It is truly like having a child but as he gets older, he will less demanding.

Crafting for a living

2011-09-13T11:49:00.000-05:00

I have started a new business venture here in Waco! I have created a partnership with a local girlie/crafty boutique that is located on Baylor campus. It is called Harts n Crafts. They sell Toms, Vera Bradley and so many cute accessories. I met with the owner and she agreed to sell my Felt Flower Headbands at her store.

Here is my display:

(My headbands are in the two vases on the second shelf)

I also sell my headbands on Etsy so that everyone has access to purchase them.

Here are a few from my Etsy shop:

http://Carleejoy2.etsy.com

Crafting is such a wonderful outlet for me. It brings me so much joy and I'm very thankful that I get to do it full-time now.

I am still applying for "real" jobs but in the meanwhile - I love my crafting job.

I also have other news...

We got a puppy!!

His name is Wylee and he is 7 weeks old. He is a mini beagle & rat terrier mix.

Jared has been wanting a dog since we first got married (almost two years ago) but I have been reluctant. This past Saturday we adopted Wylee from a sweet family that had a litter of puppies. He is very much a puppy and is alot of work. I feel like we have a child now. We are trying to put Wylee on a schedule and he has nap times, meal times, potty times, etc. He is really doing great and we love him!

Over-due Update

2011-08-26T16:05:00.001-05:00

I have not been a good blogger this month. With Jared's new job requiring both of our full attention, blogging has been put on the back burner. This past week has been the first week of school here at Baylor so Jared's schedule has become more routine and structured so he doesn't need my help as much anymore.
Here is my update for you through my iphone photos and other pictures:

1. I finally got an iPhone! I would (don't get mad) get very annoyed at people who could not get their noses out of their smart phones. I never understood why people felt they could not function without their fancy phones...until Jared and I both got iPhones. It is probably the coolest thing I have ever owned. I finally get it...and I even find myself on my phone a little too much these days.

2. Hosting, hosting, hosting...

This is what has been on my mind for the entire month of August. I cooked and hosted 12 people (Jared's student staff of 8 guys plus our chaplain and his wife) for about two weeks straight every night and some lunches. It was very fun and I felt like the ultimate house wife. I love hosting and my wonderful mom and my sweet mother-in-law have taught me many things about hosting/entertaining. Since the school year is in full swing, I will only host Jared's staff every Tuesday night and I will serve some dessert and coffee every Tuesday.

Here are some of the dishes I served:

(I didn't take pictures of the meals, but here are a few desserts)

Rocky Road Cookie Pizza

Rocky Road Cookie Pizza Recipe

(*so easy and a crowd-pleaser)

Ingredients:

1 (18oz) roll of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough OR chocolate chip cookie dough packet (*if you get the packet, you may need additional ingredients like butter, eggs, etc.)
1 to 2 cups miniature marshmallows
1/2 cup salted peanuts
1/2 to 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup caramel ice cream topping

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 12-inch pizza pan or 13x9 dish.
Break cookie dough into greased pan and press dough evenly in bottom of pan to form crust
Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown
Remove partially baked crust from oven. Sprinkle with marshmallows, peanuts and chocolate chips evenly over crust (*you may want to add more) Drizzle with caramel topping
Return to oven and bake an additional 8 to 10 minutes or until topping is melted.
Cool about 1 hour or until completely cooled. Cut into wedges.

Candy-Topped Creamy Peanut Butter Bars

Candy-Topped Creamy Peanut Butter Bars Recipe

(*This is an amazing recipe and is so wonderfully indulgent. These are great with a big cup of coffee. Whenever I make this recipe, everyone wants the recipe!)

Ingredients:

1 (18oz) roll of refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough OR chocolate chip cookie dough packet (*if you get the packet, you may need additional ingredients like butter, eggs, etc.)
3/4 cup butter, softened (1 1/2 sticks butter)
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup whipping cream
1/2 cup Miniature M&Ms (*I used regular M&Ms)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Break up cookie dough into 13x9 pan. Press dough evenly in bottom of pan to form crust.
Bake at 350 for 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Cool for 30 minutes or until completely cooled.
In medium bowl, combine 1/2 cup of butter, peanut butter, powdered sugar and milk. Beat until smooth. Spread peanut butter mixture over cooled crust.
In small saucepan, combine chocolate chips, remaining 1/4 cup butter. Cook over low heat until melted and smooth, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and cool for 10 minutes
Stir whipping cream into chocolate mixture until well blended. Spread over peanut butter mixture. Immediately sprinkle M&Ms over chocolate. Refrigerate about 1 hour or until chocolate is set. Cut into bars and store into refrigerator.

Bundt Cake with Chocolate Glaze

Chocolate Delight

Recipe at this post

Secret Center Cupcakes

Recipe at this post

3. On Campus Events

I love being apart of a school that values traditions and year after year, the students here are just so excited about making the traditions apart of their Baylor memories.

Serenade & Martin Mixer
Martin Hall Staff
(Jared is in the back)

Jared and I all dressed up for Serenade and the Martin Mixer

Martin Hall preparing for Serenade:

The Men of Martin serenading North Russell (all-female hall)

(Sorry this picture is so dark - it was around midnight and my iPhone doesn't have a flash)

Photo Scavenger hunt with our sister hall

Sunset at Lake Waco

Jared and I with our Martin staff

Move-In Day!

Martin Hall was buzzing with 300+ men and their parents on Move In Day last week. Jared put me to work and my job was helping students and parents buy spirit packages.

Here is a picture of me that is on the Baylor Facebook page:

A "Welcome Week" event on campus

Dodge ball game verses the other all-male hall:

Welcome Week Dinner

4. Applying for jobs

Since training has ended, and my schedule has really opened up; I have tried to be more aggressive about finding a job at Baylor or in Waco. So far, nothing has happened but I know the Lord has a plan for me.

5. BSF (Bible Study Fellowship)

Almost all of the ladies in my family are involved in BSF, even my 3-year-old niece has been apart of BSF. Because of work and school, I have not been able to join BSF. Since I have this free time now, I thought it would be a wonderful time for me to really grow in the Lord in a new way.

BSF started about 50 years ago and it is an international organization. There are over 1,000 BSF classes with 200,000 class members in 38 nations across six continents! Over 800 of the classes are held in the U.S. It is non-demonational and the Waco BSF has two class options each week, Monday nights and Wednesday mornings and they also have child care.

I'm so thrilled that there is a BSF in Waco. If you are in the Waco area and are wondering where the BSF classes are being held, here is the location for the Wednesday morning session:

First United Methodist Church
4901 Cobbs Dr
Waco TX 76710

Date & Time: Wednesday @ 9:10 (starting Sept. 14th)

That is just a little update on me and our new life at Baylor. We really love it here!

Dessert recipe, hosting and training

2011-08-12T21:27:00.002-05:00

I have been cooking and baking like crazy this week! We have hosted Jared's staff of 8 male students, and our resident chaplain and his wife alot this week and I love it, especially when I have nothing else to do! I really love hosting, particularly to college students because they are so grateful for a home cooked meal inside a "home." Jared's staff had to arrive onto campus earlier than the other students for training and each hall gets a meal budget to feed their staff for several meals. Jared has allowed me to plan, prepare and cook his staff meals this week.

Here is the dessert I made tonight:

(the "M" stands for Martin Hall!)

Secret Center Cupcakes

They are so easy (only 4 ingredients):

Peanut butter cookie dough
Snickers minis or fun size
Chocolate frosting
Mini cupcake cups

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.
I used the snickers "fun size" and I cut each fun size snickers into 3 pieces.
Wrap a heaping teaspoons of PB cookie dough around 1 piece of snickers bar.
Place the dough ball into a greased mini cupcake cups and place on a cookie sheet.
Bake for 8 - 12 minutes or until golden brown
Let them cook completely before icing.
I put my chocolate frosting into a Ziploc bag and cut a small hole in one corner of the bag, then I made the M design.

They turned out great and everyone loved them!

Here is Jared and his CL staff at the Welcome Dinner on Monday night

Jared and his staff in our apartment enjoying coffee and dessert

I forgot to take pictures of the all my dishes except this salad.

Video Tour of New Apartment at Baylor

2011-08-09T19:21:00.000-05:00

I have finally had time to do a video tour of our new apartment at Baylor University in Texas. I'm not completely done with our place but I was able to complete a few projects in order to record the video. I recorded it on my iPhone so it cut me off at the last few seconds but you will get the idea. The quality is a little low but again, the iPhone is to blame.

We LOVE it here and are so happy to be working at Baylor. Everything is just so wonderful. We love our apartment, everyone we meet cannot be any sweeter, Jared's co-workers are the best, Jared's staff (8 male students) are so very sweet and I'm connecting with several girls who are close to my age, and who I can really relate to. I'm so grateful to the Lord for orchestrating everything for us here. I know there will be hurdles ahead and life is never perfect but I'm excited for the new challenges here. We know the Lord put us here for a reason.

Here is our apartment tour:

Apartment Sneak Peak & Chocolate Delight

2011-08-06T15:58:00.002-05:00

I know I know --- I haven't posted in several days. I plan on posting an apartment video tour next week so I am working on some finishing touches on our place. Our residence hall is preparing for Move-In Day, which is August 18. Jared's community leader staff is arriving and they will be working from early morning til late at night starting Monday until opening day.

I have been busy with our apartment and we hosted our resident chaplain and his wife for dinner this past week. Each residence hall has a Resident Chaplain (RC) that lives in the hall and they are working on their master's while being the spiritual mentor for that hall. We are lucky that our resident chaplain is married, which makes me very happy because it means that I'm not the only female in a hall of 300+ men.

Because Jared and the RC work so closely together, we wanted to get to know them on a personal level. We had them over for dinner at our place. I served chicken parmesan (the recipe is at this post) with garlic bread and a garden salad. The meal turned out great and we had a very sweet time with them.

For dessert, I served Chocolate Delight. This is a favorite in my family so I wanted to share it with you. It is very easy and so very delicious.

Chocolate Delight

Ingredients:

1 stick of butter, melted
1 cup flour
1 to 1 1/4 cup chopped pecans (divided)
8oz cream cheese (softened)
2 to 2 1/2 cups cool whip (divided)
1 cup powdered sugar
1 chocolate & vanilla large instant pudding packet
3 cups milk

OR instead of the instant pudding and milk, you can use 2 (4-pack) chocolate pudding cups (so 8 pudding cups.)

Directions:

1st Layer

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix stick of butter, flour and 3/4 cup of pecans and press to the bottom of a greased 13x9 pan.

Bake for 15 minutes and cool.

2nd Layer

Mix cream cheese, 1 cup cool whip and powdered sugar with hand mixer. Spread over cooled crust.

3rd Layer

Mix instant pudding and milk and beat for 3 minutes OR empty pudding cups onto 2nd layer

4th Layer

Spread remaining cool whip over top and sprinkle with chopped pecans.

Keep in fridge until you are ready to serve. It is best if you make it several hours before dinner for it to get nice and chilled.

I cut the recipe in half because it was just the four of us.

Yummy!

I really love hosting and I get do so alot more next week. I will be preparing several more meals this coming week for Jared's staff of nine guys.

Here is a sneak peak into our apartment:

For the first time, we have our "own" washer and dryer. This is such a luxury! For the past two years, I have done every load of laundry with college students and it has not pleasant at times. However, in our new place at Baylor, we have our own, plus some shelves above the washer/dryer area, which is located in our kitchen. I'm thankful for the shelves but it creates an eye sore to look at.

I knew I needed to make a curtain to cover this up.

I found this cute shower curtain at Marshall's for $10. It was, of course, too long for this area so I cut off the bottom and sewed a hem right above the machines.

I used the portion that cut off to make this window curtain in the kitchen. Because the laundry is in the kitchen, I wanted to bring it all together.

I am pleased with how it turned out.

More to come on our new apartment...

First Texas Weekend Review

2011-07-31T22:00:00.001-05:00

Hello! This is my first "weekend review" since moving to Baylor in Texas. It was a wonderful weekend with my best pal - Jer-bear.

It started on Friday night with a joy ride exploring our new town. We went to several of our favorite stores, bought some candies and rented a redbox - the movie "Unknown". While we were driving home, we noticed fireworks in the distance so we pulled off into a parking lot and enjoyed the firework show - very romantic.

Saturday was spent decorating Jared's new office. His office is located steps from our apartment, which is quite convenient. I hung some pictures in his office and organized his book shelf. Later, I had some new friends over at our place for coffee and brownies. I'm excited about the new friends that the Lord is placing in my life.

Saturday afternoon = Jared went to see the new Captain America movie while I walked to one of the outside pools on campus. It was so absolutely blissful - sitting next to the pool, reading and soaking up the 110 degree heat.

Sunday, we went to church. So far, we have tried three churches. We have enjoyed each church for different reasons so we are still searching and praying for a new church home.

Sunday afternoon, we went to the Baylor Marina to kayak for a few hours.

After kayaking, we were hot and exhausted so we ventured over to the one of the outside pools on campus to cool off and relax.

I am reading the Narnia series for the tenth thousandth time - it is always a good, easy read.

We have a very busy next few weeks ahead. Jared's student staff members will be arriving at the end of this week. Jared's work days will start 9am and will end after 10pm almost every day til school starts.

I'm thankful that I know how to be by myself. Since we moved so far from my family/friends when we were newly married, I have had to teach myself how to be truly by myself and enjoy it. Not just for a few hours but for days on end. It was not easy at first but I have learned to deal with it and now, I kinda enjoy it. I don't prefer it but I really enjoy it.

Like for example - during the days, Jared is very busy like I mentioned above so I have to keep myself busy and on Friday, while Jared was working, I spent the day touring campus on my own. I walked through the one most magnificent museums that I have seen, probably in this country. It literally took my breath away and it is on our campus! How lucky am I to enjoy this glorious place everyday.

It is a museum/library and it is called the Armstrong Browning Library. It has research materials relating to Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning (Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote the famous poem "How do I love thee? Let me count the way...")

These pictures do not do this place justice but here is a glimpse into this amazing place:

So I spent Friday afternoon walking through this place.

Overall, it was a wonderful weekend and I look forward to a busy week ahead!

DIY Tank-Top Flower Embellishment

2011-07-24T16:34:00.005-05:00

This is a very easy project that does not require a sewing machine. I completed this while watching a movie last night and I wore it to church this morning. This flower trim will dress up any tank top and make an ordinary outfit look fancy. I'm sure this can be done to any plain top or knit dress. I just took an "old" tank top that I had from Old Navy (whenever Old Navy has their $2 tank top sell, I always grab several.) So if you have an older tank top or go out and buy a new one. They are not expensive at all. I recommend Forever 21 tanks. They are cheap and they hug the body well.

This is my first attempt at doing a tutorial so bear with me and please ask questions if I left something out.

Click here or look below for my tutorial to make this DIY Tank-Top Embellishment:

DIY Tank-Top Flower Embellishment:

Supplies:

A new or "older" tank top that fits well
Needle & thread (I used white thread)
Scissors
Pins
The Flower Trim

Mine is from Hobby Lobby and it's called "Boutique Raveled Rosette Trim." It is $4.99 per yard.
It comes in "yard form" that will have to be cut by the sales person at the fabric counter. I got 1/2 yard that was perfect for my tank top. If you feel yours need more then get 3/4 yard or 1 yard. It might even be smart to bring your tank top with you to Hobby Lobby and line up the trim to the neck and see how much you need.
There were several colors available: black, hot pink, light pink, lime green, red, etc. I choose the hot pink for this one.
Here is the picture from the Hobby Lobby website:

Step 1:

Pin the flower trim in place on your tank top neck

Once it is all pinned, it should look like this:

Step 2:

Turn your tank top (with trim still pinned to it) inside out.

Step 3:

Starting at one shoulder, start to sew your trim into place. When you are making stitches on the flower trim, try to make the stitches less noticeable. I tried to hide them in the flower pedals or in-between the flowers.

(* I was sitting on the floor while taking some of these pictures so that's why they took a little strange.)

Step 4:

When you are done sewing the trim in place, it should look like this. (*If when you are finished and the trim on one shoulder is longer than the older, cut off the excess to make shoulders look even.)

Step 5:

Voila!

When you are done - it should look like this:

Please leave me comments or e-mail me with any questions: Carlee(dot)Payton(at)gmail(dot)com

I hope this tutorial was helpful. It is a very fun and easy project to complete in about 1 to 2 hours and it's like having a whole new outfit to play with! :)

Florida Trip

2011-07-19T17:45:00.003-05:00

Below are the pictures from our Florida trip visiting with my sweet family. We arrived in Waco, TX on Friday, July 1, moved into our new apartment and jetted off to Florida for a mini-vacation on Sunday, July 3 then arrived back in Waco on Wednesday, July 13 for Jared to start his new job here at Baylor on Friday, July 15. WHEW!

I'm currently sitting in a coffee shop that is on campus (about a 5 minute walk from our hall) Yes - I could walk it but have I mentioned the gosh-awful heat in Texas?! I have never experienced heat quite like this. I mentioned in my previous post that we got up early (like 8am) for a tour of campus; by 8:30am of that tour, I was dripping sweat - literally raining sweat. I'm so glad I'm married because if I was a single girl looking for a fellow on campus - I doubt I could attract anyone with the amount of sweat that was soaking through my clothes. It was ugly.

It just gets better during the day - rising to a toasty 103 and it doesn't even cool down when the sun sets - it just stays hot all.the.time.

Now - I'm a Florida girl so I know what heat is and I know what it is like to go from AC to AC to AC. AC House -- AC Car--- AC store. But I have never experienced anything like this before.

So - back to the coffee shop. It is a really cute place that attracts locals and students. I have passed it several times and thought it would be a neat place to hang...and maybe make friends??? So far -- no luck but I will give it more time.

I needed to get out of the apartment because Jared is out of town (yes - already out of town) for a retreat with his department. It's only a 3 day 2 night thing so it only leaves me alone for a short time. So I ventured out to this cute coffee shop to compose this post but their Internet is crawlllliiinnnggg so I'm uploading 1 picture at a time which takes 3-4 minutes and I knit while I wait for that one picture and start the next.

So here are the pictures from our Florida trip visiting my family:

Fourth of July celebrations:

Me & Mom with our delicious dessert and I will share the recipe later

Dad & Jared

Dad & Mom

Granny, Papa & me

Granny, Papa, Mom and Aunt Laurie

Me & my niece Reese (3 1/2 years old)

Me, my sister Jobeth, mom and Reese

Jared & Reese

Beach Day!!

Thomas (brother) & Jared

OH - on our second day in Florida Jared sprained his ankle which put a small dark cloud on our vacation but we still tried to get out and do stuff.

Jared & me at the beach

Thomas & Jared

Reese & me

My dad is an amazing cook and we were loving every minute of his delicious meals!

Me & Jared on an outing

My sweet mom took me out for a pedicure

Game night!

My Granny & Papa hosted us for breakfast one morning. It was delicious!

Granny, me & Papa

My parents took us to a Drive-Thru Convenience Store in Georgia. It was quite an experience.

Sunday was church, Bono's BBQ for lunch and visiting my grandmother:

Me & mom

Melody and Me

(Melody is a sweet friend of the family)

Dad & me

Me and my injured husband

My sweet mammaw and me

Hannah and me

Hannah had just returned from a 6-month stay in Africa where she worked at an orphanage.

Melissa and me

Melissa is another dear friend

Mom took us to the neatest coffee shop. However, it was an interesting experience with a 3-year old. Reese was wonderful as always but I think the other customers were glad to see us leave.

Reese & Jared

This coffee shop had a pet rabbit

Trivia Night with my family!

Jobeth and her husband Clay

Reese enjoying her ice cream

We had such a wonderful trip visiting my family and I love being home in Florida. My "home" moves wherever Jared is and I try my hardest to make every new apartment feel like a home for us but there is nothing like really being home.

FYI - I gave up on uploading these pics at the coffee shop. It was taking way too long. I completed this post at home.

So far so good

2011-07-18T15:35:00.000-05:00

We are getting settled into our new life in Texas. I'm working very hard to get our apartment set up. Jared's department does an annual apartment tour of the Hall Director's apartments and it takes place in 1 week from tomorrow. SO I have been busting my bottom to unpack, organize and work on my DIY projects.

I really love Baylor campus and the town of Waco has tons of eateries and shopping. Did I mention that there is a Forever 21 about 3 minutes away from our apartment - this may be dangerous.

Here are some pictures of our road trip moving from Greeley, Colorado to Waco, Texas:

Day 1 of road trip to TX - 15 hour drive:

Oklahoma -- where the wind comes sweeping down the plains.

Windmills

Welcome to Texas!

Day 2 of roadtrip -- we only had a 3-hour drive

Unpacking!!

We woke up early on our 2nd day at Baylor to see campus:

They have real black bears on campus!!

Martin Hall

The dormitory Jared is managing:

I have been crazy busy with my DIY house projects.

Here I am making a String Chandelier. I got the idea from my friend Sarah. Here is the site

I will post pictures and a video tour of our apartment once everything is complete! Stay tuned!

New Do

2011-07-12T18:57:00.001-05:00

I wanted to share a few pictures of my new hair-do. It is very different and is a very drastic change. I have wanted this hair cut for several months but never could get the courage to do it. About a week before we were set to move to Texas, Jared said that I should just bite the bullet and get the cut. So I set the appointment with a highly recommended hair dresser in Greeley, CO. However, our plan was to not let my family know I was getting the haircut. It was so hard to keep the secret from my family. SO - I got the cut on Tuesday, we arrived in Texas on Friday and we flew home to Florida on Sunday. My family's first time seeing (and even being aware of it) was in the airport terminal when we arrived. They loved it!

This is my "before" picture:

After:

A picture of me and my niece Reese. We were hanging out in a coffee shop while visiting Florida.

I will post the rest of my Florida trip soon!

Last Hurrahs

2011-06-28T14:11:00.002-05:00

We are moving to Texas this week! We spent the entire day yesterday packing up all of our worldly possessions and we rented our Penske truck this morning. Tomorrow is "packing the truck" day and we will be driving south starting early Thursday morning.

The past two weeks have been bittersweet - doing a lot of "lasts" with family members and friends.

Jared and I rented bikes this past weekend and biked to Sonic...for the last time...

Jared's parents invited us to accompany them on a drive through the Poudre River Canyon. It was amazing.

We drove to Red Feather Lake - about 45 minutes outside of Fort Collins, CO

We are very sad to leave our sweet family in Colorado. We get to look forward to trips here though.

We went to see Jared's brother Micah and his wife Janae last Thursday. We went to chickfila, putt putt and frozen yogurt. We also went to see the house they just bought (unfortunately no pictures, I forgot my camera that night.) We spent Sunday with Jared's friends and their new little baby. We will be doing other family dinners this week as well.

Baby Gift

2011-06-28T09:55:00.000-05:00

Here is another baby gift I made. I actually made it back in March but Jared and I finally made it to see our friends who just had their first little girl. We spent a few hours with them on Sunday visiting, having brunch, and loving on their new little one. She was only 13 days old on Sunday and she was just precious. It's not often that you get to hold newborns so I was relishing in every moment.

I made my favorite hand-made baby gift for them. It is a changing pad with a pouch to hold diapers or wipes. I love the fabric that I used.

It's the perfect sidekick to making a quick trip to Starbucks or the post office. Why carry your giant diaper bag when you can just throw this into your purse.

I have gotten alot of great feedback on this gift. I'm considering making these to sell on my Etsy site. What to do you think?

Here are two others that made at this post

Afternoon of Crafting

2011-06-22T18:11:00.000-05:00

I'm working on my felt flowers. I spent the afternoon viewing tutorials and this is what I came up with...

I attached two grey felt flowers to a purple headband:

Other felt flowers that I whipped up:

Sewing Projects

2011-06-22T15:21:00.000-05:00

Here are pictures of two aprons that I recently made and gave as gifts.

I love how this one turned out. I made it for one of my dearest friends for her birthday. The design is simple with a full-front pocket.

This is how it starts...

I also made the same type of apron for my mother-in-law for her birthday.

She loves green as much as I do so when I found this fabric I knew it was perfect for her!

BBQ Shredded Chicken

2011-06-20T19:04:00.002-05:00

Whenever summer rolls around, BBQ is on my mind. I love making meals that require BBQ sauce. With half of my kitchen packed in boxes, I threw this dinner together and I think it is one of the top 3 tastiest meals I have ever made. Jared gave this meal a 9 out of 10. We could not stop eating the delicious BBQ shredded chicken. I was blown away with how amazingly tasty and easy this recipe was. One of my best meals ever!!

I got the recipe from Food.com Easy and Tasty BBQ Chicken but I made a few changes. I used Jack Daniel's Master Blend BBQ sauce, which is my personal favorite BBQ sauce.

This recipe was so wonderful, easy and great for summer because it won't heat up your kitchen in the summertime. I cut the below recipe in half to serve 2 people. I used 2 chicken breast for us and it was plenty of food. The recipe said this makes excellent left-overs but you may have to fight people off to get left-overs.

Easy & Tasty BBQ Chicken crockpot

Serving Size: 4- 6

4-6 boneless skinless chicken breast

1 (18 ounce) bottle of your favorite barbecue sauce (I used Jack Daniel's Master Blend - delicious!)

1 medium sweet onion, sliced

Hamburger buns

Remove all visible fat from the chicken and toss it in the crock pot. Make sure it is thawed.
Place the onion slices on top of the chicken.
Pour the barbecue sauce over top.
You may not need the entire jar, just enough to cover the chicken.
Cook it on LOW for 8 hours or until the chicken is nice and tender. (*For two people and only two chicken breasts, mine was done in 4 hours on low in a 5 quart crockpot)
Shred the chicken with a fork and knife or just two forks.
After you shred, you may want to add a little more sauce to your chicken mixture to the crockpot if you feel it is not saucy enough.

So I love toasted buns. I think it makes every "bun-type" meal even better and classier.

Here is how I toast my buns:

Heat Broil setting on oven whenever the BBQ chicken is done or close to being done.
Put a little butter on each bun half. (*I sprayed "I can't believe it's not butter" on each bun half.)
Put buns directly on rack, like the picture below
It only takes like 3 minutes and they are toasted. Don't forget to watch them!!
Remove carefully with an oven mit.

Like I have mentioned many times, we are in the midst of moving so cooking dinner at all is a miracle for me, let alone preparing full meals. So this meal definitely needed BBQ beans, chips and cole slaw but I threw together this summer salad: romanie lettuce, strawberries, feta cheese and balsamic vinaigrette. It needed toasted almonds though.

Update on me

2011-06-17T15:53:00.000-05:00

It has been a while since I blogged about my recent happenings. Here it goes...

1. We are saying goodbye to our beloved Colorado in 13 days. We are doing our best to do all of our last hoorays while we can. Camping, hiking, fav restaurants, family time, etc.

2. Saying Hello to Texas!
We cannot wait to start a new life in Texas. This will be our 5th move since getting married 1.5 years ago and moving to live in our 3rd state in 1.5 years of marriage: FL - CO - TX. However, this will be our first time living completely on our own. In Florida, we lived near my family. In Colorado, we lived near Jared's family but in Texas it will be just the two of us. I'm excited about being truly on our own - relying completely on each other and the Lord.

Baylor sounds like a wonderful school and I'm so looking forward to a new school, new apartment, new people, new students, new town, new adventures!

3. This has been my life the past three weeks...

Both my jobs ended the end of May so I can been a full-time housewife since the start of June. This pile has been growing everyday due to my 5 box quota I try to meet each day.

4. I'm sure you have seen the info-mericals advertising the Insanity workout. At the end of the spring semester, our membership at the UNC gym ended. We came to a point where it was either paying for the summer (which we aren't even going to be here the whole summer) OR invest in an incredible workout plan that we will always have. Due to our time of transition of packing and moving, we aren't doing the recommended workout plan, but we do the intense cardio dvd everyday to get a crazy, sweaty workout. I thought I was in shape but I was mistaken when I did my first insanity workout.

Once we get settled in at Baylor, we will start the program as it is intended.

5. Since doing insanity, and completing an intense 40-minute cardio workout everyday, I realized for the first time, that what I eat can really slow me down, especially my beloved Coke Zero. I love Coke Zero but it really isn't the best choice when I'm doing intense cardio.

However, I have found a new drink that I love almost as much...

Ocean Spray On-The-Go packages

I have never been a fan of those gross Crystal Light drink packages because they taste "diet-y" but the Ocean Spray drink packages are delicious and contain 100% Vitamin C.

6. I have put my extreme couponing on hold for now. Packing and moving are all-consuming right now so I'm unable to commit to my couponing like I was before. I plan on picking it back up when we get settled in in Waco.

South Dakota Trip

2011-06-16T16:45:00.000-05:00

As promised, here are our South Dakota Camping Trip pictures. My brother Thomas was visiting us for about 10 days a few weeks ago and we decided to make the 6-hour from Colorado to South Dakota to camp on beautiful Lake Sheridan and visit Mt. Rushmore. Our trip was 4 days/3 nights.

I was cramped in the back:

Setting us our campsite

We love lake camping and this dock was a few yards from our site.

Dinner at our campsite

Jared and me

Sunset at Lake Sheridan

Day 2 was spent driving around the Wild Life Loop. It took us about 3 hours but we saw some amazing animals

The Needles Highway

Thomas & Jared

Thomas & Me

A Buffalo very close to our car

Thomas and I doing a jig

Me & Thomas

A field of Buffalo

The animals are very brave to approach cars.

Mount Rushmore:

Kissing George

Dinner at our campsite - night 2

Sunset - Night 2

Yummy breakfast at our campsite

6-mile hike around Lake Sheridan

A Buffalo burger in buffalo country

Night show at Mt. Rushmore

Kitchen Gadgets

2011-06-15T20:33:00.000-05:00

Don't you wish you could register for wedding gifts after you have been a wife for a while? You kinda go into registering for gifts blind. Before I became a wife, I lived at home with my parents so this has been my first experience having my own kitchen with my own gadgets.

I love what we received as wedding gifts but as I am becoming more experienced in the kitchen, I find there are a few gadgets I am missing.

Kitchen Aid

The big-daddy of kitchen gadgets. Whenever I bake, I use a hand-mixer that makes baking difficult. Most of the ingredients get splattered all over the kitchen.

Salad Spinner

My parents have one and they really love it. Once you wash your lettuce, it is soaking wet and no one likes a soggy salad. The salad spinner removes the excess water from your lettuce.

A smaller Crockpot

We have a 5-6 quart crockpot and it is wonderful when I am cooking for 8 people but 9 times out of 10, it is just the two of us. Crockpots work best when they are 3/4 full so when I cook a meal for 2 people, it doesn't cook right.

Ice Bucket

Because of Jared's job, we host co-workers, students and friends for dinner frequently and every time, I wish I had a decent looking ice bucket to put near the cups.

Ice Cream Maker

Who doesn't love homemade ice!

Waffle Maker

Waffles make me think of home and my dad. He makes the best apple cinnamon waffles that are to die for. Jared loves waffle so it would be a fun breakfast for me to make for him.

Easy Pezy Chicken Parm

2011-06-15T10:34:00.001-05:00

I wanted to share the recipe from my dinner last night. It is one of my favorite, go-to meals and I'm actually surprised I have not shared it with you all yet. It is so easy and you will most likely have the ingredients in your pantry. I was in the midst of packing yesterday and it dawned on me at 2pm that I had no clue what I was going to prepare for dinner for Jared and me. I saw the Ragu and pasta in our pantry and this recipe came to mind. I had all the other ingredients as well so I threw it in my crockpot and it was ready by 5:30.

This recipe is from my favorite crockpot lady, Stephanie O'Dea at "A Year of Slow Cooking"

This is a wonderful "company meal" because it is so easy to prepare, cooks all day, and can be served with a delicious salad and bread sticks and it really taste fancy.

Chicken Parmesan - Crockpot

2-4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp Italian Seasoning
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1 tbsp olive oil
1 beaten egg
sliced mozzarella cheese (*1 per chicken breast)

(I only had Swiss last night and it turned out fine but I really love it with the mozzarella)

favorite jarred marinara sauce

(*My choice is Bertolli Olive Oil, Basil & Garlic but all I had in the pantry was Ragu which turned out great also.)

The Directions:

Spread the 1 tbsp of olive oil into the bottom of your crockpot stoneware insert
Whip the egg with a fork in a separate bowl
Mix the bread crumbs with the seasonings and the parmesan cheese in another separate dish
Dip the chicken into the egg, then into the bread crumb mixture, coating both sides with crumbs, cheese and seasonings
Place the chicken breast pieces in the bottom of the crock
Layer slices of mozzarella cheese on top

Cover with entire jar of marinara sauce

Close lid and cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4. If your chicken is still frozen, it will take longer.

Serve with your favorite pasta.

You should make it for dinner tonight!

Camping Trip in Estes

2011-06-14T14:00:00.005-05:00

We just returned from a wonderful camping trip in beautiful Estes Park, Colorado in the Rocky Mountain National park. It was just the two of us this time and we really had a sweet time making memories doing one of our favorite activities...camping!

The drive in...

The entrance to our campsite

Setting up our campsite

Our first day was spent setting up camp and taking the shuttle to Bear Lake

The Bear Lake area was covered in snow!

We did not dress appropriately

Bear Lake

The drive back to our campground

We met the sweetest couple on our bus that we really connected with. They are retired RVers that are also bee keepers on the side. They gave us a jar of their delicious honey.

We couldn't stop eating it.

Teriyaki pork chops for dinner

The honey bear again

Jared's grilled cheese

We walked through downtown Estes after dinner

Pancakes for breakfast!

Day 2 - After breakfast, we did a 4-mile hike to Cub Lake.

On the trail

We saw a moose!

The trail was flooded!

We finally made it to Cub Lake!

Lunchtime at our campsite...Veggie burger for me and a triple grilled cheese for Jared

DQ for dessert in Estes Park

Dinner at our campsite was yummy: BBQ chicken

Our "homey" campsite

Our last night at the campsite

We had a wonderful time camping together. It is one of our favorite past times! We will really miss Colorado and the Rocky Mountains when we move to Texas but we can't wait for our new adventure. We move to TX in 2 WEEKS!! We can't believe it and we are so excited!

Recent Happenings

2011-06-09T18:31:00.001-05:00

I apologize for the lack of posts recently. My brother Thomas was in town for about 10 days and we went camping in South Dakota while he was here. I will post pictures of our amazing trip soon! Here are some recent recipes that I thought you all might enjoy...

A co-worker gave me the idea about these cookies that I made today. I made them for our new neighbor and I love how they turned out. Basically, you make chocolate chip cookie dough (without the chocolate chips) and wrap the dough around chopped snickers bars.

(*I also used the dough to make chocolate chip cookies.)

Snickers Surprise Cookies

3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup butter or margarine, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 mini snickers cut into 6 pieces each

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 375°F.

2. In large bowl, beat sugars, butter, vanilla and egg with electric mixer on medium speed, or mix with spoon. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt (dough will be stiff).

3. Take 2 tsp of cookie dough and wrap around a snickers piece and roll into a ball.

4. On ungreased cookie sheet, drop dough about 2 inches apart.

5. Bake 8 to 10 minutes or until light brown (centers will be soft). Cool 1 to 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.

6. Yield: 4 dozen cookies

Another recipe I want to share is a crowd pleaser. While Thomas was here, he specifically requested this chicken recipe that I made for him during a previous visit. It is so easy and inexpensive.

Honey-Mustard & Garlic Chicken

Ingredients:

1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
4 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1-2 garlic cloves, cut into slivers

Directions:

1. Mix honey and mustard

2. Make small cuts in center of chicken and arrange in baking dish.

3. Insert a sliver of garlic into each cut.

4. Spread honey-mustard mixture over each breasts.

5. Bake for 40 minutes (or until chicken is no longer pink)

6. Basting chicken once or twice with any accumulated pan sauce.

7. *Optional* once chicken is baked, preheat broiler and broil chicken for 5 minutes, until tops are crisp.

Yield: 4 servings

**I like to serve this with mash potatoes and use the extra honey-mustard sauce as gravy for potatoes.

Also, while Thomas was here, I made the boys delicious turkey burgers with toasted buns. Instead of serving french fries, I wanted to go for a lighter option. I found this recipe for Oven Garlic Fries on the pillsbury website. This recipe is very easy and a tasty side item.

Garlic Oven Fries

INGREDIENTS

4 medium red potatoes (2 1/2 to 3 inch), each cut in 8 wedges
2 teaspoons olive or vegetable oil
1 teaspoon dried basil leaves
1 teaspoon garlic salt

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 500°F. Spray a metal pan with cooking spray. In medium bowl, toss potatoes with oil to coat. Sprinkle with basil and garlic salt. Arrange in single layer in baking pan.

2. Bake uncovered 15 to 18 minutes, stirring once, until potatoes are tender but crisp on outside.

**Red potatoes have a slightly waxy texture and retain their shape better when cooked than russet potatoes do.

This is the picture from the pillsbury website - it looks a little better than mine :)

Couponing Explained Part 2

2011-05-26T10:15:00.001-05:00

Retail Value $38.08

I paid $6.38

(***However, it should have been $5.38 - the cashier didn't scan one of my coupons. I was pretty upset about it. When I spend hours preparing for a shopping trip, I want it make sure all of my coupons are scanned. So, there is a lesson to be to learned here: don't count on the cashier to properly scan your pile of coupons; hand the coupons to them, individually so you are the one counting them out and separating them because they do tend to stick together.)

I saved $31.70

Highlights:

Jack Daniel's BBQ Sauce = FREE

(*Regular Price = $3.15, on sale for $0.99 and I had (5) $0.55 off coupons that were made $1.00 off)

Energy Bar = FREE

(*Regular Price = $1.25, on sale for $1.00 and I had a $1.00 off coupon)

12 Deodorant = $0.06 each

(*Regular Price = $1.06, I had (12) $0.75 off coupons that were made $1.00 off)

Ragu Sauce = $0.62 each

(*Regular Price = $1.62, I had (2) $0.50 off coupons that were doubled, so I paid $0.62 a jar of sauce)

Tampons = $2.32

(*Regular Price = $4.32, I had a $2.00 off coupon)

Since I have gone public with my couponing, I have had several of my followers ask me questions about my couponing method.

Question 1:

Do you use couponing websites?

As of right now, no. I know there are several out there:

Like I have said before, I currently work 40+ hours a week so my time to coupon is very limited. When I stop working for a while when we move to Texas, I will probably use a couponing website. There are some out there that require a paid membership, others allow you to print coupons for free and others match up coupons with store bargains.

As of right now, my method is simple - I get 10 papers each Sunday, clip and save almost all of the coupons that come in that coupon insert, put the coupons into my large 3-ring binder, and check the store's weekly ads that week and match my coupons with the items on sale.

From looking at my pictures, you can see that I don't do massive grocery store visits where I spent hundreds of dollars, instead, I buy the things I actually use and that are on sale and I have a matching coupon.

When I get more time soon, I will look into those couponing websites.

Question #2:

Do you print coupons from websites?

My home printer is in storage and currently out of ink. Again, when we move to Texas, we will have a larger apartment so I will be able to have a "couponing station" to set up my home printer. Also, you will notice that you have to download a coupon printer thing to your computer in order to print the coupons.

Question #3:

Do the coupons that are in this week's Sunday paper on sale the same week?

More times than not, no. Grocery stores are not dumb. That is why it is important to organize your coupons when you clip them. I use a 3-ring binder, view this post to see my binder, and I use baseball card sheets to hold the coupons. I have 30+ categories and each tab is a different category ranging from meats, beverages, cookies, cans, salad dressing, cereal to air fresheners, shampoo, dental, dairy, etc.

Organizing your coupons will hold them while you wait for that item to go on sale.

Another thing to look out for is the grocery store seasons. Have you noticed that BBQ sauce, deodorant, sport's drinks, chips, soda, etc are all on sale right now? It is summertime and everyone is outside, BBQing and living it up so alot of "party" items are on sale right now. So most of those items are at their "rock-bottom price." If you have a matching coupon, it is a great time to get those items for cheap or even free.

I hope you find this helpful. I'm no expert but I really enjoy this and I love saving money! Keep the questions coming!

BBQ Weekend

2011-05-24T09:13:00.001-05:00

Our weekend was so relaxing! Well - not exactly on Saturday. Saturday was our errand day so it was far from relaxing. On Saturday evening, we had a BBQ with our couples' Bible study and we had so much fun! I forgot my camera so there are no pictures from the BBQ.

Sunday was wonderful! The weather was so nice and warm that we tried to be outside all day. We took a 2-mile walk to get frozen yogurt at our new favorite place - Aspen Leaf.

Sunday afternoon we decided to have our own "little" BBQ. I marinated chicken and cut up some pineapple for us to grill. We set up right outside of our apartment, which is in front of our residence hall. Campus is so empty right now so it was the first time we could use the patio area.

It was delicious!

We also had a spinach salad, raspberries, feta cheese and light raspberry and walnut dressing

And of course, Smores!

It was a very fun weekend!

This week is my last week at my two jobs. It is very bittersweet for me. I'm looking forward to our new life in Waco, Texas but I will dearly miss the friends I made in Greeley, Colorado. Both of my jobs have been a wonderful experience for me. However, it will be nice to have a break from work for a few weeks. Also - my brother Thomas will be paying us a visit on Memorial Day through June 8. We are SO excited to host Thomas for a few days. He loves Colorado so he wanted to take advantage of us living here before we move to Texas. We plan on going camping with Thomas and do other site-seeing adventures.

Best Coffee Experience

2011-05-23T08:49:00.001-05:00

I have had a least 1 large cup of coffee every single day for the past 7 years. From this experience, I have tried many different brands of coffee and I have used many different types of coffee makers- classic drip, french press, espresso machines. They all produced mediocre coffee. I began to think that it was impossible to have good cup of coffee at home.

Everything changed when I tried The Keurig Coffee Machine

I have never tasted coffee so perfectly brewed, with the perfect strength, temperature, boldness until I tried coffee using the Keurig Coffee Machine.

Jared recently received our Keurig from his parents as a graduation gift:

What makes Keurig so different is the K-cups. You buy the K-cups (approximately 50 cents a k-cup) and insert the k-cup into the machine by lifting the lever. You may think that 50 cents is alot for a cup of coffee at home, but having coffee at home that actually taste amazing is totally worth it.

This is how the Keurig Machine works its magic:

There are not just coffee K-cups, you can buy other K-cups...

Hot Chocolate

Apple Cider

Iced Coffee/Tea

Hot Tea (English, black, green, herbal etc.)

We love our Keurig so very much. If you are engaged to be married and working on your Gift Registry, you must include the Keurig Coffee Maker. Click HERE for our Keurig at Bed Bath and Beyond

Best.Husband.Ever Story

2011-05-20T08:34:00.000-05:00

I have to brag on my awesome husband. He is simply the best! Someone once told us to make your marriage feel like you are still dating. We have taken that advice seriously. He makes my heart skip a beat whenever he gets home. He does the sweetest things for me, like get my coffee ready for me before work. If we haven't seen each other all day, we jump on the couch eager to tell each other funny things that happened that day. If we aren't sleeping, Jared is probably making me laugh. I just adore him and I'm so proud of him for all that he has accomplished!

Anyways, I just have to share this story with you....

I mentioned in a previous post that this past weekend we went to several antique stores, including the Salvation Army. While there, I saw the most beautiful Bentwood Rocking Chair for $35. It was in amazing shape. Like I do so many times, I walk away, thinking to myself "we don't have the space, we are about to move, we don't have extra money, blah blah blah" and every time I continue to think about it days later. On Monday, I asked Jared if he remembered that chair and he said "no, not really" so I just tried to forget about it.

On Tuesday, I went home for my 1-hour break in-between my two jobs and guess what was sitting in my living room...

The Bentwood Rocking Chair from the Salvation Army!!!

While I was working at my morning job on Tuesday, Jared went out and bought me that chair.

The lady who sold Jared the chair liked him so much that she even gave him her employee discount so he bought it for $17. Is my husband charming or what?

It needs a little bit of love and I will stain it with a dark brown paint but it is in such good shape.

AND that is not all he did to surprise me.

So when the students were moving out of the halls a few weeks ago, a student was getting rid of these two bar stools so we gladly took the chairs off their hands:

The chair were in good shape but the seat cushions were really stained. I knew I wanted to re-upholster the cushions. A few weeks ago, I saw some fabric I wanted at hobby lobby but again, I didn't buy it. So after Jared bought me the rocking chair on Tuesday morning, he went to hobby lobby and bought the same fabric I wanted and re-upholstered the cushions for me as surprise #2.

He went to his parent's house for his mom to help him.

He is so proud!

They are so cute!

I love them!

I was so touched by his thoughtfulness. It was the most perfect surprise!

Couponing Explained Part 1

2011-05-19T10:42:00.002-05:00

After my last couponing post "After Work Couponing," I had a friend ask about how I organize my coupons.

I thought that I might as well explain my entire couponing process:

Supplies:

Binder
Baseball card plastic pages
Tabs - Sticky Avery tabs
Thin Sharpie marker
Scissors

Here is my process:

I. 10 Sunday Newspapers each week

One of the keys to couponing is collecting several Sunday newspapers with the coupon inserts. My goal is to get about 10 Sunday papers each week. So that means I have 10 of the same coupons.

II. Organizing Coupon Inserts

Once I have my 10 coupon inserts from the Sunday paper, I separate each page from that insert and lay each page on my living room floor. I take the other coupon inserts and lay each "alike" page together. This way, I only have to cut that one page once instead of 10 times. Does that make sense?

III. Coupon Binder

My coupon binder is my masterpiece. I have 30+ categories and each tab is a different category ranging from meats, beverages, cookies, cans, salad dressing, cereal to air fresheners, shampoo, dental, dairy, etc.

My tabs are organized in my binder in the same order as the aisle run in my favorite grocery store. So that as I'm walking through my store, from one end to the other, I'm going the same order though my coupon binder. (*Some people organize their categories in alphabetical order, but I like ordering them the same order as the aisle in my store.)

Also, each category has about 2 baseball card pages.

IV. Keeping Binder Current

Keeping your coupon binder current is vital. I go through my binder weekly to remove any expired coupons OR look for coupons that will expire soon so I can possibly use them.

V. Your Store's Coupon Policy

Knowing your store coupon policy is crucial. Check out your grocery store's coupon policy. I shop at King Soopers in Greeley, Colorado and here is an except from their policy:

"Coupons of 50 cents of less will be doubled. Coupons of 51 cents - $1.00 will be redeemed for $1.00. Coupons over $1.00 will be redeemed at face value."

Doubling coupons is essentially how I get free stuff. If your local store doesn't double coupons, check other stores in a 10-mile radius. Driving a few extra miles may be worth it.

VI. Match Coupons with Store Sales

At my grocery store, a new ad comes out every Wednesday (techincally Tuesday night at 10pm on their website...not that I'm eagerly checking or anything) I look at the items for sale and see if I have a matching coupon. I then make a list of the sale items/matching coupons. Also, some items for sale may not be listed in the store ad so bringing your entire binder to the store is important.

VII. Record Your Savings

Couponing takes time. Since I started seriously couponing, I have dedicated about 6+ hours a week to gathering the newspapers, cutting the coupons, organizing coupons in binder, searching store ads, making a list, and time at the store.

I know that on the "Extreme Couponing" show, those people spent 40+ hours a week to couponing. With my full-time job, that just isn't possible for me but I do what I can.

Once we move to Texas in July, I will be job-less for a bit so I plan on dedicating alot more time to this.

ANYWAYS, because couponing does take a lot of time, you need to know if it's worth it. Knowing how much you save each week will help you decide if this is worth it for you.

I started really couponing May 1, 2011 so in less than three weeks...

Retail Value of My Groceries (3 weeks): $256.91

I spent: $93.38

I saved: $163.53

Now, I know that compared to the "Extreme Couponing" show, that is nothing but I'm just starting out with this.

So I got all of this for $93.38...

(Yes - all 4 pictures for a combined total of $93.38)

Please let me know if you have any questions or if you have any tips!

After Work Couponing

2011-05-18T10:34:00.002-05:00

Retail value = $30.82

I spent = $3.20

I did some "after-work-couponing" yesterday evening.

This past Sunday, I clipped:

8 -$1.00 off Sure Deodorant
8 - $1.00 any Pert Plus Shampoo coupons

Several weeks ago, I clipped:

1-$0.75 off Ban Deodorant
2 - $1.00 off any Frank's Hot Sauce

How I did it:

The Sure was on sale for $1.30 so with my $1.00 off coupons - it cost me $0.30 per deodorant.

The travel size section is wonderful for couponers. Some coupons say "excludes travel/trial size" but some don't like my Pert Plus coupons did not say "excludes travel/trial size" so the travel size Pert was $0.89 so I made $0.11 on every Pert with my $1.00 off coupons.

The Ban was on sale for $1.50 and my $0.75 off coupon, which was made to be a $1.00 off (my store's coupon policy states that "Coupons of 51 cents - $1.00 will be redeemed for $1.00.") So the Ban cost me $0.50.

The Frank's Hot sauce was on sale for $1.00. I had 2 - $1.00 off coupons which made the hot sauce free.

The key is clipping several of the same coupon and holding on to those coupons until that item is on sale at the store. Because the grocery store sales are seasonal, the summertime items will be on sale. Such as, BBQ sauce, Smore stuff, sports drinks, deodorant, etc.

Let me know if you have any questions!

I'm still new at this but I'm working very hard to save as much money as possible.

Weekend

2011-05-16T12:59:00.000-05:00

This weekend was very low-key. Last weekend was so exhausting with the graduation and wedding that we did not want to make any plans.

We did get a job at Baylor University (whoot whoot!) this past week so we had reason to celebrate this weekend. However, because last weekend really wasn't a relaxing weekend we just kept our plans simple. On Friday night, we took a "snack walk." If you are unfamiliar with our "snack walks" let me explain: we love candy...a lot... a little too much so every now and then we walk through campus to the nearest 7-11 and pick out our favorite treats (mine = hot tamales, gum, coke zero; Jared = mike and ikes, gummy sharks, and some sugary beverage) and we eat our treats on the way home. We have the best time laughing, talking, avoiding the sprinklers and it's just a sweet time for us (no pun intended on the "sweet" part!)

On Saturday we woke up early (well - 9:00am is early for us on a Saturday) to see the first showing of Bridesmaids. At our theater, the first showing of the day is a little cheaper ($6 a person). We realized that we had not been to the movie theater since our anniversary trip in December when we saw Narnia.

I have not laughed this hard in the theater since the Hangover. It was hysterical! There are some crude parts but nothing that made me want to walk out. I can't wait to see it again.

Saturday afternoon, we decided to hit up the antique and thrift stores in town. We found ourselves near Jared's parent's house so we stopped by to see them. We sipped on coffee and chatted with them for a bit then made our way home.

Campus is empty right now so it's very eerie. We live in a building that normally houses 300 students but now it's just the two of us. It's very strange. During the semester we are use to a lot of noise all the time but now when we hear something it freaks us out.

Sunday was spent couponing!! Jared is the best sport and has such a good attitude about couponing. I know he probably thinks I'm a little mad when it comes to my coupons but he appreciates my time/effort to save us money. We spent a few hours gathering the coupons and then shopping for deals. I posted my loot on this post.

Sunday afternoon I had to work at the library but it means that I get this afternoon off! I plan on video chatting with my sweet family because today is my dad's birthday and then I’m going to a spin class at the UNC gym 4:00 - 4:55.

Jared is in a two-week intensive class right. It is half-way over but it means that every weekday evening from 4:30 to 8:30 he is in class. It makes for a lonely evening but it gives me time to be productive.

Handmade Wedding Gift

2011-05-16T09:53:00.001-05:00

As mentioned below, my sis-in-law Kirsten got married on May 8th. Jared and I gave the happy couple the below wedding gift.

Part 1 of the gift was this apron I made for her:

I got the pattern from my favorite sewing book "One Yard Wonders" and the fabric is from JoAnn's Fabric.

It is called a "Clothespin Apron":

She loved it!

The apron was accompanied by this amazing cookbook:

I thought it was a pretty cute gift, if I don't say so myself.

Couponing

2011-05-15T22:17:00.000-05:00

I'm still doing my couponing and every week I am getting better. There is a science to it and I'm dedicating alot of time to this. As you can see below, it is really paying off. If I combine last week and this week's savings, they will equal a total savings of $71.15!! Over time it really adds up. I'm curious to find out how much I have already saved this year.

Last Weekend:

2 boxes of pasta = FREE

5 Carefree pads = FREE

French's mustard = $0.50

Deli Meats = $2.00 each

String Cheese = $3.50

Retail Value: $43.45

I paid: $22.75

I saved: $20.70 (47% off my order!)

Today:

8 Colgate Toothpaste = FREE

4 Boxes of Cereal = $1.50 each

6 boxes of popcorn = $0.67 each

French's Mustard = $0.50

Smart Balance Milk = $1.50 (Regular $4.00)

String Cheese = $3.50

Retail Value: $73.70

I paid: $23.63

I saved: $50.45 (69% off my order!)

White Chocolate Coconut Cookies

2011-05-13T14:15:00.000-05:00

I made these cookies for Jared's graduation party and they were a big hit. I had several people ask for the recipe so here it is:

White Chocolate Coconut Cookies

1 bag of Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix (follow directions on package) (*I think it needs an egg and a stick of soften butter)
2 1/4 cups coconut flakes
1 1/2 cups white chocolate chunks or white vanilla baking chips (*Add more if you want more white chocolate)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease cookie sheets or spray with cooking spray. In large bowl, add the egg, butter, vanilla, coconut extract and mix well.

2. Then, add the sugar cookie mix and stir well.

3. Add the coconut and white chocolate.

4. On cookie sheets, drop dough by tablespoonfuls 2 inches apart.

5. Bake 10 to 12 minutes or until edges are golden brown. (Surface of cookies will look underbaked.) Cool 2 minutes; remove from cookie sheets to cooling racks.

And we are moving to...

2011-05-13T11:20:00.008-05:00

After the 5-month long job search process...

I'm excited to announce that we are moving to...

Waco, Texas to work at Baylor University:

Baylor University:

Waco is in the heart of Texas

We are excited about this new adventure in our life. We will be moving to Texas this summer!

Wedding Time Part 2

2011-05-10T12:53:00.000-05:00

Kirsten & Andrew's wedding was on Sunday, May 8. The ceremony took place in Boulder, Colorado at Chautauqua Park. The weather was amazing and the bride was stunning!

Mother of the Bride:

Janae and Micah

Here comes the bride:

The Payton family

The siblings

The weather was perfect:

The Reception was held at the Rodizio Grill in Denver:

It was the neatest dining experience. They have a massive salad/pasta bar then they bring the meats to each table like this:

Downtown Denver