Audrey and Erika come to visit!

My niece, Audrey, and sister-in-law, Erika, came for a week-long visit. We had so much fun spending time together and showing them around the area. Audrey, Erika, and I had our first trip to Disneyland! It was so much fun seeing it through the eyes of a 2 year old. Audrey loved the beach, as you can see from the photos....

Which one should I make?

I'm really excited to try these recipes...

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Pumpkin-Apple-Cobbler/Detail.aspx

http://www.recipezaar.com/Melt-in-Your-Mouth-Pumpkin-Bread-14187

Friday is game night with some AF spouses and I am bringing dessert. These both sound delicious. Which one should I make??.........Maybe both! :) Will let you know how they turn out.

Happy Birthday Garrett!

Garrett turned the big 2-9 at the end of October. We were supposed to move into our new place on his birthday but our house wasn't ready so we had a last minute birthday celebration. We rounded up a small group and headed to Culver City...one of our new favorite spots. We went to a Korean BBQ and then hung out at a really cool wine tasting bar. We had a great time as you can see from the photos...

Roomies: Dennis and the Married Folks

The surprise birthday dessert
Garrett did the "no sweets" challenge with me through the month of October. But we had a great deal of peer pressure to partake in the above green tea donuts. We did good...really, really good...except on this night...we decided to have one little donut as an exception for his birthday. By that point, I'd learned my lesson of self-control. Oh, and boy was it good!! Well worth it. They brought out delicious raspberry topping to pour over it.

Garrett, Me, Lisa, Ellie, and Kyle

a great fall dinner idea

today i made a delicious fall dinner. johnna had shared this easy recipe with me and i was eager to try it:

-1 can apple pie filling (i used no sugar added but i think regular old sugary pie filling would have been a tad bit better)
-stovetop stuffing-chicken flavor
-pork chops

pour filling into a 9X13 pan. put pork chops on top of filling. prepare stocktop mixture as directed and spread on top of the chops. bake at 350 for 1 hour. yes, it's that easy! and it is SOOOO good!

i made a side of sweet potatoes, rolls, and a spinach salad with apples, nuts, and poppyseed dressing. fantastic!!

"mine"

let me start this post by saying i have no problem sharing. whether it be sharing a seat with one of my girlfriends when there's no chairs in a lobby, sharing a bag of popcorn with Garrett at the movies, or even with a chocolate chip cookie with my dad....well maybe i went too far on that one. but regardless, like i said, i don't usually struggle with this age-old teaching concept. well that was until last night...

Garrett, Lisa, and I decided to go see a music show. the venue has extremely comfy seating areas and great food so we decided to order a burger and one of our favorite snacks....sweet potato fries. (mmmm....you have to try them if you haven't) in our seating area, a small group of people joined us. about the time that we were first meeting them, the food arrived. as soon as my plate was in hands reach, i go to grab a fry. imagine my surprise, no shock, when i see a set of unidentified fingers entangled in my sweet potato goodness. looking up, i realize the man seated across from us is reaching to get some fries from MY plate. as he is bringing the handful to his mouth, he asks me, "so what are these?" "sweet potatoe fries," i reply still astonished at what is taking place. and if that isn't enough, the woman on the other side of the couch, stands up, reaches across the table to sample some of my fries for herself as well. "MINE" i want to declare like a two-year old would her cheerios. at the same time, i just wanted to laugh. again, i said i'm all about sharing. but this was weird...just plain weird, right??

you too will come to a point when someone will invade every bit of personal space (maybe even your own plate). will you pass the test?

:)

a sweetless month

as many of you know, i have taken a passion to cooking recently. above anything else, my favorite thing to cook is dessert. we're talking cookies, pies, cobblers, cakes, bread pudding....okay...i'm sure you get the point. unfortunately, i was blessed with a sweet tooth like no other. i credit this to my mother, who almost always had a dessert for our family after dinner.

when i make something sweet, it is usually gone by the next day. i would love to blame this on my husband or our roommate Dennis, but alas, i cannot...the culprit is always me. because of this, and well...uh....an unfortunate event of the disappearance of almost an entire batch of oatmeal cookies, i reluctantly said to Garrett, "i think i need to withhold sweets from myself for an entire month." knowing my issue, he agreed that this was a great idea.

later that night it hit me....his birthday is in october!! "wait Garrett...i have to make you a cake for your birthday" he responds appallingly..."i don't need a cake" you don't need CAKE?!? silence....

"wait Garrett...it's Halloween this month too. i love this little snack that i make with candy corn and peanuts...it's delicious!" "Meg! you don't need that either" silence....

so with great pity, i acknowledge that he was right, and yes, october is going to remain sweetless for me. this will be a tough one for me...as many of you know.

a few photos from Michelle

Michelle, our photographer, posted a few of our wedding photos on her blog: http://www.michellemckibben.blogspot.com/

These two photos I absolutely love because of the beautiful scenery behind us. We saw this amazing tree grazing over the water in the park where we were taking photos. We decided to climb on it to grab some great pics. I had to wobble over to Garrett, hoping I wouldn't fall in the water. You can see the reflection of the water in the first one. It was definitely worth it though. I love how they turned out!

my new favorite website

Recently I was doing a search to make a modification for a recipe and came across my new favorite website, www.thepioneerwoman.com. The Pioneer Woman, Ree, has fun contests, daily blogs, and some tasty recipes. I have made:
-her Apricot bars (TASTY treat!)
-her favorite salad (now my favorite, favorite salad--DELICIOUS!!)
-Pastor Ryan's Mexican Lasagna (A crowd pleaser!)

There are so many more I want to try. She takes pictures of each step in cooking so it makes it extra easy. You should check it out if you are looking for some great recipes!