Back to life: It isn't so bad!

So recently I've signed up for a few survey sites where I can earn a little money. They reward you in gift cards so I've been receiving mine through Amazon and last week I got $35.00! Yippee! Christmas money. If you'd like to join one my favorite is my survey it's easy and doesn't take much time each day!

Yesterday it was raining all day long! And it was cold. Poor Max doesn't like the rain too much so he spent his Friday afternoon sitting here on the porch watching the rain and waiting patiently to stop. It would stop for maybe a minute and he'd run down the stairs onto the grass and run around like crazy then it would start raining again and he'd be back in his spot watching and waiting. It was so stinking cute!

Since it was so rainy and cold I decided I was going to make a up a soup recipe. Needless to say I am a genius! I made a cheesy broccoli potato soup. It was so delicious. And as you can tell I really like my soup cheesy ha ha! I will definitely be making this recipe again. Good thing I have a good memory so I can remember what I did ha ha.

Today I made some Zucchini bread! My grandma gave me the recipe and it is so moist and yummy. I love baking breads it's a lot of fun.  

Washington Part 3:

On Sunday we headed back into Seattle for a little while. We made a quick stop to visit my wonderful uncle Eric. He's such a sweetheart and knows so much about computers. He made James and I this very delicious breakfast of steak and a "hobo" scramble which is just scrambled eggs and whatever other food you feel would taste good all scrambled together. It's very yummy! 

After visiting Eric we walked on down to Public Market Center also known as "Pikes Market." It's such a fun and busy place. Very hectic. I love it though it's super fun to visit.

We walked around Pikes for awhile but didn't stay too long. The Mr. had never been there before so he was a tid bit overwhelmed. 

Pikes Market is well known for a few things. 1. Flying fish 2. fresh flowers 3. The Gum Wall. I absolutely love Pikes for the fresh flowers. They are every where and they smell wonderful and are so beautiful. I wish that I would have got some. Maybe next time!

Speaking of the Gum wall.. here it is.. lots and lots of gum from people. Gross! It is everywhere! But you know you need to see it and of course get your picture taken in front of it. ha ha. 

Here is an up close picture of what part of the gum wall looks like. Ewe right?! ha ha. But like I said it is interesting and everyone should go there and see it and get their picture taken in front of it.

After visiting the Gum Wall we headed on over to the giant Ferris wheel. But, on our way there I had to get a picture of my studly husband under the Post Alley sign because it reminds me so much of Harry Potter. Not really sure why but it does ha ha.

Here is the giant Ferris wheel. Although we didn't go on it which is fine by me. I went on it a few years ago and it wasn't my cup of tea. I'm not a big fan of heights and this about did me in ha ha. It is kind of pricey to do also. But I would recommend it to everyone it's a good experience. And if I can do it, you can do it!

The Ferris wheel is located out on the pier which is awesome so there is lots of shops and fun things around it like this fish. The fish goes along with a restaurant and the piers name but I can't recall what the name is. But you know we were tourist so of course we got pictures done with the giant fish. 

And of course pictures with the wonderful view! Look how beautiful it is. I love the blue water, the islands you can see and of course all the ships, faeries and sail boats. It's such a magical view.  

This is what a lot of the shops around the pier/ferris wheel look like. Old fashioned and cute. I think the pier is one of my favorite places in Washington. It is just beautiful and so much fun. There is just so much art around and color.

When walking back to our car we found James St! So of course James got his picture taken by it. 

And well that's that, our trip in a nutshell. I have left out a lot but.. this is what I got pictures of! Ha! Now it's back to real life and busy schedules. 

Washington Trip Part 2:

Just in case you didn't get enough here is part two of the Washington trip! Aka: The wedding day! It was such a fun day and everything was wonderful. Beautiful flowers, lovely decorations, amazing ceremony and of course a gorgeous bride!

The main reason we even went to Washington was for my best friends wedding! So on Friday us girls (bridesmaids) took her out for her last being "single" night. We got our nails done at this cute little place and after went to dinner at this very delicious Mexican restaurant. It was a lot of fun.

The next day (Saturday) was the big day! First thing in the morning we headed to Starbucks to pick up some yummy drinks. I got a vanilla bean frappe and James got a hot chocolate. The people there were so cute and wrote special things on our cups: Limo Man-James, Maid O' Honor-Me, Bridesmaid-Brooke, Bride-Sabrina, Bridesmaid-Megan. It was something fun and made the day even more memorable.  

Here's a close up of mine and James cups. Isn't that just darling?! All I have to say is my frappe was so yummy and tasted just like it should! James didn't like his hot chocolate too much, he said it was too rich. I'm also not a big fan of Starbucks hot chocolate but man their frappes.. trust me you need to try one if you haven't. ha ha!

Sabrina made such a beautiful bride! I was so proud of her and Andrew. They are perfect for each other. The wedding ceremony was beautiful and very cute. The party to follow was wonderful. All the decorations were amazing and the food was yummy. It was such a beautiful day.

Washington Trip Part 1:

Sorry I've been MIA for the last few days! James and I went on a short trip to Washington to be apart of my best friends wedding. I will be posting about the trip but in a few posts due to a lot of pictures and I don't want them to be too lengthy. So here is part one. Enjoy!

James and I headed out Thursday night to Washington. It was a ten hour drive! Eek. We only had so many days for this trip due to James work but, we made it work. Like I was saying though, we left Thursday night about 7:00 pm. Right after we grabbed a quick bite to eat at McDonald's. Super healthy right?

We drove all night! Needless to say we were extremely exhausted. We ended up pulling into a rest stop for about an hour and a half to have a quick rest before we continued our journey toward Washington.

Our first stop was to Bellevue, WA where we visited the Seattle Washington Latter-Day Saint Temple. It was so beautiful! I have a lot of love for temples. They are just gorgeous and magical places.

We made sure we took a lot of pictures around the temple and of the Temple. It was both mine and James first time ever visiting this temple. It was a lot of fun. And the grounds were absolutely stunning.

They even had this wonderful place that was a trail where you could walk around in and hide from the rain! They had benches, beautiful flowers and lots of trees and green bushes. It was like a secret garden. I loved it. It was very pretty and smelt delightful.

After the Temple we made a quick stop to visit our friend Mr. Troll who lives under the magical land of the bridge. You can find this guy in Fremont Washington. If you want more details Google "Fremont Troll" it will give you all the details. It's a fun little pit stop to make. Especially if you have kids. I'm sure they would love it. Who doesn't love a troll under a bridge? 

After visiting the Troll we headed to the Seattle Space Needle but we made a quick stop to visit the Key Arena. Which is where the Seattle Sonics used to play. Mr. Hatch was very excited to be able to stop by and see it. Too bad we weren't able to get a tour. Maybe next time?

After that we walked on over to the Space Needle. I went there a few years ago and it was awesome! James had never been there so we decided to fork over the big bucks and go on up. It's pretty nifty they give you a "free" picture which is really included into the cost of your ticket. You stand in front of a green screen they take your picture, give you a ticket and once you're at the top you scan your ticket and you can pick which background you'd like. I let James pick it out. 

The view from the top is incredible! There are so many things you can see. I'm afraid of heights but for some reason this time the Space Needle didn't bother me. I felt proud of myself ha ha!

I forgot to mention, we had my mom and pop meet us at the Space Needle! I'm glad that they were able to come with us. They are so cute. It made it that much more fun.

This is the view from the top.. well the view from one of the sides that is. It is incredible! Such a beautiful sight to see. I felt like I was on top of the city. ha ha!

Of course after visiting the top we stopped by the gift shop where we picked up some postcards and a little souvenir so that we can remember the fantastic time that we had. I'm so glad that we were able to visit it. I think the Mr. loved it and had a ball so it made it that much more wonderful. 

Gratitude Day 17:

I am So thankful for this amazing girl that I get to call my best friend. I couldn't ask for a better bestie. She has been there for me through thick and thin. The good times as well as the bad times. 

I'm so grateful for these two adorable little girls that I get to call my nieces. They are my best friends and I love them to pieces. They have been one of the best blessings I have ever received in my life.

Gratitude Day 16:

I am grateful that I am able to have something on my feet. I am so thankful for this wonderful invention.

I'm so thankful for holidays. So I have a time to spend with my family and show my appreciation. Also so that I can show how thankful I am to this wonderful world.

Gratitude Day 15:

I am so thankful for cars. Especially my wonderful car! I love it so much. I'm glad I have something to get me from point A to point B without walking. I don't think I could be a pioneer. Although I am SO grateful to them. But cars are nice, and I love mine and am so grateful to have something to protect me and keep me safe and get me safely to where I am going.

I am grateful for light bulbs and light in general. I don't know what I would do without it. It has been one of the worlds greatest inventions ever. I and glad that I have light especially when I feel afraid. I'm not much for darkness. I'm glad I am blessed to have such a wonderful gift in my life. I'm pretty lucky!

Welcome.

I'm so excited! My pots have grown so much and they look beautiful. I'm proud of myself. Not bad for my first time making a potted planter. It brightens my entire day every time I see it. I'm proud of my flowers and how much they have grown. I promise they are so much prettier in person.

Cute little 93 year old Ken came by again. Only this time he wasn't dropping off bread. Nope just a giant zucchini. Looks like I will be making some zucchini bread. I will be blogging about it as soon as I make it. My sweet grandmother sent me a recipe to try. I'm so excited! I absolutely love baking, especially new recipes. Hope I don't screw this bread up ha ha.

Did any of you see the "super moon" last night?! It was amazing. So big and beautiful. It was there even in the morning when I woke up. I didn't get the worlds best picture ever but it's decent enough. It for sure does not do it justice though. If you missed it, I am sorry! It was very incredible. I love the moon though, always have and it hold a special place in my heart. (That's a different story for another day.)

Lastly, say hello to Mr. Goat. (Unnamed for now..) He's my new friend. Although him and Max do not get along one bit. But that's okay. I still think he's cute ha ha. He actually let me pet him. As you can tell he climbed up on the fence to see me. It was amazing, and super cute. I was nervous at first to pet him but he totally let me. Yippee. Cross that off my bucket list. And yup, this is one of my many adventures here in Idaho.. petting goats. ha! Oh well, it's exciting to me and that's all that matter. Right?

Gratitude Day 14:

I'm grateful for home decor. It makes everything so beautiful. I'm lucky that I'm able to have so much. I am very thankful for it. I feel very blessed.

I'm grateful for the moment where I'm able to face my fears. Example: This picture is of me on the Ferris wheel in Washington. I'm scared of heights and moving things that go high. But I am thankful for this moment. I was able to experience something very magical. 

Rain, Dip & A Fair

Man oh man have we had rain lately! It has been very crazy. We have had at least a half hour every day. Which is fine.. like I've said before. The garden and the flowers sure do love it ha ha. The other day though we had this crazy storm. It rained for two hours straight and it was huge rain drops and heavy and hard rain. It was intense. It got everything very dirty as you can tell in the picture above.

After the two hour rain it turned into hail. Oh my it was crazy! The hail was HUGE. I had to go out in the storm to move my car into the garage because I didn't want it to get all dented up and what not. Needless to say, I should of gone out there with an umbrella. Every time it hit me it hurt very badly. ha ha.

So I've started this new diet and I wanted a snack but wanted something sweet so I came up with this awesome fruit dip recipe! It's great. So let me share it with you!

Creamy Cinnamon Fruit Dip

1 3/4 cup Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon Peanut butter

1/8 teaspoon Cinnamon

1 teaspoon Honey

Mix in a bowl or a container with lid 

This last weekend I went to the fair with Andrea and Wiley. (James aunt & uncle) It's a cute little thing they've got going on. They had a ton of bouncy houses, craft booths, lots of food carts and even a candy cart where of course I bought cotton candy! YUM! I can't live without that stuff.. it's so good!

I entered a couple of my pictures into the fair! I got 2nd place for my beach picture and 3rd for my flower picture! They were put into categories, so not too bad for my first round I'd say! Maybe next year i'll get a blue ribbon. 

Gratitude Day 13:

I am so thankful for beautiful nature that surrounds me. I'm so blessed to have all this beauty around me. It's amazing. I'm glad I'm alive.

I'm grateful for children's books. They are my favorite and are so cute. I'm glad that I have some sort of entertainment other than television.