Welcome Halloween!

I will admit, Halloween is NOT my favorite holiday of the year. I'm not into creepy or scary things at all. But I will do cute Halloween decorations. So when James and I found this way cute rug at Lowe's I was thrilled! The best part it was normally $10.00 and I got it for ONLY $1.50!

The next welcome mat I also got at Lowe's! It perfect because I can use it the whole Fall season! It has also been Max approved. He loves to lay on it. It normally cost $8.00 and I paid $1.25! What a steal. I love it a whole lot. It's very cute and makes our home look all cute and cozy for the Fall season. Can't beat a great deal on some welcome mats!

The last welcome mat I purchased recently is this cute scarecrow one! It's perfect for the Thanksgiving and fall season when I don't have my cute Halloween one out. It wasn't as good of a deal as my other mats but it was still a great deal! I got it for 70% off at $7.99. I really like it and it's a great decoration item to help keep our home clean and cute!

On Halloween we dressed Max up as a gangster pup. And boy did he have the attitude for this costume. We even took him trick or treating. Stop 1: The post office. Stop 2: Andrea & Wileys. Stop 3: Our house to get some bacon! I'm pretty sure he enjoyed Halloween. Spoiled little dog he is!

T-I double G-errrr!

 On Friday James and I retook our Christmas card pictures. Why? Because we found some awesome sweaters to match Mr. Max! Our Christmas cards are going to look awesome. I can't wait to show you all.. but that's a few months away ha ha.

I think that they turned out wonderfully! I like them a lot better than the first round of pictures we took. But I do still like the first pictures. They aren't half bad either.  Poor James though he's a good sport he had a cold through all of this but still went and took some with me. 

Also on Friday we carved our pumpkins that we grew in our garden! James carved Scar from The Lion King. It looks so awesome! He did a wonderful job.

I did Tigger from Winnie The Pooh! He turned out very cute. I love Winnie The Pooh so this pumpkin fits me perfectly. He had a lot of detail surprisingly so it took a little bit to carve him.

Now our finished products are sitting nicely on our front porch. I'm very excited for Halloween and to be able to show off our pumpkins. I also for the first time made pumpkin seeds. Yummy! They taste wonderful. All I have left to say is I think we spent our Friday night very well.

Hot Date!

It has been awhile since James and I have been on a "real" date. So on Thursday he decided he was going to take me on an all day date. It was very lovely. I love spending time with the hubby. It doesn't happen much where we get to spend time with each other so it's always nice.

For the first part of our date we went to the Idaho Falls Temple. It is so beautiful. It surely was a real treat to be able to go here especially with James. I love the Temple it's a magical place that's for sure. It was also nice to be able to go since we don't live that close to one anymore and we have to travel to be able to go. So this was awesome!

The Idaho Falls Temple is so unique and very beautiful. It was extremely beautiful also because of all the fall colors that surrounded it. It was fabulous.

And of course we took a "selfie" ha ha. I'm so blessed to be able to go with my husband and attend the Temple. Couldn't ask for a better way to start my day and of course a wonderful way to have a date! Very cheap (It's FREE!) and so much fun.

While walking around the Temple grounds we spotted this little critter who was so determined to get the black tar from under the wood chips out. It was so fun to watch him while he worked. He was pretty cute too. I wanted to pet him and bring him home. But don't worry I used my brains and knew that wasn't the best idea in the world ha ha.

I was so excited to finally get to see some leaves changing colors. I felt like I was back in Utah. It was wonderful and so gorgeous. I love the smell and colors of fall.

I didn't take pictures of the rest of our date but it was a lot of fun. We went to all my favorite stores which we don't have where we live so it was a real treat and we went to lunch and dinner to finish off the date. It was a wonderful time and I'm so glad that we were able to have such a special day! I sure do love my husband. 

Surprise!

On Wednesday James came home from work and brought me some beautiful flowers. It was such a nice surprise. I really love flowers! He was so excited to give them to me it was very cute. He spoils me so much. I'm lucky he's my husband. I love him lots!

Later that night we were watching a movie and I had a glass of milk I was enjoying and I was snuggling with cute little Max when suddenly he decided that he wanted some milk. Needless to say I guess I was done with my milk ha ha. It was hilarious though he wanted to get every last drop so he shoved his face clear down into my mug. I think it was a nice treat for him. He's so spoiled.

Gettin' my craft on.

Lately I've been in a super crafty mood and when I'm in this mood I turn to the lovely website Pinterest or my imagination ha ha! For these two crafts though I did turn to Pinterest. They were super easy to do and I think they look very cute! I'm proud of myself, yup toot-in my own horn here. Ha ha! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

I had a few mason jars laying around so I decided that my kitchen needed a little more color so why not look an Pinterest and see how to paint jars and make it last. I think they turned out pretty cute. Not perfect but hey not bad for my first go around. I like them and that's all the matters ha ha. They look pretty darn good in my kitchen also. They were so easy to make also! Now that's my kind of craft.

Lately I've received a TON of free magazines in the mail. Not a bad thing. These come in handy when I'm bored, when I want to do crafts and of course a lot that I get have yummy recipes. So these make for a good time. But they have just been laying around everywhere and it has been driving me nuts! So I decided that I needed to solve the problem. 

I started looking for magazine holders but they were either not that cute or people wanted way to much money for them. So I went onto Pinterest to look and see what idea's they had. Everything that pulled up was to make one out of a cereal box. I did make one but it wasn't sturdy enough which was a bummer. But I decided that I would just use a thicker box. I had a flat-rate box laying around so I decided to use that. It worked perfectly! It keeps them nice and neat and it doesn't look half bad.

Chicken Salsa Nachos

What you need:

4 chicken breast

1 jar of salsa

1 taco seasoning packet

2 1/2 cups brown sugar

1 bag of tortilla chips

Prep time: 20

Cook time: 4 hours

Servings: 4-6

In a large pot boil 4 pieces of chicken for 15 minutes

While waiting for chicken in a crock-pot place brown sugar, 

salsa & taco seasoning packet and mix together

Once chicken is boiled take out of pan and shred

Once chicken is shredded add to salsa mixture in crock-pot

Cook on high for 2 hours

Remove from high and cook on low for an additional 2 hours 

Once chicken is cooked arrange tortilla chips on a plate and place 

chicken evenly over chips

Orange Creamsicle Cake

What you need:

1 can of Orange Soda

1 White or Yellow cake mix

1 tub of cool-whip (8 oz)

Preheat oven to 350

In a large bowl place cake mix and pour in can of Orange Soda

Mix ingredients together until smooth and fluffy

Grease cake pan using cooking spray & pour cake mixture into pan

Cook for 20-23 minutes

Allow cake to cool for 5-7 minutes 

Once cooled spread whipped cream on top just like frosting

Serve & keep leftovers in the fridge

These visitors are always welcome!

James' family came up this weekend for a fun little visit. It was so wonderful to see them all and have some time to chit chat and catch up on things. We sure do miss them and wish that they could have stayed longer but are grateful that they were able to come up! While they were here we had such a blast and fun filled days, it was just wonderful.

Everyone but dad arrived Thursday afternoon so the gang and I headed up to Idaho falls while James' and Dad were at work to visit some cousins. It was so much fun! We went to a soccer game and there was such a beautiful sunset. Absolutely stunning. The picture above just doesn't do it justice but I do need to give Miss Halee photo credit. I'm glad that she captured this. While at the cousins we enjoyed a wonderful meal my personal favorite potato soup in a very yummy homemade bread bowl. Oh boy.. I was in Heaven! It was so good to see them all and be able to spend the day with them. I sure was tired though by the time we got home. Needless to say I slept well that night.

On Friday, Halee did my hair. She did such an awesome job. It looked super cute. Later that night we hit the hot baths in Lava while Mom and Halee stayed home and had a girls night. The hot baths felt so nice and they were a lot of fun. 

Also on Friday the men fixed up the garden and made it look oh so fab. They found these wonderful carrots that James and I forgot to pick. One of them was huge and very weird looking. Needless to say we will be enjoying some carrots soon. I am so grateful for all who helped in the garden it looks awesome now! I'm also grateful for James' mom who helped make our house look awesome and helped us catch up on dishes. 

Last night after everyone but Natalie went home James and Max were pooped. The shocking part is James didn't even stay awake through the BYU game! That goes to show you how much fun we had. We're glad that Natalie is still here with us and we are going to be sad when she leaves tomorrow. Can't wait to see them all again, it will be a blast!

My favorite time of year!

Fall has finally hit home! And Max is loving every minute of it. He loves to walk in the leaves and hear them crunch under his feet and he especially loves to roll around in them. It's adorable. I'm also a big fall lover. I love wearing jackets, seeing all the pretty colors and of course it has an awesome smell! Fall is absolutely wonderful.

Normally when it's chilly outside you don't drink cold drinks but hey I like to do things differently. I finally tried the berry smoothie that they have at Costco. It is pretty dang good. I like the fact that it doesn't have all the seeds from all the berries in it. And the best part it's only $1.50! Such a great deal for a wonderful treat.

Yesterday I went shopping with James' Aunt Andrea  & his other Aunt Joyce. It was a blast. They are so fun to hang out with. While shopping we went to Ross and I found Max this awesome Christmas sweater! The best part.. he LOVES it. I put it on him to make sure it fit and he got all excited and had a wonderful strut. It was darling. I'm now going to find James' and I sweaters to match Max so we can take some awesome family Christmas pictures. 

Utah, Cuddles & Decorations

My car is no longer a Utah car! It's official we are now Idaho residents ha ha. Bitter sweet moment right there. It's so weird to have Idaho plates after having Utah plates for so long. But it's all good.

This little dog here likes to cuddle a lot. Especially on my bed. Which is fine. He's so cuddly and cute. I love him a whole lot bit. He's my best friend here in Idaho. But boy is he spoiled. ha ha. But he is worth every spoiling. He's just so cute.

I've been a busy little bee lately making Halloween decorations! Yesterday I made 5 different banners and a bunch of bats. It's been so fun to decorate for the holidays! All this decorating is getting me excited for my favorite holiday though. Christmas of course! I cannot wait until I get to deck this house out with all that decor! But for now I'll settle for Halloween. 

Texas Toast Chicken Bruschetta

What you need:

4 pieces of ready made Texas Toast

1 can of diced tomatoes (14.5 oz)

1 can of chicken (5 oz)

2 tablespoons of olive oil 

Dash of salt & pepper

1/2 cup of shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese

Prep time: 2 minutes

Cook time: 6 minutes

Servings: 2-3

Preheat oven to 400

On a baking sheet place pieces of Texas Toast and bake for 3 minutes

While Texas Toast is baking, in a pan saute tomatoes & chicken with the olive oil

Sprinkle salt & pepper evenly over the tomato & chicken mixture

Once Texas Toast is done cooking for 3 minutes take out of oven

Spread shredded cheese over all four pieces evenly

Once cheese is spread evenly place the tomato & chicken mixture

on all 4 pieces again making sure it is spread evenly. 

Place Texas Toast back in oven and cook and additional 3 minutes 

Let cool 1 minute before serving

Family Pictures & Awesome News!

Yesterday James and I went and took a few family pictures for our Christmas cards and also so we had some "good looking" updated pictures. It was a really nice day for pictures. The sun was out and the weather wasn't too shabby. I'm pretty lucky that I scored such an awesome hubby who is a good sport about taking lots and lots of pictures with me. He didn't even complain once. And I think that they turned out pretty good! I can't wait to print off a few to frame for our house.

And of course we were getting family pictures so we had to include or child Max. He's also a pretty good sport about taking pictures. I secretly think he likes them. Whenever I pull out my camera he is always there ha ha. He is so freaking cute!

And now for the AWESOME news! My wonderful hubby got a promotion at work! I am so excited for him. I am also incredibly proud of him. He has worked so hard at his job in order to get this promotion. He truly does deserve it. 

Crock-Pot Meatballs

What you need:

1 bag of ready made meatballs 

1 18 oz jar of grape jelly

1 12 oz bottle of chili sauce

In crock-pot mix grape jelly and chili sauce together

Add meatballs to mixture and mix together making sure sauce is covering all the meatballs

Place crock-pot on high and cook for 2 hours

Remove from high and place on low and cook an additional 6 hours

Making sure to stir meatballs and sauce mixture every once in awhile

After cooked serve over noodles, mashed potatoes, rice or eat alone