Happy Sunday!

Happy Sunday my friends! I hope that you all had a fun and safe weekend and are gearing up for all of the little goblins who may be coming knocking on your door tomrorow!

1. I saw this sign at a western store awhile ago. {Not that I condone handling law enforcement issues on your own} It still made me laugh.

2. This beautiful flower on a bush outside of a restaurant where we had breakfast one moring. I love the orange-y/pink color!

3. Last week when I was at Mom and Dad's, I felt like the pied piper because the girls were following me all around the yard.

4. This is my polka dot pumpking I carved last night.

5. Mom and Dad having fun under the black light.

I hope that you have a wonderful Sunday and that you find much to be happy about this week!

Quick dinner

I have been pretty bad at making home cooked meals lately {unless you count making Chris sandwiches and packing his lunch for work}. Yesterday I was at the store and decided to pick up some ingredients to make myself dinner, and I made enough so that Chris could have some when he got home from work, but he didn't get home until 3:45 am!

Here is my quick and tasty dinner:

Brown one package (about 1 pound) of ground turkey in skillet. I added some ground ginger, minced onion, teriyaki sauce, and a dash of chili powder.

I also had an eggplant. {I have no clue how to cook them, so I just guessed} I chopped most of it up and threw it in the pan.

While the meat was browning, I threw some spaghetti into a pot of boiling water.

After the meat was done, I added carrots, the eggplant, and broccoli, with more seasoning and teriyaki sauce. I also threw in the spaghetti when it was cooked and sauteed it for a few minutes to combine all the flavors.

It was a really quick, healthy, and delicious dish. I think this is going to be my go-to meal when I have no idea what to make because you could really use whatever you have on hand.

What is your favorite quick meal to make?

THINK

All too often we are quick to repeat some bit of "information" that we have heard somewhere. Some bit of information that we probably don't remember where it came from or who said it in the first place, but we say it as fact because we have heard it before.

I am guilty of this too.

I have been doing my best to not get involved in gossip (something that has been running rampant around our work lately) and my mom recently sent me this:

Something that we have been taught since we were little, "think before you speak". How about if we teach our children this? Give them actual things to think about before they speak, before repeating some bit of information.

Hopefully if we begin doing this now, it will become habit and we won't have to think about thinking, it will become natural and will happen automatically.

What a better place we will live in if we all THINK!

Happy Sunday!

I'm sorry I missed last week!!!{Ugh...I scheduled this to post and it didn't...sorry it's late!}


Go ahead and link up {or tell us in the comments} what is making you happy today!

1. This little masked pumpkin guy has been in our family for as long as I can remember. Mom gave him to me when I moved and he never fails to make me smile.

2. Dad made us this cutting board from the kitchen island that was in Nana and Pawpaw's house. So very special!

3. This is the new canvas picture we have hanging in our entryway. We ordered it from costco.com {they had the best prices} and we love having a picture of our whole family.

4. My giant book of Sudoku puzzles that keeps me occupied when we are really slow at work.

5. The "Be Joyful" sticker I ordered from this site. I thought I was ordering a small sticker that I could put on the back of my car, but when it came, it was bigger than I expected. Chris suggested that we put it on the mirror in our bathroom and I absolutely love it! A good reminder when I'm getting ready in the morning.

I have much to look forward to this week! Hopefully I will have lots of pictures to share from my visit home. 

Happy Sunday and remember to Be Joyful! 

Fall decor

This is the first year that i have had a home of my own to decorate. While I haven't done as much as I had planned, I figured I'd share with you how Fall has crept into our home.

Yummy Smells:



Green Apple Dish Soap



Spiced Pumpkin Hand Soap



Spice Scented Candles
{this is only one of MANY that are in our home}

Mulling Spices simmering on the stove!
{Not to be confused with tea!}



The mantle in the living room:

Left side: One of my many Willow Tree Angels, plastic charger with a vinyl silhouette from House of Smiths, one of our engagement pictures {by my talented Mom}, and a pumpkin from Michaels.

Right side: This poem, one of our wedding pictures, "I love you" in Sign Language {gift from my Mom a long time ago} and another Willow Tree Angel.

The entire thing: The window mirror was left by the previous owners, the black and purple garland is from Michaels, my cupcake wreath, and a small vase with fake orange flowers.

I do have lots of decor pumpkins in the den and on widow sills, I just didn't take pictures of them.

How do you decorate for Fall?

{I'm sure that as we get more settled, I will be able to decorate better!}

Oh Blog!

How I have been neglecting you!

This past week {or two} has both crawled by and sped by at the speed of lightning at the same time! How is that possible??

We haven't been doing much worth blogging about lately and my camera has been stuck in my purse, not wanting to make any appearances. My promise to you: I will get my camera out and start clicking and blogging away!

There are some exciting things happening soon:
~ I get to go visit Mom and Dad this coming week!!!! It has been WAY too long since I have been home and I am so looking forward to the drive and what awaits me when I get there {and while I'll be leaving Chris at home, I'm sure his honey-do list will keep him company}!
~ We are going to be celebrating a friend's 30th birthday with a little trip.
~ A fun Halloween party, as long as no one calls out sick I'll be able to go!

Here is what we have been doing lately:

~ Cleaning the garage, filling up our trash/recycle/donate bins to the brim. We can almost fit both cars inside our 3 car garage. {I do have before and will have some after pictures soon!}

~ Taking daily walks. The first day we walked 3 miles and the second, 4.5 miles! It is wonderful to get in the fresh air and hopefully the weather will cool down again (no more 90 degree days please!) so being outside is more enjoyable!

Spending time with this little one! Chris and Mario play on the same hockey team, so I get to hold our niece for over an hour Sunday afternoons when Elizabeth brings her to the ice rink. Chris is also on his Mom's bowling team (yep, bowling) and sometimes Ella comes to watch Grandma and Uncle Chris so I get to hold her then too! *LOVE*

Hockey season has also started. Which means many nights for us down in LA watching the LA Kings hockey team. On Tuesday night we went to the home opener and had amazing seats (9 rows from the glass) and they won 5-0! Hopefully that is how the entire season will be! So for the near future, there will be hockey on our TV, hockey on our computer, and Chris will be engrossed in his fantasy hockey league, as well as playing in his own games. *JOY*

I think that's about it.  I'm sorry for missing my Happy Sunday post this week and promise to get back to it this Sunday!

What have you been up to lately?

Zin

On of our favorite places to dine is Zin in Westlake Village. {One reason being that our friend Justin works there and he orders for us so it's always a surprise what comes out of the kitchen.}The food is amazing and the restaurants sits right on the lake so there is a beautiful view. It can be a little pricey, but it is a great place to celebrate a special occasion. {We've even seen this actor there}

We recently went with a group of friends and Chris finally let me I was able to get some cell phone pictures of our food and drinks.

Justin made us girls a pomegranate martini...

Then a peach martini...

Then came the lobster eggrolls...

Then the shrimp and calamari tostada

Then the a.ma.z.ing steak nachos (I can't remember their exact name but they are our favorite!)

and a raspberry mojito

 (my first mojito and I realized I'm not a fan of all that mint)

and to end the night: espresso martinis!

My silly love and I

Kevin, Wally, Steph, and Chris

Chris and Ish.

The night might have ended up looking like this.

Fortunately, we planned ahead and took a cab to and from the restaurant. We all had a great time {as always} and if you need somewhere special to go, I'd recommend Zin!

Life lessons

When I was younger, I was probably one of the most insecure people that you had ever met, and you probably didn't know it.

In jr. high and high school, I had a lot of acquaintances but not a lot of close friends. I was constantly feeling ugly, less than, and unwelcome. For awhile I had a group of friends that I felt connected with and then I realized that they saw me as a project and as soon as they were done with me, I was rejected. I had a boyfriend that I allowed to keep me isolated from others, but he made me feel pretty and welcome, so I allowed it...until he became abusive and I realized what was happening and ended our relationship.  

Insecurity has always been something that I've tried to overcome. It is something that I am constantly working on and Chris is amazing at reminding me of my worth and how beautiful I am (in his eyes).

Recently I came across this devotional {I really need to write down where I find these, so if you know where it comes from, please share!}:

"Stop comparing yourself to other people. When you compare yourself to others, you end up wither feeling that you're better than they are, or feeling bad about yourself. Neither of those things is what I want for you.

I created each of My children with unique talents. And I have given each of you your own road to follow. So it is useless to compare yourself to someone else - that person has a completely different path to follow.

When you want to feel good about yourself, remember how much I love you. Remember that I made you just the way I want you to be. And remember that that I died so you could have My salvation. You are a jewel in My crown."

I usually end up feeling bad about myself when comparing myself to others and this reminds me that I have a specific purpose and my own road to follow. There is no need to compare myself or my life to others' because I have all that I need.

I am a jewel in His eye.

This has been printed out and put on our fridge, so it is there as a reminder to us to continue on our path. I am so thankful that I have someone watching over me and treasures me.

I have been blessed.

Jell-o shots

I have had this in my drafts folder since July and I'm trying to clear it out so it's not sitting there mocking me. So even though this is more of a summer(college) recipe, I will share it!

For our housewarming party I wanted to keep it fun and the weather had been so nice that I decided Jell-o shots were a good idea. (Thanks to my super cool Mom for the recipe {at the bottom}!)

I love how the gelatin and jell-o powders look combined!

The silicone molds I used for the first batch. They were meant for cakes so they didn't work too well for the jell-o and I ended up donating the molds after.

{I'm trying to get better at cleaning out stuff I'm probably not going to be using again.}

Full molds in the fridge.

And the finished product. They seemed to be a hit (with the boys at least)!

The recipe courtesy of Susan Branch 

{and you should try the skip and go naked recipe too, it is delicious and dangerous!!}

Enjoy!

Happy Sunday!

Happy Sunday!!!

I don't have any pictures to share this week (well..I probably do but they haven't been taken off of my camera yet) so today you get a list.

1. I am so thankful for friends that understand our crazy schedules are are flexible and don't get upset when plans have to change. {Nicole, Shannon & Addi, and April, thank you for letting me cancel our plans this week and keeping our friendships strong even when we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like!}

2. Getting packages in the mail. I've ordered a lot of items online recently and they have started arriving at our doorstep! I'm excited to have some days off so that we can get some projects done...and I can share them soon.

3. Cooler weather! I am so excited to bundle up in jeans, scarves, and take long walks with my love, holding hands, keeping warm.

4. Looking forward to having Thanksgiving in our home for the first time! I ordered invitations from tinyprints.com and am excited to get them this week.

5. Sunday newspapers that have lots of good coupons! My Dad used to be the coupon king in our family (even having coupons that made the store pay him to purchase the item) and I have tried to be the same way. I try to sign up for free samples and use coupons whenever possible and Chris saves the coupons from the newspaper for me.

I hope that you have a great week and find happiness in the little things!

I'm an Aunt!

I would like to introduce you to our niece!

Ella Ann

Born at 4:15am October 7th

7 pounds 8 ounces 20.5 inches long.

I got to the hospital around 7pm with my Mother-in-law and Chris' Aunt, and then we waited...

and waited....

and walked the halls for two hours with Elizabeth...

and waited some more.

Chris was able to get off of work a little early and got to the hospital around midnight.

and we waited...

Elizabeth's water broke around 3am and everything progressed pretty quickly from there.

After only pushing for about 45 minutes, Ella was here, with an amazing set of lungs that we could hear from down the hall.

Uncle Chris and Ella

Me and Ella

We are very excited to get to know this little bundle and see her grow!

Dinner...

This past weekend I was a hockey widow.

Chris went to Las Vegas to watch the LA Kings hockey game at the MGM Grand hotel on his annual boys trip.

I have been trying to make homemade dinners when we are home together and since he was gone, I didn't feel like going to the market. So I searched our cupboards for something to eat and came across:

It was calling my name!

When I was younger and would cook with my Nana, I would always wait expectantly to lick the bowl/beaters/spatula. It's nice to know that some things never change!

Warm brownies ala mode!

The perfect indulgent meal...guess I'll have to go back to boot camp soon!

Happy Sunday!

It's Sunday, and if you're new around here (and I'm glad to have you visit!) I like to share five things that are making me happy. They could be things that have made me happy in the past week, things I'm looking forward to in the week ahead, or just things that have crossed my mind lately. Feel free to link back to this post or share your happiness in the comments!

1. I was flipping through the channels the other day and found Clarissa Explains It All and Doug.

Two shows that I used to watch when I was younger! It was fun to watch them and see how TV has evolved (not so much for the better) and changed over the years.

2. Surprise get-togethers with friends!

We were able to get together with one of my best friends, April, and her boyfriend, Robert to enjoy an Angels game this week. It was a last minute plan that came together and it was wonderful to spend time together in the warm Southern California evening.

3. Playing words with friends.

{and using all my letters over a triple word space} If you don't have this app for your cell phone, you should get it! Chris and I use it to stay connected when we are apart and I think I have six games going with different people right now.

4. This pretty pink dining area. So simple and chic!

This would be perfect for a bridal shower, a sweet 16th birthday, or a baby shower (It's my sister-in-law's due date today! Let's see if my neice comes to meet us today!).

5. Chris in all of his new hockey gear.

{Shhh...don't tell him I'm sharing this picture!} He has his first hockey game tonight and I'm excited to see him play! He was recruited to go play back East when he was younger, but he hurt his back before he could go play, so I'm glad he is getting back out on the ice.

I hope that you all find much to be happy about this week!