Our 1st Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween

This month has been filled to the brim with Halloween fun.  Prepare for a picture mania.

Of course, on October first I got to bust out the holiday's decorations.  This isn't the first time I've decorated my own place.  I had three Halloweens as a single college student where I got to put up a few things in our apartment.  But this year is way more exciting.  Everything is mine (and Roy's).  There's not five other girls I need to OK my sticky window ghosts with.  I got to just go crazy!

Isn't our pumpkin cute?

I like my ghost.  He especially looks cool from outside when it's dark.  But I swear every other time I walked out into the kitchen he made me jump.  I wont be too sad to take him down.

Roy bought the cobwebs.

He also bought these plates!  They were surprise presents for me :-)  

But a lot of the rest of these decorations were from my mom {either from previous Halloweens when she'd send me a "Spooky Halloween Bag" or from this year when she went shopping on her visit and accidentally left a bag of decorations}  I've got a great mom!  

As part of my mission {to become awesomely domestic} I decided to make some of my own decorations!  I got together with Shellena while our husbands were out and we got our crafty on.  

To be honest, I was hoping to give my creations away as gifts but... I ended up liking them too much.

I did give away a few of the magnets we made.  Let's be rational... I don't really need 40 magnets.  They were really easy to make.  We just got some Halloween paper, dragon tear rocks, magnets, hot glue, and used the miracle of mod podge.  

We also made little signs.  More paper and mod podge, then buttons and ribbon too.  I had mine hung on our front door.  Only a few days later our friends found it out on the grass.  My flimsy little ribbon wasn't  up to the crazy October wind storms I guess.

PUMPKIN CARVING!!!!

with Matt and Sarah {to be married in December and we're so excited for them!}

And it wouldn't be Halloween without

COOKIE DECORATING!!!!

The same night we decorated cookies we also got Carson and Shellena fatally addicted to Mario Bros Wii.  Muahaha!  Now they keep inviting themselves over to play... we LOVE it!

So for Halloween weekend Roy and I went on a creepy adventure to an abandoned house with Kenny and Andrea.  

Andrea could barely walk straight, she was so scared.  For some reason having someone clinging to me makes me feel braver.  So I wasn't that terrified, really.  But it looked oober creepy!

What WAS scary was the movie we watched inside of the house on a laptop.  Kenny used a broom to clear the glass, plaster, and other debris from a spot on the squishy green carpet.  Then I laid down a blanket for us to sit on {cuz ew, mold and whatnot}.  We leaned against the cracked walls and jumped at every creek or groan the old house made.  

At one point some other kids came to explore the house.  Must be a big Halloween activity.  Roy accidentally scared the crap out of one kid.  Hilarious.

  

As far as dressing up went... let's just say we used what we could find.

WILD SAVAGES!!!

{pardon the un-politically correctness}

I know I know, you're wondering how we pulled off such amazing costumes.  Scarf, headband, lipgloss that I then smeared brown eyeshadow over so it would stick.  Also T-shirts that looked somewhat... well they're both touristy AZ shirts.  'Nuf said.

These pictures are from an amazing party thrown by our friends Phil and Laura {recently married... everyone is getting or has gotten married!!}  It wasn't a Halloween party, per say, but we were all dressed up, so it counts.

Oh and this was my first try at throwing an axe.  I'm a natural!  I think I'll quit school and wild savage professionally.

Basically, the funnest October of my life thus far.  And I'm pretty sure there will be some more good ones in the future.

Happy Halloween!!!

Recipe for Chicken Pillows

The life of a young wife {wow, I'm still not getting used to referring to myself that way} can be busy.  Mine is, if you couldn't tell.  I'm trying to master these skills of cooking but also writing papers and working and reading for class and... breathing when I get the chance.
So these chicken pillows are a family favorite here!  I talked about them on the last post and a few other busy young wives requested the recipe.  To be honest–and maybe I should be ashamed of this–I don't measure anything.  I do it all by taste.  Heck, I didn't even know what they were called in the last post!
But, I'll do my best to give good instructions.  If I can do it, you know it's an easy one!

Servings:
Perfect for two people

Ingredients:
1 can of cream of chicken
1/2 cup of milk
1 bunch of green onions
1 cup of regular cream cheese
1 chicken breast
1 Pillsbury dough sheet
(I've noticed these aren't sold at all stores, so know that the Pillsbury crescent ones work too.)

{via}

First, I preheat the oven to 175.

Next, I shred the chicken and cook it over the stove.  

While the chicken is cooking I wash and then chop the green onions very thin.  

I add the cream cheese into a small mixing bowl and throw some green onions in there.  For Roy and I, more is better.  But just add it in to your own taste.  

When the chicken is done, you add it into the mixture.  {Unless you happen to be a partial vegetarian, in which case you should leave the chicken out for now}

This is important: Don't let the popping of the Pillsbury dough container make you jump.  Man, it always gets me.  

Spread your dough on a baking sheet.  If it is a sheet of dough I recommend using a butter knife to cut them into squares.  Much more manageable than the triangles that the crescents give you.  But if your stuck with crescents it will be ok.  I promise.

Now add a spoonful of your mixture onto each square or crescent.  {Attention semi-vegetarians!  This is where you plop some chicken on top of the mixture for the meat-eaters and you can leave yours meatless}

This is my favorite part: grab the corner of the dough and bring them all to the middle so that your mixture is wrapped inside of the pillow.  Sometimes I like to get creative and twist them around and see how they turn out.  Just make sure your mixture will stay inside.

Stick those suckers in the oven for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

While they are cooking, whip out the cream of chicken and cook it on the stove in a small saucepan.  Add the milk and let the gravy heat up, stirring occasionally, until the pillows are done.  

Take our the pillows and let them cool.  Serve them and then pour the gravy over them.  Lots of pepper really does wonders!

The gravy also tastes good over vegetables.  I cook frozen corn, carrots, and green beans as a side dish and smother them all.

And there you have it!  Delicious chicken pillows!  

Or... maybe cream cheese pillows would be more accurate for us half-vegetarians.

To Be or Not to Be

Domesticity update:

I've mastered a recipe.  It's the first one ever that I can do without looking constantly at the instructions and double checking measurements.  {Am I the only one who mixes up TBS and TSP?}

I don't know what these are called, but they're delicious.  Basically green onions and cream cheese baked into the middle of some yummy, flakey dough.  I add chicken in Roy's.  I promise it still tastes delicious without the meat.  Then a can of cream of chicken mixed with milk to make a gravy.  I bake it at 175 for about fifteen minutes.  So quick and easy and SO melt-in-your-mouth-good!

Thanks for teaching me, Mom!

When Roy was rushing out the door for class he smacked one onto his plate and started stuffing his face {despite the fact that it was still steamy hot and probably scorching his throat}  I told him I made three with chicken in them for him to eat.  He said, "I can't I'm late," while scooping another one onto his plate.  And then another.  He sacrificed being on time and ate all three.  :-)  

YESSSSSSSSS!!!!

Not to the part about being late to class, but me cooking something edible... oh wait... desirable?

???

!

OK, now here is where my cliché title comes in.

What should we be for Halloween?

With less than a week to come up with costumes for me and my hubby, I'm feeling stressed.  It's our first *Halloween* together, I want to be something awesome!  Like... like... 

I must be using all my creative juices at school, because they just aren't flowing.

I just want to be anything but a chicken...

Watching the Change

If you didn't grow up in the desert (and I mean the true desert with cacti forests and .0001% chance of snow in a decade) then you may think this post is ridiculous.  In fact, I'd stop right here.  You've had seasons before.  Watching summer fade into fall is probably as interesting to you as breathing.  It happens.  Not a big deal.

But for me, it's a big big deal!  It's hard to keep my eyes on the road these days with all these crazy cool colors flying by my side windows.  Watching the change is beautiful.

Just a few days ago I noticed that some trees were still a rich green on the bottom half, but bright red on the top half.  I thought it was so awesome, I was determined to get some pictures as soon as I was able to find some time.  Well, I found time today and yet everything has changed.  Fall falls fast!

I have mixed feelings about watching the next change: fall into winter.  One of my absolute favorite things to do is snowboard.  But I've learned there's a difference between the perfectly manicured slopes of a resort and the stuff you have to trudge through on the sides of busy roads.  Black + crusty + sharp= misery.

Plus, snow covers up so many beautiful things.  The BYU landscape team will have to take a break from the flowers, I guess.

It'll be cool to see all of "The Art City's" statues all dusted white, I guess.

I'll miss seeing students laying out in the grass with their books and laptops and eating their lunches at picnic tables under the sun.  During winter everyone just tromps with their heads down, trying to get inside of a building as soon as possible.

And I doubt I'll run into deer on campus during the winter!

The Beast

In the six years I've had a driver's license {ooh, my age is showing} it's been me and the Pearl.  She and I have made countless trips from Tucson to Rexburg, Rexburg to Salt Lake, Tucson to Phoenix and back.  She's nimble!  Amazing turning radius, a nice little jump when you hit the gas, a smooth ride.  The Pearl's my baby.

Alexa is my other baby.  Sweet little sis.  For her first semester of college I gifted her with the Pearl.  There were some major perks switching vehicles with her.  It was while Roy and I were getting settled in our first place.  I mean, my little car wasn't about to pull a U-Haul for 730 miles!  We dreamed of the day we'd throw our snowboards in the back and still be able to fit friends.

Now all I'm dreaming about is parallel parking without killing myself!

The Beast is such a pain to drive around campus.  I'm always forced to squeeze into the most ridiculous places.

Sometimes I'm a proud success.

And sometimes I end up damaging something.

Hopefully I don't end up damaging something more permanent... like someone's fender.

Then two days ago I got a gash in our tire.  I immediately blamed the construction I have to drive through every day to get to school.  But when Roy checked it out he found one of our pennies.  We've set tons of pennies on the railroad tracks in front of our house.  It's fun to go out there and search around the tracks for the smashed pennies.  They get as thin as paper and bend easily.  Apparently they can be sharp too, because that's what Roy found sticking out of the back tire.

Awesome!

And Roy fixed it in the pouring rain.  What a good hubby!

So, it's been a fun little adventure...
but I'm ready to trade the Beast back for the Pearl.