Pumpkin Patch!!

My family has a huge tradition of going to the pumpkin patch every year.
It will definitely be carried on, even though it might have to be slightly altered, since we can't go to Bates Nut Farm.

KR and I went to Baggenstos a few weekends ago. It was such a fun, festive date!

Then we stopped at another patch that had a fun sign we wanted to take a picture in front of. There wasn't anyone close by but there was one sidewalk sign that we set the timer up on. We couldn't run quite fast enough so it took us a couple tries. Haha.

October!!

It's October already!
We've definitely been up to more than my blog portrays! I am still so behind! But for now, here are a few updates!

First off, we finally got the corner cleaned up in our living room and decorated! I don't have pictures to post quite yet of the whole living room, but I changed the decor around the TV and love it so much better than the "seahorse guarding the TV" as KR put it.

I love these cute mini shells!

We did make some fun Halloween cookies over at KR's house- his mom is so fun!
I couldn't resist making a hot pink ghost when I saw the frosting.

My super super cute apron!! I love it! ( I should take a better picture of it close up so you can appreciate how cute it really is)

And paired with my cute hot pad and kitchen towel? Love it!!


Oh and it's not fall until you make a nice yummy warm apple crisp! MMMM!

Of course we have to decorate!!! It's not much, but it's still festive!

I'll post some pictures of the room in it's entirety. In the meantime, I am about to post as much as I can while I have the internet!

Gratitude!

Today, my friend blogged about a few random things she was grateful for today and asked us readers what we are grateful for today.
I decided to play along.
In fact, it gave me the idea:
For November I will blog at least one thing a day I am grateful for.

But as a sneak preview, here are the things I am thinking about specifically today.

I am grateful that we're sealed for eternity- no getting out of it! haha.

I am grateful for a husband who cleans up after yucky slimy animals that sneak in to our bedroom through the window (the name of which will NOT be mentioned, but I am referring to it as a caterpillar because it's nicer and friendlier and doesn't make my stomach turn).

I'm grateful for income. I don't mean to sound shallow, I mean to sound grateful.
We were both without jobs and even though they may not be glamorous (well KR's is worse than mine haha) we are so grateful we are able to pay our bills.

This is just a sneak preview- I will pick it up in November.

Anyone want to take the challenge with me?
Let me know if you do, I'd love to read what you're grateful for!

The ABC's of our Honeymoon!!

A little more creative way to blog about our honeymoon! Enjoy!

A is for the Avia hotel in Long Beach.
Our wedding night and first weekend was spent in a trendy, posh hotel in the Long Beach Harbor. Included with our hotel room was a free meal at the restaurant. We had delicious food and got to walk around the light house and see the Queen Mary.

B is for the beach!
Once we got to Mexico, the hotel was right on the beach. It was such a beautiful view and our favorite thing to do was just relax on the beach all day.

C is for cake!
The woman who made our wedding cake also made us a mini version for us to have on our honeymoon! Yum!!! It was so delicious!

D is for D519,
our room number at the hotel :)

E is for Edgar!
When we went in to Cabo San Lucas one day, we had our new amigo Edgar give us a ride out to the Arc on his boat, the Booty Chaser!!

F is for Fiesta!
One night, we went to a fiesta at the restaurant on the beach the hotel runs. It was a special night they had once a week with a buffet, music and entertainment, and fireworks! We got to taste all sorts of authentic Mexican food, see authentic Mexican dancers and listen to authentic Mexican music. They had a host that was hilarious and he even brought KR and a few others up on stage to dance!

G is for GREAT food!!
We made sure whenever we spent money on food, it was authentic!

H is for hilarious!
So when we were in Cabo San Lucas, we were laying on the beach, surrounded by spring breakers, and this lady gets swept away by a wave. She's most likely a little more than tipsy and she can't get herself back up. She is cracking up and washing back and forth in the waves. All the while, her gentleman friend is trying to help her up but he can't keep up with the waves. I honestly was starting to get nervous but she was cracking up. Finally someone else helped her up and I had to snap a picture. OH man, hilarious!

I is for Iggy!
Of course we saw a few of these while we were in Mexico. It was so cool to see them roaming freely!
J is for Just married!
I have always seen these sandals that leave imprints in the sand and after expressing my desire to have them someday, I received them as a shower gift! It was so fun to walk on the sand with them (even though they gave me blisters haha)!!!
K is for kids!
There was a separate pool that was the same temperature as the hot tub and it had these bushes surrounding it that were shaped like kids! It reminded me of the Small World, at Disneyland!
L is for Light House in Long Beach.
As mentioned before, we stayed in Long beach for about a day and a half before flying out to Mexico. It was really neat and relaxing in a totally different way. We pretty much slept all Sunday because we were so exhausted haha.
M is for Mega!
Because our condo had a full kitchen, we planned ahead of time to purchase most our food and make it at the condo, rather than eating out every meal. Hello! We're newlyweds and need to save money! Anyway, there was a Mega not too far from our condo so we walked there the first day and stocked up! It's basically Walmart, in all ways but one: they allow these sales guys to dress just like their employees, trick customers into thinking they work there, offer to let you try all the cheeses so you can decide which one to buy, and then they allow them to creep around and pop up around every corner and try to sell you activity packages (like snorkeling and horseback riding). Ah! Well we had to literally duck and hide from Hussein, but we got some the best mango and pineapple we ever tasted! We also had egg and potato burritos pretty much every night and even more than once a day. Mmm.
N is for Newlyweds!
Well, it's true!



O is for Ocean view!!
This was the panorama picture I took from our balcony!

P is for Pool!
Our second favorite place to relax and lay out when we got "tired" of the beach, was the pool! It was such a nice pool and so pretty!

Q is for Quite adorable!
Haha, ok Q is a hard letter but we took so many pictures of us that I love but aren't easy to use in the alphabet haha.



R is for Real Mexico!
We stayed in an area that was a lot less touristy than Cabo San Lucas and we got to really experience the real way of life for Mexicans. It was so neat to see how they live day to day. We even saw some kids getting out of school and ate at a few hole-in-the-wall places with excellent food.


S is for Sea of Cortez!
Where we stayed in Mexico, San Jose del Cabo, we were at the end of the Baja peninsula. The ocean we were looking out on was technically the Sea of Cortez. It was realllly confusing to be looking East and seeing the ocean (being from the beach and always knowing the beach is either West or South from me and my main point to determine what way I am facing). I pride myself on having a sense of direction but that totally through me off!
Anyway, one day we took a bus about 30 minutes more south and went to the very tip of Baja; this is where Cabo San Lucas is located. It is MUCH more populated and very Americanized and to add to it all, we were there during Spring Break. We took the Booty Chaser out to the Arc and we got to see the point where the Sea of Cortez and my beloved Pacific Ocean meet! There were some beautiful rock formations and some incredible waves crashing! The splash was insane! I was pretty scared, but not enough to miss a photo op! (Do I look very comfortable in my seat? No, I was about to barf! haha jk...kinda)

T is for Towels!
KR made us these nice lounge chairs in the sand on a slope! SO comfy!


U is for Ultima!
Ultima means last and we were literally the last flight out of the airport the night day we left. It was so weird, seeing as there is a never-ending amount of flights from LAX haha.


V is for Vacation!
It was seriously the best vacation and very much needed! We were so grateful and blessed!!


W is for Water!
KR took this picture from the plane (because I didn't dare look) and oh my goodness! Look at that water!!


X is for
.....what eXactly is the Super Comb? Or Shirmp?
I think I'll take the mash potatos. Don't worry, they spelled Filet Minon correctly. haha.

Y is for Yummy!
We found the best place to get horchata and it was SO yummy!! La Michoacana!


Z is for Zebra Fish!!
Ok so one time KR and I were laying out and we both saw this crazy looking fish jump through a wave! But it was so fast, we almost thought we imagined it! We both saw it though, which is a little reassuring, but we both said it looked like it was zebra patterned!

Ah, we had a great honeymoon! We are so grateful! We definitely want to go back some day soon! It was so fun to use our spanish! We honestly barely spoke any english at all in fact!
Ciao Mexico! Hasta Luego!

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

Mmmmmm.

I think hands down, my favorite combination is chocolate and banana.

I have yet to try something I don't like that combines this perfectly complimentary duo.

I am not exactly sure where I recently found this recipe but I tried it out today and oh man!
I am in heaven!!


Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup white sugar
2/3 cups butter, softened
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup mashed bananas (which was exactly 2 average sized bananas for me)
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
(disclaimer: I am not a very experienced baker and don't have a lot of intuition nor do I have the instinctive ability to venture off on my own- I follow recipes to a T. But, I did have to make some minor adjustments to the baking process because my first batched burned!! Therefore, I will give both the exact directions on my recipe, and then what KR and I did to prevent cremation of the remaining dough)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (This is where I think the main mistake was made. We dropped it down to 350)

2. Grease cookie sheets. (I used my fancy, awesome silpat sheets so I can skip this!)

3. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda together and set aside.

4. Cream the butter with the sugar until light and fluffy.

5. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

6. Mix in the mashed bananas.

7. Add the flour mixture and stir until just combined.

8. Stir in the chocolate chips.

9. Drop spoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets.

10. Bake in preheated oven for 12-15 minutes. (This is where the second mistake came in. When at 400 degrees, I put them in for 12 minutes and when I got up as the timer was going off, I realized they were burned! So the second batch we dropped the temperature a bit and I only put them in for 5 minutes to start and added a few more minutes. They seemed almost a bit under done. For the final batch, we were at 350 degrees and put them in for 8 minutes or so and they were perfect. SO. You have the free agency to try either way. All I am saying is I made a little scribble note on my copy of the recipe to bake for 8 minutes at 350 degrees. Let me know how yours turn out and which way you try.)


I always like my cookies a little crispy anyway, and especially since these cookies are a bit more "cakey" than some. But I think that final batch turned out perfectly and I could really taste the banana. Yum!!!


Try it out and, again, let me know how you like them and/ or how they turn out!!!

I hope every body had a wonderful sabbath day! I got to spend mine relaxing and napping with my hubby!! I sure am grateful!!

XOXOX

We're Still Here!

we're still alive and well.
things are still going fabulously.
we just don't have internet, and our lives are getting a little busier.
so the blog is suffering.
but here is a cute picture to tie you over.
I have so many pictures and blogs to catch up on, it's unreal.
but we love you all and thank you for always being there for us.
xoxoxo

Love, Mr. and Mrs. Stevens

We're Going To Burgerville!!!!

About a month ago, I started running.
Well trying to.

I have mentioned it before in previous posts.

But to reiterate: I hate running.

I have never been able to run and I always walked most, if not all, in PE. Once in a blue moon, I will get the urge to "go running" and then literally about 3 minutes later, I'm walking and gasping for air. Now, I love being active and I work out regularly. But it's never a lot of cardio or for a long period.

So since I decided to conquer this hatred for running, I feel myself slowly improving!! We set a goal when I started and today, I achieved it!!!

We live on a major intersection and then it's a mile to the next major light and there is a Burgerville on the corner. My goal was to be able to make it to the corner without stopping!! You seriously don't understand what an achievement this is for me!! And the reward was that if I could make it there without stopping, I could eat there!! haha

We haven't gone yet, since it was only this morning and the chicken taco filling (shout out to Catherine!) was already in the crock pot, but we'll be going soon!! Just in time for wala-wala onion rings to be in season!! yay!!!


In other news, we got to go to Mammoth a week ago and spend time with my family and extended family. It was a BLAST!! Pictures will come eventually. It's a lot harder with working and not having internet at home. Everything is working against me and blogging haha. Just kidding.

I have plenty more to blog about too, but those come with pictures and it's always better with the visuals so I'll wait to tell ya. BUT. I'll leave you with one final bit of good and exciting news:

I am the new beehive advisor for our ward!! I am so dang excited!! I love it! I love the idea of it! I love that I get to be hopefully a good example and someone for these sweet impressionable girls to look up to. I hope they like me!!! I haven't met them yet, but I think this Sunday I will. yay!!

Ok, well that's all for now!! Hopefully pictures will come soon!!!
XOXO