Happy Halloween!

So first and foremost, I am a little late posting this... but heres Brad and I's trip to the pumpkin patch to find our perfect pumpkins! Which we later CARVED like faces and mine is so duuuummb. but brads is big and awesome and kinda dumb in a really cool way. I named his Ted. I didnt name mine because its so dumb I dont want it to think I like it. I avoid eye contact with mine whenever I unlock the front door and always give Brads a smile. I want his to like me more than him.
I also felt mediumly like Martha Stewart and made my own pumpkin puree with the little ones that we got. (pioneer woman says the bigger ones get weird tastes in them because of all the air) I felt a lot like M.S. actually, we even saved the seeds from our pumpkins thinking wed toast them but then I let them sit in a bowl on the counter the last 2 weeks and today I scraped out the bowl into the trash. whatever, their loss.
Oh so our experience was AMAZING. It smelled like corn and cider and wind and smoke (fireplace inside barn) and all sorts of GOURDS! So while I was walking around smiling with my eyes closed breathing too heavily, Brad found a cat. Im allergic and sicked out. he let the cat go and pulled me around in the wagon to make me feel better. chyea.

Yellowstone baby

today, I was telling this girl about me and brads thanksgiving dilemma... (different post for a different time) but basically all our cool plans (mostly going to Oklahoma) keep getting ruined so I just mentioned the possibility of a camping trip and then she said, "yea, that would be fun for you since you are outdoorsy" which I sorta took offense to haha. probably because I dont wear makeup to work and because ive worn holes in the knees of both my jeans and now look like a man/orphan. yikes. But then I think about how much we DO love being outside. and I think about how Lori and her husband love outside and they are awesome and not beige, hiking boot fweirdys. So I felt better. Anyway, me and brad have been to yellowstone a few times and we also brought our awesome friends Jon and Whitney Crapo who are awesome. Even tho whitney totally lathered up in lotion before going to sleep right next to our tent. HELLO BEARS! haha... im paranoid and they are just so much cooler than me. but ANYWAY. heres some piczz.

Brad

Probably one of many shout outs to my love but as Im feeling soo nastily nauseated today and just crappy I have to say I am SO glad I have Brad. I barely slept last night and he is the one who convinced me to stay home. He went to work and then made me dinner and bought me crackers and ginger ale and pepto tabs. He sang me a song a couple weeks ago about menstruation because i guess i seemed and sounded pathetic enough, which cheered me up so much. He plays guitar at our family home evenings, and always tells me i sing so well even when I dont. He constantly points out all the stuff i do thats good (like make his lunch last night even tho i didnt feel well) and down plays my mess-ups (like the twisty-tie from the bread bag ending up in his turkey sandwich today). He takes me hiking all the time, listens to me ramble, and even reads to me when Im too tired to read at night. I love him to pieces. Im so glad I made the best choice for the biggest one :)

Crock Pot Cook Off!

Last monday my friend had a crock pot cook-off for water purification in kenya and there were about 17 people entered and since I LOVE to cook I made this AMAZAZAZING white chili! The recipe is Wendy's... my mother-in-law who just so happens to be a great cook, and it is really tasty!

AND I won second place!!!! It was REALLY fun and made me feel good to have people coming back and telling me that everyone was talking about it:) Anyway, here's the recipe! enjoy it!

4 Cans Great Northern Beans (cheap at walmart!)
3 cups of chicken broth and 1 bouillion cube (or just extra chickeny broth)
1 T garlic powder
2 medium chopped onions
2 cans diced green chilies
1 T oregano
2 T cumin
1/2 t cayenne pepper
4 C diced cooked chicken
4 C sour cream
1 or 2 cans of white or shoepeg corn (i used 2)
4 C grated Jack cheese

Cook onions in butter or oil. add all spices and green chilies. Combine in BIG pot along with all other ingredients, adding the sour cream last (except cheese) and heat thoroughly. Top with cheese as you serve it.

This makes a huge batch of chili. My crock pot was filled to the brim. mmm

Most delicious with cornbread and honey:)

shh theres a bear right outside our tent....... Im not scared.... its just cool and I wanted you to hear....

So when we went down to Utah a couple of weekends ago for Brads (very awesome) Aunt Andrea's wedding, we got to spend some time with them and his grandparents (also VERY awesome) and GOOD OLD MANDIQUIZZLE!!!!! But this post is not about any of that because 1. we missed the actual wedding 2. I didnt think to take pictures and 3. Mandy's new boy-toy beat brad in bowling and so we really dont wanna talk about any of that.

But we ALSO got to take our new TENT! (thanks mom and dad!!!!!!!!!!) and all our NEW CAMPING GEAR! (thanks AGAIN mom and dad!!!!!!!!!!!!!) camping! (I know it was weird to throw in that word, what with all the un-necessary, yet extremely necessary punctuation and capitalizations I threw in there but it was needed in order to finish my thought! der.)

So we went to this place called Hobble Creek just outside of Springville, Utah and it was absolutely gorgeous! Plus the lady told us the best campsite was still open and noone was around it.... (because the bathrooms were very far.... thus why I had to dehydrate for 5 hours before I "fell asleep") but ANYWAY, the site had the actual Hobble Creek running through it! Just beautiful!


This is our site... and that citronella candle Brad actually stepped in after it was out before he went to bed and he got the soft bug wax all in his shoe and sock and in his shoe and coating his ankle. NICE. :) Also he didnt know I saw it happen but I was watching him out the tent window.

We got there at dusk so we set up quick and next wanted to set up our lantern which is APPARENTLY really hard. We were both surprised because we didnt think manufacturers even made things that were difficult anymore!! dont let the "insta-start" fool you! You still have to "preburn the mantle" but you cant get any holes in it and it has to turn white and ANYWAY it was tough and we threw it on the ground TWICE because it was smoking and/or about to explode. But after it was already dark we got it to light...

Above are some tragic losses. and below are a couple pictures of us being very happy campers in our very warm Coleman MAXX-TREME! sleeping bags. I woke Brad up a million times because I wanted him to hear all the bears.... but he was never that excited.

Brad lit the fire early and I am pretty sure contemplated throwing me in so he could get some more sleep... (he loves me) And then he started packing up the sleeping bags (tough stuff) (for real) while I made pancakes! wahoo! they had some melted plastic in them too since I had to use a plastic fork to flip them... forgot! And I even made Brad a special pancake. aw.



Right before leaving we shot Brads BB gun at a slurpee cup and piece of paper in the tree.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE TRIP: Brad singing and playing guitar while I stuffed myself with Smores. Life really is good.

these kids

Im the teacher in the class of three year olds at work and I love these kids. I think about and talk about them alll the time (poor brad). Today they were SOOO good! It was amazing. Normally I come home and am upset because I didnt get to play with them as much or feel like I spent all day sending kids to the corner, taking toys away and cleaning up bodily messes (like poop, potty and throw up) that I didnt even make any difference or like they seriously have no reason to like me. I also have found on occasion that I will get stooped (stoop kids gonna leave his stoop!) so low that I actually am at their level and will do things like tell Piper to take Aleks shoes that he's thrown and put them in the sink since he obviously doesnt want them anymore. These are times Im not proud of.

But today!!! TODAY! WHAT A GLORIOUS DAY!
I had so much fun with them. We did Play doh and rocked out on Corbins awesome guitar that was his show and tell and I showed them how I can burp whenever I want and they sat on my lap and we read books and sang songs and just had a GAY OLE(D) TIME or THYME.

I love these kids on these days. I gotta go shower... my legs look like a forest (obviously Ive let myslf go) and we are going on a double date to Sams Club tonight! wahoo! ow I have a headache from the computer. (I looked at thepioneerwoman.com for too long.... shes like my cloverlane! haha)