Caramel Fruit Dip

So here is the recipe, as promised. Or here.

Caramel Fruit Dip

1 8-oz. package cream cheese (you can use light cream cheese)

3/4 c. brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp vanilla (you can add more to taste)

Toffee bits (look by the chocolate chips and try and find the chocolate covered ones if you can! Your dip won’t be pretty, but it will sure taste good!)

Publish Post

You’ll also need:

• Assorted fruit (I just buy a fruit tray at some place like Costco and a carton of strawberries if they’re on sale; you could also cut up some Granny Smith apples)
• Bamboo skewers (if you want to kebab your fruit)

Allow cream cheese to reach room temperature. With an electric mixer, combine cream cheese, brown sugar, and vanilla. When ready to serve, stir in about 1/2 a bag of toffee bits. Serve with fruit (or not…that’s totally up to you…I just caught my husband finger-dipping.)

Sundays are the Best Days!

Oh my how I love Sundays. Today didn't work out as perfectly as I would have planned it, but that's okay. Life isn't perfect and neither am I so I really can't expect for things to go perfectly and today, today I am okay with that.

I woke up this morning just feeling really sick and nautious and just couldn't kick it or really figure out what it was. I'm still not too sure, but I am feeling much better. I ate some lunch and snuggled up in our nice warm apartment and I felt so much better after awhile. Chris took Brenden to church this afternoon while I just stayed home and caught up on some rest. I just have to say, it was so nice and much needed. Its nice every once in awhile to be baby free. I love having Brenden all to myself all of the time, but sometimes I just need some me time and I feel so guilty for asking Chris to take Brenden for a little bit so I guess I just stick it out until I'm sick a have a real excuse other than I'm selfish. I know that I'm not being selfish when I ask for help, but I can't help but feel a little bit guilty. That's just my mentality, its just how I was built, I guess.

Onto the rest of our wonderful day. I spent most of the afternoon clipping and organizing coupons. Maybe tomorrow I'll do a little how-to on how I do couponing and saving us so much money. I love couponing. Since I don't work and I stay home and play with Brenden all day and sew. I mean, its a dream job, it combines the 2 things that I love to do most. Well, since I get to have fun all day, I coupon and save us much mulah! Its really fun. I'll have to add that to my to-do list for tomorrow. Blog about couponing.

After my couponing afternoon we had some great friends over for dinner and games, much like we do every Sunday. I really look forward to Sundays. We pretty much have the same friends over every single Sunday. I know we're lame, but at least we have fun. We're so thankful for our friends here in Rexburg, they're the greatest. We had dinner with Mike and Melanie, and our new friend, Paul Boss. Sadly, his wife Jes couldn't make it tonight. Apparently she's just had a ton of homework and was wiped out. We really missed her tonight, but hopefully she can catch up on some sleep and feel much better.

We had fun playing games and had some yummy dinner. The guys made steak and we had potatoes and salad and bread. Yum yum. We also had some fruit with some yummy fruit dip. I'll have to find the recipe and post it. It was just that good!!!

Overall, another wonderful Sunday.

Day 16

Something you crave for a lot

I know its not that great for me, but I love Ice Cream and I want it all of the time! I would cook and bake with it everyday if it would be amazing and keep its consistency. I would also eat it everyday if it had the same effect on me as water did. But alas, it does not, so every once in awhile I will treat myself to some ice cream. And it is good.

This year

http://yearinstatus.com/s/?143ski0k

Day 15

Something you don't leave the house without.

This little guy right here. Brenden. I don't go anywhere without him and I love it! Seriously. Look at this face and tell me you wouldn't love taking him every where with you. Its really wonderful, everywhere I take him he is completely fawned over and it makes me feel so great and happy. I can hardly wait until he starts walking and he'll be even cuter! He is such a charmer.

I took Brenden to a baby shower with me this morning and it was great. Everyone wanted to play with him and take pictures of him and I really just can't get enough of it! Its awesome!!!!

Grateful

I'm kind of having a mixed sense of emotions this afternoon. I feel so grateful that Chris has a job that he loves and that he is just so good at, but I'm sad because Brenden and I hardly get to see him anymore. Chris has school Monday through Friday now and has to work almost every evening. Chris has to leave for school before Brenden wakes up in the morning and Brenden is always asleep by the time Chris gets home from work in the evening. I realize that this kind of thing is relatively normal with us being poor college students, but that doesn't mean that I have to like it. And I don't like it. I don't like it at all. It really sucks to spend my days with out having a husband any where near. It really sucks for Brenden to hardly ever see his daddy because he's always at work or school.

I'm sure that things will change soon, but I want them to change now. That's just who I am and that's just how my personality works. I wouldn't claim to be impatient, but I am definitely stubborn and want things when I want them. Does that make me a bad person? No, I don't think so. It just makes that much more determined to make things happen and to look for the best in everything. And the best thing in all of this is that Chris has a wonderful job to support us all. And today, today I am thankful for that.

Silly Brenden!

Day 14

A TV show you're currently addicted to.

BONES.

Chris and I love to watch Bones and guess what? The new season just started last night. Boy am I ever grateful for free cable. Its just lovely.

If you haven't watched any of Bones, here is a mini recap.

Vaccinations

Vaccinations first off are just so controversial which is exactly why I've decided to share my opinions in my blog rather than on facebook where everyone can see it. This way you can only read it if you're really looking for it. I read something on facebook today about vaccinations and I have to say that I totally agree. Vaccinations can be a great help, but they can also be very harmful.

My thinking on vaccinations being helpful is that they help our immune systems to fight the things that our bodies have a hard time counteracting. Diseases have been in existance on the earth since the dawn of time and every time the disease transfers it changes and while our bodies do everything they possible can sometime our bodies just need a helpful boost. And sometimes vaccinations can be more harmful than they are good. A lot of the times are bodies can handle what is coming to us and we inject our bodies with these vaccinations and it just tears our body apart wearing it down until it can no longer have that tolerance to something so simple.

Like the flu. In my personal opinion the flu vaccine is useless! Again, in my opinion. For all I know, I know absolutely nothing, so don't take offense. Every winter people inject their bodies with exactly what they're trying not to catch, and guess what, a lot of the time these people are sick with the flu for weeks. What exactly is the point?? I just don't get it at all. Yes, there is a risk that you will get sick in the winter time, seriously, that's just life, it gets cold and gross outside, and that's how our bodies handle it. With a small risk of getting the flu why do people inject their bodies with the flu. When you get the flu shot you're almost guaranteed that you'll get sick. Rather than don't get the shot and take a chance that you just might get the flu. Personally, I'll take my chances. Granted this is coming from a person who gets sick once every 3 years or so. So, what do I know.

And now onto all the vaccinations that they reccommend for babies. When we were in the hospital with Brenden they wanted to vaccinate him with everything on the face of the planet. There was this Vitamin K shot to help blood clotting in the brain. This blood clotting disorder only affects I think 1 out of every 200 babies. We said no, the doctors confirmed that if there was a blood clotting issue they would be able to catch it before it got serious. It made our decision really simple. Another one was the eye drops they give babies after birth. Something about the mother transferring STD's to the baby. I'm sorry, I know for sure that I don't have an STD. That and it would have just blinded my baby even more than he already was. I just didn't get the point.

We've gotten most of the routine vaccinations mostly because I really don't know any better. I have done research, but honestly I don't even know where to begin with picking and choosing. I've gone onto government websites trying to see what is what, but I don't really fully understand, I guess at this point I would rather be safe than sorry. I sure wish that we had a doctor in our family to say hey, Brenden needs this this and this and that this isn't really something he needs.

So this has been my little spiel on vaccinations, so go ahead and tell me I'm crazy and erase this little rant from your memory. :)

Halloween Update!

Here are some pictures from our Halloween Adventures this week. :)

I love it when Brenden is happy and just enjoying his cheerios in the morning.

Such a cute little guy.

Brenden is always trying to attack the camera when I take his picture.

I just can't get over how happy he is all of the time.

Eyes still looking blue, well at least in this picture.

Brenden in his fabulous costume with our friend, Melanie.

Brenden is 9 Months Old!

Holy Moly! This handsome baby is 9 months old today. I just can't believe it. I know I say this every month that he gets older, but where the heck does all of this time go? This is just crazy. I just can't stand it. And boy is he handsome, just take a look!

Love Thanksgiving!

I'm so excited for Thanksgiving and just thought everyone should know. I love love Thanksgiving and its not only for the food. I love preparing for it and getting crafty! Its really awesome. This week I've done a lot to prepare for the Thanksgiving Holiday. I hope all of our kids love it too! I just feel so thankful for everything that our little family has and how much fun we have with each other. Our Family Home Evenings usually consist of something crafty that I've found online and think would be fun for all of us to do together. And I'm usually right about it. We have so much fun just hanging out and the great thing about it is I always have something to show off for it. And Thanks giving to me is a month of this wonderfulness.

I love how Thanksgiving brings family and friends together and I love how fun much fun everyone can have, and I love the old and new traditions that come about. One of Chris' Thanksgiving traditions is to launch off rockets. How fun is that??? Last year it was fun other than the fact that we spent Thanksgiving in Rexburg and had to launch these rockets off in the snow. They were harder to find and got lost really easily. Bummer! I'm hoping this year the rockets will be much better.

Thats all for now folks!

Thanksgiving Aprons

First, off I have to say that I loved this little mini-project. It was so easy and so fun to do!

This is the fabric for our Thanksgiving aprons that we're so excited about.

We're just doing plain ol' black for the back.

Good combination....right?

Cut out 1 rectangle of the harvest fabric and 1 rectangle of the black fabric measuring 20 inches by 30 inches. Pin them right sides together, using 1/4 seam allowance sew the edges leaving about 4 inches to turn your apron right side out. It will look much like a pillowcase. Iron The seam flat and then iron the rest of the apron.

The above is what it should look like. Fold your rectangle hamburger style so that the black fabric is the fabric that is showing. Fold half back down to the edge. You should be seeing all harvest fabric now. Sew the sides creating one huge pocket. Then, sew 2 straight lines evenly down the middle. This will create 3 pockets.

Measure your waste and add 30 inches onto that to make the sash. Cut it to be 6 inches wide. Fold your sash in half iron and sew the raw edges together. Turn right side out and finish the edges.

Using a 1/4 inch seam allowance, line your sash with the top of your apron and sew. Sew the sash to the apron as well as shown.

You will then have this masterpiece~!

I really love it. I'm sorry my instructions aren't the best, but hey, this week is my first week doing tutorials. I'm sure to get better at them someday!

Harvest Towel Tutorial

A new little project I started yesterday and finished with in the hour. Its super easy and looks great!

I cut 2 pieces of the harvest fabric and 1 piece of flannel.

The pattern.

I used a pretty simple white towel since the towel hang was not so conservative at all.

Supplies to attatch the button.

I broke 2 needles trying to sew through the towel and 3 pieces of fabric. I finally switched over to a iron on adhesive which worked great!

Iron on adhesive.

Place the iron on adhesive in between the edge of the towel and the edge of the fabric place a damp towel between the thing to be ironed and the iron itself and iron away. Lots of steam will come out of it!

I cut a whole in the top to fit a button through, attached the button and hung.

Here is the finished product. Amazingly fast and cute!

Day 13

The meaning behind your Blog name

When my best friend Amanda was engaged to be married she used this quote on her wedding announcements and I really loved it. I'm a little nerdy at heart so I decided to do a little research on where it might have came from.

It's actually a quote from Vincent Van Gogh. And it's only part of the quote.

"Love is something eternal'the aspects may change, but not the essence. There is the same difference in a person before and after he is in love as there is in an unlighted lamp and one that is burning. The lamp was there and it is a good lamp, but now it is shedding light, too, and that is its real function." -Vincent van Gogh

I have really become to love this quote over the past year. A lot of it is because I still consider myself that newly wed girl who sees so many great things. I realize that our day to day life changes constant, but the fact that I want to spend eternity with my family, I will always have that and that is so great.

When I was researching "Love is Something Eternal," I came across a talk from F. Burton Howard of the Seventy. His talk was entitled Eternal Marriage. Fits right in, right? I know. Well, the one main quote in his talk follows:

"If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently.... It becomes special to you because you have made it so." -F. Burton Howard

I really like this quote. There is such a strong emphasis on "you" and I think that's great. If we want something, it is our own responsibility to make it happen. I whole heartedly agree with that. I know that as we sit idly waiting for things to happen, for people to do things for us, we are just going to be sitting there watching out own lives pass us away, and there is no one at fault except for our own selves.

I know I have a Heavenly Father that loves me. I know that he blesses my family each and every day. I can feel his presence in my every day life and when I choose not to follow his promptings, I lose sight of him. I take those opportunities to change the things in my life that make that so. I know as I grow and change these things he will continue to bless me with the spirit to be by my side. I know that my family loves me and I love them. As I continue to strive to make them the most important aspect in my life, Heavenly Father will bless me and my family by keeping us together and strong and help us fight of temptations and to show the love that we have for each other. I love my family so much and I leave this with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Day 12

Put your iPod on shuffle: First 10 songs that play

1. Rascal Flatts-What Hurts the Most

2. Mulan-I'll make a Man out of You

3. Rascal Flatts-Mayberry

4. Seeking God in Hard Times

5. Taylor Swift- Should've Said No

6. Colbie Cailat- Kiss the Girl

7. Rascal Flatts- Waiting all my Life

8. Pocahantas- Colors of the Wind

9. Michael Bolton- Go the Distance

10. NPR

Day 11

What's in your makeup bag?

And here it is folks! We've got some mineral powder, cream eye shadow, eye liner, and mascara. And that's it. You don't need a whole lot to feel pretty when you've got a husband like mine!

Day 10

A photo of your favorite place to eat.

Chris and I love to eat at Red Robin. We hardly ever do because, 1. Its not the healthiest place on earth, and 2. We're poor college student. But when we can, we take full advantage.

Day 9

A photo of the item you last purchased.

Chris loves to find the good deals on Candy after the Holidays. So here it is, we just bought it last night, pretty awesome right?? So if you're in the need for a candy fix, come on over.

Day 8

Day 8 – A song to match your mood.