Doing Manly Things

This past Saturday was the first nice relaxing Saturday we have had in a long time. Josh and I actually slept past 8:00 for starters...we only made it to about 8:30. But we got up and decided to take Cooper and go to the farmers market to get some fresh produce. 

Coop enjoying the car ride to the market in his new outfit. He loves it! He gets excited when we put it on him. haha

After getting some fresh produce and fresh baked pretzel bread from the Yalaha Bakery at the farmers market, we headed over to my parents to get dirty and for me to learn to do some manly things. Dad taught Josh and I how to change our oil. It was actually really easy as long as you don't mind getting dirty. I have never paid for anyone to change my oil because dad has always done it for me, but I can't believe that people actually pay as much as they do to have their oil changed at the shop after learning how easy it is. But I figured since I no longer live with my parents and dad won't be around forever, that it was about time to learn how to do it myself. :)
I was up under Josh's car when dad was teaching him how to change his oil and I observed everything and asked lots of questions. I love doing hands on stuff, so was really interested in learning how to do it myself. When it came time do to my car, I insisted that Dad let me do it all by myself. I am very strong willed and want to be able to do everything on my own. I may not always have someone to help me do it, so I may as well learn how to do it completely on my own while I can. I got dirty, but I did it!

This was after wiping about half the oil off of me. I  dropped the bolt from the oil pan into the catch pan and had to fish it out.

I am now proud to say that I can change my own oil and oil filter...and just about everything else under the hood. :D I don't know any other girl that is able or willing to do it, but I actually had fun doing it. And I must say that I got my first sun burn of the year and have officially started my farmers tan.

The Great Outdoors

This past weekend was the best one I have had in a while. Josh and I finally got to use the tent that dad got for us as a wedding gift and enjoy the great outdoors. We went camping with two other couples from our small group and had such a relaxing and enjoyable weekend. Not only was it just a weekend to get away and camp, but it was also a birthday weekend for one of the other husbands. We camped out Thursday, Friday, and came back Saturday afternoon. Thursday afternoon we got their after Ashley and her husband Josh (yes, there are multiple Josh's in our group. One of them being my husband and the other being my husband) had gotten there and set everything up. We cooked chili over the fire and later had s'mores as we sat and talked around the fire all night. We got up Saturday morning and Ashley and I were in charge of breakfast. We were making pancakes and bacon, YUM. Pancakes and bacon...simple enough right? WRONG! First of all we didn't bring any measuring devices so I had estimate on the amount of water to put in. Then my Josh told me to add more and fill it up to the line that was on the pancake container. Well...then our pancake batter looked like milk. There was no way that those pancakes were going to hold form when poured into the pan. Think, think, think. How are we going to cook these pancakes?? Light bulbs comes on for us: we will just make one giant pancake and cook it in a pot! This is what it turned into:

Doesn't look much like a pancake, right? haha

So we started rolling the mixture in the pot, into balls and flattened them out and grilled them.

They definitely weren't the best pancakes I have ever eaten, but at least they were edible. The bacon and the coffee were delicious though! 

Then we decided to go on a little hike, which turned into more than a "little hike." We started traipsing through the woods (off of the marked trails) to try to take a short cut. No such luck. We had to turn around and try to retrace our steps through the woods. To bad we didn't leave and foot prints, that sure would have made it easier! But we finally made it out alive. 

That night we did steaks and baked potatoes on the fire(in the rain) for Josh's birthday (Ashley's Josh). These were the best steaks we have ever had! Cooked perfectly, a nice smokey flavor, and they even had the perfect grill marks from the grate. Amazing! The fact that it rained all night and we had to sit under the pop up tent and eat steaks out of our laps made it interesting. Later that night, Jeremy and Megan joined us and brought a Gator ice cream cake for Josh's birthday. The three guys got pretty wet that night with putting Jeremy and Megan's tent up in the rain. It was the fastest I have ever seen a tent go up and the first time I have ever seen three guys looking at the directions sheet before they started. lol. The next morning Jeremy made an awesome breakfast!! Eggs, sausage, hash browns, and cinnamon pecan pancakes. These pancakes were much more successful than the one Ashley and I did. Then we all packed up and headed home after enjoying a nice weekend in the great outdoors.

Later that night, we rode over to Orlando with Josh and Ashley and went to Uno's Chicago grill. This was the first time I have ever had Chicago deep dish pizza and it was so good! After dinner, we took a field trip to Bass Pro to stock up on more camping gear. But.... we all walked out empty handed. I did happen to find a frying pan that literally half the size of me though. You should have seen me trying to carry it around the store to show my husband!

Super Bowl

Well, I am already proving to myself that it is a little difficult for me to stay up to date with this whole blogging thing. So let me catch you up on some things that have happened in the last two weeks.

First of all, we had the Super Bowl! I have never really been that big into the whole Super Bowl thing. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE football, but I am just not a big fan of NFL. College however is a much bigger deal to me. GO BULLS! and some of my Bulls fans will hate me for this but, GO GATORS! But even though I am not that into the Super Bowl (my favorite part of the Super Bowl are the commercials), I did have fun making what I was taking to the party that our small group at church was having. I made these fun little things:

                                                                       Oreo Footballs :)

These were super easy to make and tasted even better! And you can mold them into just about any shape too!

1 package of regular Oreos

1 8 oz package of cream cheese, softened

dipping chocolate

Take all but 7 of the Oreos from the package and finely crush them. I used my Ninja to do this and it crushed them perfectly and quickly. Transfer crushed Oreos to a bowl and mix in cream cheese. Josh and I found that it was much easier to just dig in with your CLEAN hands and mix it like you would meatloaf until it is all combined and has soft of a Play Dough texture. Rolls into balls (or any desired shape). Melt your chocolate and dip the balls into the it. We did this using toothpicks. Set on wax paper and let dry. Decorate as you wish. 

**The Oreo mixture is also really good to eat by itself like cookie dough. Guilty Pleasure ;)

Take 2

I have sat here for several minutes staring at my blank page, trying to figure out where to begin. This will be my second attempt at a blog within the last year. My first attempt failed miserably...and I mean MISERABLY! I don't even think I completed my first blog entry. However, it probably wasn't the brightest idea to try to start a blog right before I got married. My attempt at a blog drowned in pre-wedding planning and chaos. Now that I have started a new chapter in my life, I feel it is appropriate for Take 2 at a blog. A little bit about me and my new chapter in life:

I just recently got married in July to the man of my dreams. When I was in 8th grade I had to create a list of qualities I wanted in a husband for my Sunday School Class at church. It was quite a list...a page and a half long and I held onto until the day I said, "I Do." To my amazement God provided me with a husband that fulfilled every single one of those qualities and I never thought it was possible to find a guy that had it all. Not only did I think it was impossible to find a guy that had it all, but I never imagined he would provide the man he did for me to spend the rest of my life with! Let me explain....when I was in 5th grade, I had the BIGGEST crush on a boy in the 6th grade at my church. You know, the kind where if the boy even remotely looked in your direction you start blushing and automatically think he was looking directly at you and then you and all of your girlfriends start whispering back and forth about it... yea, it was that kind of crush. Well, my BFF at the time decided she would drop a little hint to him that I thought he was cute. Sadly, his response to her horrifying news was, "Eww, Gross." Way to shatter a girl's crush! So I moved onto my next little crush...however throughout the years that little girly crush on the first boy never really went away. 4 years later, when I was in the 9th grade, the same boy that said, "Eww, Gross" asked me to be his girlfriend. 6 years after that, I married my childhood crush. I cannot thank God enough for putting and keeping Josh in my life. I truly cannot imagine my life without him. He makes me smile, even in times where I just don't feel like it. He will do whatever it takes to make me laugh, no matter how stupid he may look in the process. He makes me feel like the most important woman in the world just by his touch. I could keep going but I will spare you all the mushy gushy details.