Baseball Game Fun!

The Mr. and I got the wonderful opportunity to go to a San Francisco Giants game at the new AT&T Park! (well new to me) I haven't gone to a Giants game (or any MLB game) since I was about 8 years old and It's something we haven't done together yet, so this was an exciting opportunity! We went with a group of coworkers, traveling together on a bus and tail-gating in the parking area, needless to say we had a blast! This turned out to be a great game to attend because the Giants won and there were two grand slams made by the Giants! Those grand slams happen to have set a record for the Giants because it was the first time a pitcher and a catcher hit grand slams in the same game! Go team! We also got free bobble heads! ;) Here's another fun collage from our fun day!

Thanks for hanging with us!

Love, Cait

Proud to be an American

Happy 4th of July y'all! I'm so thankful for this country, the land of the free, and grateful to call myself an American! This is a majorly fun holiday consisting of family time, yummy food, summer weather, swimming, grilling, humming patriotic tunes, my Mom's yogurt jello, my nephews crying when they have to get out of the pool, watching fireworks, and making jokes about tater tots! I love my family to bits, Independence day, is a great time to relax all together! 

here's some pictures from our fun day!

"He makes me melt like a popsicle on the fourth of July" ~'Little Rascals'

I am really loving photo collages lately! This one I made on my phone with the Photo Grid app for android 

 The gang!:  Bro, Dad, Mama, Hubby, Mother, Father

lots of love

The one and only good picture of the beautiful fireworks

I'm so thankful to God for the founding of this nation, the land of the free, and also want to say a big "Thank You!" to the brave men and women of the armed forces who continue to keep us free. 

I hope everyone had a great holiday, a safe holiday, fun times with your friends and family! Take care y'all! 

love, Cait

Photo Collages!

Hey, 

Just wanted to share some cute photo collages I have done recently using PicMonkey. It's fun and free, easy to use, so check it out for your photos if you like!

I have enjoyed using this site on occasion. There are cute layouts and lots of free filters and editing options. It's like scrapbook but with out the mess ;) 

Fun birthday date nights :)

*click 'em to see the larger version

Married life Push-up Challenge

Beau and I got the great idea that we should do a push up challenge! 

Our Challenge: 1 push up + 1 more every day

We will do it together everyday and hold each other to it! 

 It's been a lot of fun doing this challenge with him and we are not near done yet! Our goal is to do 100 push-ups continuously so we are working our way there by adding one everyday. We started on April 1, 2014 with one push-up. At first it felt silly because we were already used to doing at least 15 continuously. We laughed and it has brought us closer, it's something we look forward to, not really the push-ups so much as the feeling of our arms burning together and laughing about it!

 Accountability is a great thing in fitness and in life! Find a challenge or make one up, like we did, and do it with your spouse or your best friend. It builds healthy habits and builds your relationship too! Good luck!!

Boxed Brownies Transformation!

It seems like every time I go to our local grocery store the first thing I see is boxed brownies mix and Oreos. It's like my eyes zero on their target, anything chocolate! haha! So anyways, I try to keep one box of brownie mix in the pantry at all times just in case ;) When I asked my handsome hubby this morning if there was anything I could get him from the store, he said "we ran out of chocolate almond milk yesterday" and then he mentioned that the last two bananas we starting to look pretty old. I offered to freeze them for smoothies but he said "how about making some banana bread instead of freezing them this time?" I deliberated and I was like: "ok, sure!" (it's weird to quote myself lol!) I reminded him that we need to finish the brownies we had already made a few days ago (that are now sitting on the counter getting old) and it's a beautiful thing that us ladies can do, we can have a conversation that flows over many topics changing the subject with ease but our men just don't think in this way. In his brilliance he exclaimed, "Banana Brownies!" this is where this post gets fun! 

disclaimer* baking is not my strong suit, I would much rather saute something, or boil it, or grill it, but when it comes to baking I usually don't get it right. These turned out good though, so if you are among the baking challenged this is a no judgement zone and feel free to give these a whirl because they are easy to make!  

here's what I did! 
Easy Banana Brownies: 

Ingredients: 

1 box of brownie mix 

2 ripe bananas  

1/2 cup (divided) mini chocolate chips

these are the items the box suggests:

1/4 cup water (I used 1/4 cup milk instead, mine is on it's final week so I'm trying to use it up) 

1/2 cup oil (I used canola oil)

1 egg

Directions:

pour the brownie mix into a mixing bowl. mash the two bananas with a fork in a separate bowl. lightly whisk in the egg, milk, and oil into the bananas. Using a mixing spoon make a well in the center of your brownie mix to pour in the wet ingredients. pour your banana mixture into the well and stir until incorporated. fold in half of the chocolate chips. grease your pan and pour in the mix. top with the rest of your chocolate chips. bake at 350 or according to your brownie package. also refer to package for baking times per type and size of pan you choose. 

These Brownies turned out super moist and fudgey! To cut out some of the moisture you could play around with how much oil and water/milk you add since the bananas are a wet ingredient. next time I think I will lessen the oil for sure but I did love 'em how they were. 
**baking is not my forte, I only use boxed stuff and even boxed cakes prove to be too much of challenge for me. haha! My cookies from scratch never turn out right, either fluffy cakes or completely flat (like my gingersnap fail post from Christmas) So please feel free to comment and send some baking tips and encouragement my way. Thanks!

love, Cait

Gutiar

I'm practicing guitar again!! Beau is trying to re-learn on the other hand (because he's cray-cray like that) so I thought this would be the perfect time to review and start over my learning with him! It's so great to do things together and we had a wonderful night last night playing together! 

E-Chord

 G-Chord

C-Chord 

D-Chord 

First Family Photo!

I came across this photo out of place on my computer today and I thought this would make the perfect throwback Thursday (since it is Thursday) The only issue is I can't instagram it without cropping out one of my beloved family members so I just decided this blog post is my instagram for today! lol!

Happy #tbt Y'all 

A Get Away With My Love

Here are some pictures of our sweet weekend at Pismo Beach CA

our beach access hotel and one of the rooms behind us with the ocean view was ours for the weekend! my man did such a great job picking the hotel!!!

lovey dovey

The Pier

Morrow Bay

beach handstands

jumping on the bed! I love the 'burst' mode on my new camera! 

eating calzones at Del's

arabesque 

sunset

sweet

kisses

girly girl

handsome guy

hey crane, you look like a Charles!

This weekend was a perfect amount of rest and relaxation! We got to recharge our minds, our bodies, and our marriage by spending some quality time at Pismo Beach. It was so nice to have each other's undivided attention and spend our time one on one for a whole weekend! The sights were beautiful, the sun was warm, the water was cold, and the sound of the ocean each night was soothing! 

Some Highlights: 

Adventures:
Our EPIC walk:  we worked our legs hard core on Saturday when we walked from the hotel along the beach all the way to the pier, out onto the pier, back up into the downtown area, ate at Splash cafe for lunch, and then walked all the way back to the hotel! 

Morrow Bay: Giant Rock!!! So great to see and walk around this beautiful state park!

Wine tasting: we got to learn a little more about wine at Tolosa winery in San Luis Obispo. We did a customized tasting in their tasting room of their signature white wines. 

Beach Time: our hotel was perfectly positioned above the beach with great access down to it, each day we walked down there and enjoyed the sand, sights, and surf. The weather was fantastic and I loved the feel of the beach at sunset! Added bonus was the sound of the crashing waves each night that sent us straight to zzzzz's land ;)

Food: Calzones ant Del's pizza,Fresh clam chowder at Splash, salad and sandwiches at Paneras, burritos at Chipotle, and cinnamon rolls at Old West Cinnamon Rolls.

Items: we bought salt water taffies, 2 bottles of wine, new shorts for the Mr. new sandals for the Mrs. and a sweet little outfit for our future Niece :) We collected 1 intact sand dollar, 1 very cool gray and black square rock and 3 sea shells. 

Happy Love Day

Our first Valentine's Day Married!!!

Activities: We went out for dinner, and played Jenga at home! A dear friend who we happened to run into at the restaurant even treated us to dessert! 

Presents: Beau got me Red Roses, York peppermint patties, and a beautiful heart necklace. I got him Licorice all sorts, a Jenga game, and a card to go with. 

Best Part: Most importantly there was LOVE! Beau is my best friend and I can't believe I get to do life with him everyday! All the little things: jokes, hugs, giddy giggles, talking about our days at work and school, laughing at our silly Kirby, even just being in the same room but saying nothing...There is so much joy in marriage and being with the one person God provided. 

Beautiful

awkward phone shot during dinner ;) precious memories!!!

This is how beau eats Calzones... The operation way :P

Beau's Birthday!!

Yesterday was my man's birthday!!! WooT! 

We had a small get together to celebrate him by having our parents over! This is the first birthday of his that we've been married and this was the very first time we've had our parents over and cooked for them. I was feeling the pressure but once our guests came we had a great time, they enjoyed the food we made and we all had fun celebrating Beau!!! 

Here's some of the pictures, recipes, and activities of the night: 

Father and son...and grandson (Kirby) haha!

They are happy he was born :)

My birthday man!!


Beer Cheese Appetizer:

in a small sauce pan I heated up a 12 oz bottle of blue moon beer (use a beer you like because the taste will come through!)
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
I whisked theses together and kept it heating up on low while I turned my attention to grating the cheese. We have a really handy 'salad shooter' we got as a wedding present and it makes grating cheese so simple. Anyways I used approximately four cups of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Slowly add the cheese along with 2 tablespoons cornstarch. Whisk it up until it's smooth and creamy. 
Slice up your favorite bread for dipping ...we used sour dough but french bread or a multi-grain baguette would work well also. I also I sliced up a granny smith apple I liked that with the cheese dip as well. I finally got to use the beautiful serving dish from my friend Heather! 

Our mac n' cheese: 
This is a recipe we have been perfecting since about two months into our marriage! Haha! Mac n' cheese is beau's favorite dish and we have made many variations from this main recipe. Bring water to a boil in a medium pot. Boil two cups of noodles (macaroni, large elbows, small shells, endless other noodles work here too...) follow package directions for cooking length. Meanwhile grate 3 cups of preferred cheese, we like sharp cheddar the best but we have tried many others. In a small mixing bowl add 6 oz. evaporated milk, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon ground mustard, salt, and pepper. Whisk together. (I love to add in more spices like red pepper flakes, chili powder, onion powder, oregano, and garlic powder are some of our favorites.) Beau has taught me that it is so fun to cook with spices! He has helped me get out of the recipe box and try making my own dishes and renditions. Once the noodles are done strain and discard water. Melt a half a stick of butter in the pot  (we continue to use the same pot that we used with the noodles) add the noodles back to the pot and add the milk/egg mixture. turn on the stove top t low heat and stat to slowly melt in the three cups of cheese. Once it's all melted and the mixture is creamy and smooth it's ready!!!

We also had a spinach salad, with optional mix-ins of blueberries, blackberries, and slivered almonds and a homemade olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette.  

And the main dish was our mini corn dogs in the fondue pot.This is a testimate to my parents first months of marriage when they lived in a temporary apartment in Florida while my dad finished a training before being stationed in Hawaii. (but something went wrong with either the heat of the oil or the batter mix because it kept falling off of our hot dogs.) we enjoyed them anyways and also just heated the dogs up in the oil. 

All his birthday cards were great! Janay and Steven's unicorn card is hilarious, the chef from my mom and dad is adorable, the one from Beau's parents is beautiful, and my homemade one.

so much birthday love! 

Here's a picture of our spread: We have a small table for four so I put two of our TV stands together and covered them with a table cloth :) 

After dinner and presents we played UNO!!!

uno is such a fun game with a big group and we like to add in some fun rules to keep it interesting. Our favorite optional rule is to allow jump ins. This means that if someone plays a card and you have the exact same card in your hand you are permitted to play out of turn and the play continues from you so players get skipped. It's exciting and fast paced. 

So much LOVE!

Today is a special day for my love and I, we are six months married and this marks four years together!

I'm so thankful to the Lord for putting us together! He has provided for me in so many ways and he blew me away by providing this man far better than I could ask or even dream to be my husband and partner in this life! 

I love you my bear and I always will! Thank you for taking me to be your wife, loving me as I am, and taking such good care of me! I can't believe how far we've come in these four years together! I couldn't be happier that we are now married!!! Thanks for all the wonderful memories, jokes, and fun times! You are my best friend, my love. I love spending each day and night ;) with you! Thanks for being you! 

much love, Bug