Bullet List

THINGS WE HAVE DONE SINCE SUMMER 2012, IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:

* I made some delicious pink lemonade bars. I used a pink lemonade cookie mix to make a crust and some crumble on top, and then some cream cheese and raspberry jam layers in the middle. It was tasty!

* Ben bought a nice new suit from the clearance rack at JC Penney on Tax Free weekend! Yes, Texas has a tax free weekend just before school starts where school supplies and clothing have no sales tax. Sweet! And it was also sweet that the clearance suit actually fit him! I took some pictures of my handsome boy in his suit. Maybe I'll post one. :)

* I made french toast with a yummy brown sugar cinnamon bread. TASTY!

* Ben and I enjoyed New Braunfels' "Fair Day". Kids are out of school, Ben was off of work, and I requested off, and we went to the parade in the morning (and got rained on a little bit) and enjoyed the small little fair (though we went before Fair Day, because it was free entrance and I was craving a funnel cake and fried oreos...and by doing so, we avoided the rained-out fair grounds covered in mud!).

* Fall is my favorite season and I love to decorate for it. Unfortunately, my fall wreath is in Utah, BUT...that just meant I was able to make a new, prettier one! I, of course, got the materials from Hobby Lobby. :)

* I was lucky enough to have labor day off and spent the day with Ben. We went to Natural Bridge Caverns. It was a cool cave! I have never been in one that I can remember. It was really neat, but REALLY hot!  The temperature wasn't hot, but was 99% humidity and it sure made it feel hot. I got all sweaty and my hair got super frizzy!! Haha. :)  We also did some local things around New Braunfels. We walked downtown, walked through Gruene, and had Smash Burger for lunch in San Antonio (following our trip to the Caverns).

* I did some fall baking (pumpkin cookies and snickerdoodles) and shared them with my Visiting Teachees. Yummy!  Oh, I also made an apple crunch dessert with a spice cake mix, butter, walnuts, and apple pie filling. I wanted to make pumpkin bread (got an awesome recipe from Erin), but didn't get around to it.

* We went to our ward's Trunk or Treat...which was NOT ON Halloween!  I have always disliked having it on Halloween (which, since being married, has always taken place in Utah) because the people that are in our neighborhood that would come trick or treating at the house were at the trunk or treat and just called it a night after that. Hardly anyone came up to the house after that...and I like handing out candy to the trunk or treaters! Plus, outside of Utah, if it's on Halloween, then you're at the church while kids start coming by knocking on doors. ANYWAY...I was glad it wasn't on Halloween so we could enjoy both activities. We did win the trunk decorating contest with the same decorations we've used before (a graveyard with dry ice creating fog, and some creepy music playing). Now we don't have to clean the church as our reward! Haha. :)

* I developed a love for Skor candy bars. I had never tried one until this last fall. So Ben got me one and made a cute note that said "I [Skor]ed with you!" ;)

* Some new friends in our ward used my camera to take our pictures for us for our Christmas cards. They were cute! :)

* We celebrated Ben's birthday here at home. We decorated the back porch area and took our table outside (like for my birthday) and had an appetizer dinner. :)  We had meatballs in marinara, shrimp (which only Ben ate), mozzarella sticks, egg salad sandwiches cut into cute little triangles, a copycat Skillet Queso dip (from Chili's), mini eclairs, veggies and dip, sparkling red grape juice, and some no-bake cherry cheesecake cupcakes. Then we went to see Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part II. Yes, Ben likes those movies and was happy to go see it together for his birthday. :)

* Due to my work not allowing for time off during the holidays, Ben and I spent Thanksgiving with each other at home. I went all out this year, making a turkey, gravy, stuffing, green bean casserole, mashed potatoes, rolls, pecan pie, and a relish tray. It was a lot of food for two people, but it was delicious! We had leftovers and ate them over time. :)

* We attended a New Braunfels local activity called Wurstfest.  It was basically a beer fest! There were a few little rides (including an expensive ferris wheel, which we did splurge to ride), lots of food (sausages, bratwurst, etc.), some polka music (which we danced to....horribly!!), and lots and lots of beer. Haha. It was fun to experience once.  Maybe twice.

*I taught a craft class at our ward's Super Saturday! I made a cavas wall hanging that says "All is Calm, All is Bright". It turned out pretty cute, I think. :)

*In December, I decorated for Christmas with some old and some new items, made some crafty decorations, did lots of baking which I both gave away and ate too much of (fudge, walnut balls [aka Mexican wedding cookies], mint brownies), and we had Christmas with Ben's family.  His parents came and stayed with us, and his sister's family came for the afternoon and evening to have dinner with us. His sister's family recently moved from Midland to Victoria, which is now only 2 hours away from us! We had ham, over-cooked rolls (haha, but they still tasted pretty good on the inside), green beans, two kinds of cheesy potatoes, strawberry/pineapple/banana jell-o, and pie! So much food, but OH so good!  We also made a punch from cranberry-pomegranate juice and Sprite.  Mmmm!  We were also all present when Ben's nephew Deegan was Skyping with his family from his mission in California.

* For New Year's, Ben and I headed to Victoria after I got off of work, with food in tow. We brought that faux Skillet Queso, Li'l Smokies in BBQ, meatballs in marinara, and chips with ranch dip. Delcie also made some yummy baked mozarella stick bites that were yummy.  We ate and played games until after 1am.  The next day we hung out and played more games, ate at Chili's, and then Ben and I headed home.

* I have been experimenting with cupcake making lately. I got a yummy icing recipe from a lady in our ward (it's a pretty basic buttercream icing recipe, with a couple little twists)!  I have always loved cupcakes and with all the gourmet cupcakes places out there right now, it's just something I've thought a little about trying to do on the side.  I don't know if I ever will, but it's fun to think about and tasty to try!! :)

* Valentines Day was good for us. We kinda had two nights of it! On the 14th, we had heart-shaped pizza we made at home, some strawberries and grapes with a pink fruit dip, and sparkling red grape juice. However, our favorite show was on at the time dinner was ready, so we didn't really get the quiet, romantic atmosphere I had hoped for.  SO...we did a do-over the next night. We had heart-shaped buns with yummy BBQ pulled pork from Rudy's, leftover strawberries and grapes, more bubbly drink, candles, and a romantic movie: Safe Haven. We exchanged cards and Ben got me a bouquet of rose balloons! Clever! :) Overall, it was really great!

*We attended the Scouts Blue and Gold Banquet since Ben is the Webelos leader. It was good. :)  He started with 2 boys, but they have both turned 11 so now Ben is teaming up with another Boy Scout leader.

* In March, my photography picked up a ton and I have been busy with working, shooting, editing, and trying to have a little bit of Me-time and Ben-time too. :)

* Ben and I babysat a really cute little Maltese puppy for a week! He was sure cute, but having him for a week made us re-think wanting a dog! :)

* Easter was very low-key. I made a cheesy macaroni casserole with ham and tomatoes, and we had deviled eggs.  For dessert, we shared a carrot cupcake from Costco and I dipped mint Oreos in vanilla almond bark and put on spring-colored sprinkles. Yummy!

* Today, we watched Conference from BYUTV online (which was so good!), and then watched their new show Granite Flats. It was cute!

There are probably some things I have left out, which is probably mentioned on Facebook, but otherwise that's it! I may add a picture or two for each thing that I have pictures for...maybe. Thanks!!!