We enjoyed a sunshiney day at Pier 39 all bundled up in our fall attire. Unfortunately the Alcatraz prison tours were all booked up through Sunday so we didn’t make that trip (highly recommend scheduling your tour days ahead of time!); it was disappointing but instead we spent the rest of our day at the Exploratorium which turned out to be a laughter filled time that reminded me of our dating days — it was lovely.

All in all the trip was relaxing, as we stayed with my Aunt & Uncle who are always hospitable and fun! My auntie even taught me how to crochet which has become the new venture in my life! It is so relaxing and I can not wait for my first creation to be complete — perhaps a scarf, but more realistically a coffee cozy ;)

When we returned from our mini trip, it was straight to some full-fledged baking since it was my lovely cousin’s birthday that week. Enjoy an awesome recipe that I tried out in honor of her love of Nutella, below:

Banana Nutella Cupcakes

• 1 Batch: Best Banana Cupcake Recipe from Food.com (5 star recipe)
• 1 Cup Nutella
• 1 Batch: Nutella Frosting from BeingElliot.com (my own measurements below for a more icing texture)

Bake cupcakes as directed — Since the recipe is for cake you will need to adjust your baking instruction. I baked my cupcakes at 350 for 16 minutes and they turned out perfectly! Cool completely and use a knife or apple corer to cut out the center top of the cupcakes (save cut out piece). Scoop some Nutella into each cupcake and top with their matching cut out piece.

Mix the following ingredients to create the icing:

• 1 cup Nutella
• 1/4 cup Butter, softened
• Approx. 1/2 can Condensed Milk (pour in a little at a time until desired textured is reached)
• 3 cups powdered sugar, sifted

First cream the butter and nutella together; mix in the powdered sugar one cup at a time, until crumbly. Now slowly mix in the condensed milk a little at a time until desired texture is reached. This creates more of an icing and would be great for a cake! However I wanted to pipe flowers on top of my cupcakes, so this was perfect.

Ice your cupcakes as desired — to ice flowers like my photo above: I used a petal tip (Wilton #125) and put a small amount (1/2 c.) of the icing in the bag at a time. I slowly piped the icing on while turning my cupcake and creating a somewhat scrunched up look for petals until it spiraled into the the center. I then added three small edible pearls in the center to finish them off.

**Note, my hand was killing me after just three cupcakes so beware! …so worth it…

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Fave Traditions:

There is nothing like a great tradition that you can enjoy with your loved ones each year! Below are three of my faves that are a must do in October.

Trick or Treating (with our adorable nephews!)

Pumpkin Carving (this cute owl was a winner!)

Apple Dippin’! (Sweet times with the fam)

New Faves:

I am proud to say that I have been doing some cooking and baking this season and loving it all! So far no bad recipes which is always a great thing. The recipes below were found online and are linked accordingly (cookie photo is from the original blogger since I never snatched a photo before they were all gone!). Each of these three recipes received rave reviews from family, friends and coworkers and will be permanently added to my recipe collection.

Pumpkin Cinnamon Roll Pudding Bars (Picky Palette)

Best Italian Soup (All Recipes)

Caramel Stuffed Apple Cider Cookies (Scrambled Henfruit)

Faves to Try:

I have been finding recipes upon recipes on Pinterest and saving them to my “Cozy Fall” board. There are many more than I could even imagine trying in one season but below are two that I will for sure be trying out before Thanksgiving passes. Check out this board for more ideas and recipes. The photos below are from the original blogger.

Cinnamon Almonds (One Charming Party)

Johnny Appleseed Bars (Eats Well With Others)

I sure hope everyone is enjoying Fall as much as I am! November has finally arrived and I can not believe it is a short three and a half weeks until Thanksgiving! Be blessed and happy cooking, creating and loving!

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Five years sounds like a very long time — it kind of is when you think back on everything that has happened or changed in that amount of time, but I can hardly believe that is how long we have been married! It has been a short 5 years! I am so thankful for so many things in our lives and I can definitely say that I love Garrett in so many more ways than I ever imagined possible.

We got married at age 21 (which at the time felt oldddd!) and all we knew is that we loved each other and needed to be together forever. After we had been married a year and learned so much more about each other and the responsibilities of being a husband and wife, our love was so much stronger and complete. It is amazing to think of the blessings God has placed in our lives through that time.

In honor of our 5 years together, here is a little time capsule.

Here we are, the night before our wedding:

Our Wedding Day! ((More Photos Here))

Our 1 Year Anniversary!

Two years of love — 2008:

Happy Together in 2009!

Sweet Times in 2010:

Never Been Better in 2011!

Thanks to everyone who has been a part of our lives and blessed us with love, support, encouragement, good memories, advice and so much more! God has blessed us greatly and I can not wait to see what He has in store for us in the next 5 years!

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I’m sure we are not alone when life gets busy and often times we realize that we haven’t been on a real “date” for over a month — that is, besides the occasional movie or dinner out which isn’t always date material. So needless to say this was one of those times were we were due for a good time just the two of us. We drove out late in the morning and had lunch at The Reel Inn before heading to the festival — Clam Chowder, Shrimp n Chips and some fresh Fish Tacos. Have I ever mentioned that we LOVE food?!

To start off, here are some of the gorgeous orchids that were displayed in one of my favorite booths. They have all kinds of orchids and I could stroll back and forth in this booth for the entire day!

Next up, one of our favorite artists that we ran into last time (forgot his name but will add it later!). He is so sweet and we just love the color and texture of his work. I have a feeling that next year we will be coming home with one of his pieces — I had to drag Garrett away from this booth because he was eye balling a piece that another young couple had already chosen and I was afraid he might pounce!

Each year there are always several artists out creating a replica of a photo or piece of art in chalk! It is pretty amazing to watch. The man below was doing a portrait of the Beatles. He had just started but you could just tell it was going to be amazing!

Again, did I mention we love food? Particularly ice cream! We both agreed that we couldn’t leave Malibu without stopping at the Ice Cream shop!

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I am excited to share a few photos with you of the big day — especially of the great food. Everyone provided some delicious dishes and we had very few leftovers because it was all so amazing!

This is the layout with most of the goodies. Recipes can be found here in my last post. Oh and don’t forget to check out the table runner that I made using this beautiful cloth that I found at Joanns! I fell in love with the bright yellow and mix of great colors.

All I did was get 3 yards, cut it in half and then I used iron on hem tape to finish all of the ends. So I ended up with 2 gorgeous table runners for my banquet tables!

This butter mochi turned out so delicious! Plus it was a super easy recipe. It was just a matter of finding the mochiko flour (a yummy rice flour!). I found it at specialty market that carries a larger amount of asian items.

Here is my plate which includes some Pineapple Grilled Chicken, Coconut Rice, Coconut Pudding, Butter Mochi, Fruit Salad and a Jello Salad. It was a perfect plate!

My pops made an amazing set up of Kalua Pig sandwiches! Again, all of the recipes can be found on this post. Everyone loved it!

Last but not least, the Crispy Coconut Chocolate Pie!!! It was delicious — a bit rich and kind of a like a candy bar. Actually it IS a candy bar! I was able to cut these slices very small so that everyone could try some and it was the perfect serving size!

I hope you like all of the photos and try some of these awesome recipes. Thanks to the wonderful internet community for sharing the recipes!

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That’s what I am talkin’ about! If you are ever in need of a nice easy way to find some great coupons on a regular basis, you can now rest at ease… Take a quick little look upward to the top of my blog and you will see a link called “Coupons.” Yes, ladies and gents, you can now search through, collect and PRINT any and all needed coupons for yourself and your family!

Exciting, I know!

Here is how it works:

• Before you select any coupons to print, I suggest installing the “Coupon Printer”– this will be a quick installation and will not take up much space or harm your computer — you can install this by clicking on “Print Coupons” which is in the upper right-hand corner, in red
• Once you have installed the “Coupon Printer,” simply search through the coupons and click on the deals that you would like to print out
• You can search by using the menu on the left-hand side by: Categories (item types) and Brands
• As you click on your coupons they will be added to your “Coupon Carrier” which is pictured in the upper left-hand corner
• Once you have chosen all of your coupons to print out, click on the ”Print Coupons” which is in the upper right-hand corner, in red — this will automatically send the print job to the printer connected to your computer
• And VOILA! You have your coupons in hand

Don’t forget to check out the online Coupon Codes!

Another great feature is the Coupon Code tab which will allow you to search through online coupon codes. These codes are becoming more and more popular with the rise in online stores! I rarely purchase anything online without one! {Simply click on the “Coupon Codes” tab at the top of the Coupons page}

Happy Savings!

I hope that this new feature will be a blessing to you and your families! Thank you for taking a peek and come back soon as I will have more new features to share! {Recipes: COMING SOON}

Leave a Comment & WIN!

I truly appreciate all of my followers and the support that friends and family give me here on my blog. Once you have had a chance to check out this new feature, leave me a comment here and you will be entered to win a $5 Starbucks Gift Card! And perhaps I will even throw in an extra entry if you let me know which coupon(s) you printed for your first try! A winner will be chosen on Friday, March 25th, so please include your email address where you can be contacted if your are the big WINNER!

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God is such an amazing, wonderful Father to His children. He is always our place of strength, peace, comfort and protection. Today we are reminded of His abundant blessings as we heard stories from Doctors about tragedies that have occurred recently with the same exact situation. The fact that Levi had a penny stuck in his nasal passage for about 6 hours is pretty crazy. It could have dropped and blocked his airway at any moment — however it stayed in place and the Doctors were able to get there in time. Miracles are no new thing to God; sometimes they are new in our lives but glory be to God for blessing us with miracles like these.

I am forever thankful to God for the many miracles & blessings He has lavished upon myself and my family. His faithfulness is very clear. I hope that this story brightens your day and reminds you of your own blessings — hold them tight and never wait to show your love. No matter what, God’s will is His alone and today it lined up with ours. Praising Him…

Your Auntie loves you, Levi!

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WOW.

That really is the only word I could find to describe the World of Color show at California Adventure. I had heard good things but never expected it to be so special and so moving. Everything was so beautiful and brought back some amazing feelings of being that little girl again; dreaming of which Disney princess I wanted to be when I grow up!

A few of you have asked for tips and suggestions for when you go to check out the show and so I thought a post would be more beneficial than an email. I hope that you find all of the information useful and if you have any other questions feel free to comment on this post and I can try to answer them!

TIPS:

• Fast Pass: You MUST get a Fast Pass in order to have a good view of the show. While you can attend the show without a Fast Pass, I don’t suggest it. I saw where the people without passes were taken and it was off to the side where I am sure they had an off view. The Fast Pass can be picked up using your park ticket right next to the entrance of the Grizzly Rapids ride; One person will be allowed to retrieve the passes for your whole group, so group your tickets together and designate someone for that – there may be a line. We got our Fast Passes at 10:45ish and the first showing (9pm) was already full; so we went for the 10:15pm showing.
• Sections: Your Fast Pass will give you the sections color that you will be able to stand in for the show. This is not something you can choose so there is not much to say about this. All of the spots are pretty good; we got the Blue Section that was facing directly at the center of the show and was pretty much in the center. We were pretty happy with our spot. To find your section simply search for the area with that color of lights all around. All lights surrounding will be your section color and you will know you are in the right spot. You will want to stand at a railing to be sure that no one is standing in front of you (helpful tip from my sis, Holly!) – or next best thing, stand behind people who are shorter than you!
• Lining Up: The Fast Pass will tell you when to return to California Adventure in order to line up for the show (for the 10:15pm showing, it was between 9:15-9:45 and we got there at 9:30). Getting there a bit early does help because you will have first pick of where in your section that you stand. The line will start near the Winery section of the park, so when you enter the park, just walk straight up the park toward the Roller Coaster, just after the ANTS ride.
• Splash Zone! Standing at the very edge of the water front is considered the Splash Zone, though I am not sure how wet you might get. If you want good photos, this would be a good spot though. I had a bit of a hard time getting good photos because I had to zoom and I couldn’t take good photos without flash by holding it up over everyone’s heads. I think the edge of the water would be an amazing spot because the colors start under the water and you would be able to grasp the whole view of the water show!
• The show was about 30 minutes long (though I didn’t officially time it or anything) and it was wonderful! Absolutely worth getting home and into bed at 1am before a day of work! :)
• Things to keep in mind: You do stand for the entire show; children would probably need to be held or up on your shoulders. Go to the restroom before you get in line… it gets packed and you are there for awhile!

I think that is about it! Most of this was learned from my experience last night and from my sis, Holly, who has been to the show multiple times. Here are a few photos that I got; many of my photos didn’t turn out but that is okay because the experience was so amazing! I also took some video that I hope turns out as well and will add that for those of you interested in that. I really hope you all can make it to this show sometime! And if you do, ENJOY!

VIDEO: UNDER THE SEA

VIDEO: WORLD OF COLOR FINALE

**For perspective: Note that the big Mickey face is a huge ferris wheel! The water shoots up to amazing heights!

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Okay, so we are not so great at taking photos (closeup without mad flash!) but we are adventurous bakers!

Last night our two oldest nephews came over for a hang out. They pretty much know that when they come over two things are going to happen: 1) there will be video games and 2) there will be baking. Now most often, we will do cookies, but this time, I decided to catch them off guard and try something new: DONUTS!

I have never made donuts before last night so it was an adventure for us all. My hubs probably thought I was crazy, but he didn’t fight it. I looked up a few recipes to get a feel for what I was getting myself into and ended up having to mesh several recipes together to get the perfect (and most easy) recipe together (Recipe below).

Follow along!

First I made the dough (ingredients below). I chose this recipe because it had basic ingredients that I had in the pantry ready to go and I didn’t have to let the dough refrigerate at all. I pulled out my round cookie cutter set and grabbed the 3″ and 1″ cutters — the boys went to town cutting it all out for me!

While we were cutting the dough, I had a pot of oil heating up to 350 degrees. This was the most important part — so watch carefully everytime you add donuts because you do not want the oil to get above or below that temp. This is where your patience will come in handy. I was sure to check the temp with my candy thermometer after every two batches, just in case. TIP: If you don’t have a candy thermometer, simply check the heat by throwing in a small piece of bread… if it browns up within 40 seconds you are ready to go, but be sure to lower the fire so it doesnt get much hotter.

Frying the donuts took a little bit of time but nothing gruesome! The boys played some games while I continued the work in the kitchen (after the initial excitement of watching the donuts fry had faded a bit!). I recommend using a slotted spoon to flip your donuts and a small pot for frying. I used my large pot and way too much oil. I wasnt sure how the donuts would fluff up and wanted to be sure I had enough in there. I used 1 and a half bottles of vegetable oil! I could have easily cut that in half considering how thin I cut the donuts (1/4″); near the end of the batch, I felt more comfortable doing them about 1/2″ thick and frying them at about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side. Once you see it golden, you should be good – dont want to overcook!

I did a quick vanilla icing recipe that is pretty common for sugar cookies — Powdered Sugar and Milk (and a bit of Vanilla or Cocoa). MmmMmmm, Can you say SUGAR!? That is exactly what my nephews were saying as they snuck little licks when it “accidentally” got on their hands (smirk). Kiddos are pretty darn smart! We started with some spreaders but then realized that spoons would be much easier!

QUICK TIP: Place some wax paper on a cookie sheet for quick clean up! Trust me, 100% worth it… as you can see below, it was a very messy (but delicious) task for the boys! I also laid out a piece of wax paper underneath a cooling rack so that we could let the icing set and the drippings had a place to go. Wanna know how long it took for us to clean up?! 10 minutes! That is including all dishes, woo hoo!

Final step was to take photos of our creations and then pick out which donut we wanted to eat!

Was this post long enough for you? heh, I just couldn’t eliminate any fun photos! I hope that they help you when you decide to try out some homemade donuts! Enjoy the recipe below:

Homemade Donuts:

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon ** I used 1/2 tsp and probably would use a bit more next time
• 1 dash ground nutmeg
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 Qt. Vegetable Oil

1. Heat oil in deep-fryer to 350 degrees F (190 degrees C) ** Remember that keeping it at this temp is VERY important for it to cook through
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix in butter until crumbly. Stir in milk and egg until smooth. Knead lightly, then turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Roll or pat to 1/4 – 1/2 inch thickness. Cut with a doughnut cutter, or use two round biscuit cutters of different sizes. ** I used a 3″ and 1″ cookie cutter
3. Carefully drop doughnuts into hot oil, a few at a time. Do not overcrowd pan or oil may overflow. Fry, turning once, for 2-3 minutes or until golden. Drain and cool on paper towels.

Icing:

1 c. powdered sugar
2-3 Tbsp. Milk
*Add 1/2 tsp. vanilla for Vanilla Icing
*Add 1 Tbsp. (+/-) Cocoa for Chocolate Icing

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Not my family! I love my family! We stick together through the good times and the bad. We are there for every single celebration, big or little.

And there they are… the whole gang (missing: Joe, Ixchel, Julianne and dear Grandpa (RIP). I just wanted to share how special my family is to me. We are unique from many families out there. Many families desire to be close to their families the way that we are. As the grandchildren continue to grow up, get married, graduate from college and succeed in their careers, we are slowly seeing each other just a little bit less and it makes you miss the old times when responsibility didn’t come in the way of family. But we are strong and I don’t see us ever stopping the love and time together.

And just for the fun of it, I thought I would include a video the usual fam jam session and a photo of myself with my Grandma and cousin Jasmine. This photo is my favorite photo right now. The smile on my Grandma’s face is priceless and she is beautiful!

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