Crafting and Freezing

It has gotten so much colder here in Missouri over the past week and we finally had our first snow! Niner is trying to get used to it. Here are a few recent pictures of him! He's getting so big.

I've been staying inside since it's been so freezing and I decided to get a little crafty. I found my inspiration from a new friend's blog. I have been wanting to do something just like this for awhile! So I finally got on it. You can check out Melissa's post on how to here .

I think it turned out pretty cute! And it was so easy. I have so much California pride so it makes a pretty cool edition to our living room.

Supplies:

-Scissors
-Modge Podge (Matte or Gloss will work)
-Gold Glitter
-White card stock and a piece of colored card stock that will fit in the frame
-Frame (we used an 11×14)
-Heart brackets (found in the scrapbooking section)
-Hot glue
-Mod Podge Brush
-Hair spray or clear gloss spray
-Google image search of outline of state

Steps:

1. Print out an outline of the state you want to use and the size that you want. If possible, flip the image vertically so that when you trace it onto the card stock, the tracing lines can’t be seen.

2. Cut out the state and trace it onto white card stock, then cut the card stock version out.

3. Next, completely cover the outline of the state in modge podge, but make sure it’s not too thick! Or else it will take forever to dry.

4. If you have a box or large tupperware container, it is nice to put the state inside of that before you use the glitter, then cover the modge podged state with glitter.

5. Wait for a few minutes and shake off all the excess glitter… if there is any spots that look a little bare you can dap a little more modge podge and add more glitter.

7. Next, take one of the heart brackets and cut off the little arms on the back. You will then use a very small dot of glue from a hot glue gun to put the heart on whichever city you want to emphasis.

8. Attach the glittered state to a piece of colored card stock with either double stick tape or hot small dots of hot glue.

9. Finally,  put the finished product into the frame! 

I promise you will not regret giving this a try! Craft away!

SIX MONTHS.

Yesterday, was our 6 month anniversary! Every month I try to make our anniversary the biggest deal and Jared probably gets so annoyed because each time I basically try to pretend like it's my birthday. Haha. Well this time it is actually kind of a big anniversary! Well not really, but kind of. Time really has gone by so fast, yet it feels like a different life when we think about memories from before we were married. We had a friend take some pictures for a project and if you know me… you know how picky I am with pictures. Ha But here are a few! We obviously need some more practice before we go home and are bombarded with all of the family pictures! Already stressing about all of the outfits I have to put together. 

We both have learned so much over the past six months about each other, marriage, and growing up and being far away on our own. I feel so lucky to have a husband that is always there to support me and make me feel so loved. Happy Anniversary to us! 

It's Christmas Time!

One of the things I love about Jared, is how passionate he is about the holidays! He LOVES Christmas! The minute Thanksgiving ended, he started playing Christmas music and it is on nonstop! And, he is quite the decorator! I was surprised myself. He's a pretty manly guy….. but he has an eye for decor haha. Being away at college the last four years, I haven't helped decorate a Christmas tree since high school! Check out this impressive work! And we even have a baby stocking for Niner! Yes we are now those people...

We will be going home to California in almost 2 weeks and we are SO EXCITED! We have been trying to get our Christmas shopping done but it is tough when you live in the middle of nowhere! We are going to Kansas City this weekend for the Drake concert

(so excited)so we will hopefully finish up our shopping while in the city. If you know me, you know that I am OBSESSED with good deals… Nordstrom Rack is my all time favorite place! I love TJ Maxx, Marshall's, and Ross as well! And now that I'm married, Home Goods has become my most recent obsession! Good thing we live an hour away from the closet one, or I would probably be there every day. I wanted to post a couple things I bought there for our house! 

I love this picture! It goes perfectly in our living room… and on sale for $20. SCORE!

This picture does not do this chalkboard justice… It is actually really big. We have a big blank wall in our dining room/ kitchen area and wanted to do something different. We stumbled across this at Home Goods. I love writing our weekly menu on there,  notes for Jared to read as he heads out the door, or reminders of errands I need to run! It's so fun! More pictures of our house very soon! 

Happy Thanksgiving!

This year was my first Thanksgiving away from my family in 22 years! So yeah my whole life. It was weird being away from all my siblings and away from my mom's yummy cooking! But thanks to my mom and Jared's mom we put together some family recipes to keep up the traditions. I cooked it all! It was a lot of food for just the two of us but we wanted to make it as traditional as possible. And nothing went wrong! I was so stressed the whole week that I would burn the turkey or something terrible, but everything went perfectly! I am pretty proud of myself actually! Here is a picture!
Lots of leftovers, YUM!

Jared's favorite dessert is apple pie, so i attempted my first homemade pie! It was AMAZING and pretty easy so I thought I would share the recipe. 

Pie

1 (9 inch) deep dish pie crust

5 medium size apples - peeled, cored, sliced (3 Pink Ladies)

1/4 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

1/8 teaspoon ginger

Lay out unbaked crust in your pie dish. Put all your apple slices in a bowl and toss them in the sugar/spice mixture util fully coated then put them in your pie crust.

Crumbs

1/3 cup white sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 stick of butter

Cut butter into sugar and flour mixture until crumbly then spread evenly over pie. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

It is delicious!

Let me know what you guys think!

It was fun creating our own traditions but also carrying on a few from our own families. Since we were away for Thanksgiving, going home to California for Christmas is going to be so special! 

It's a BOY!

We adopted a puppy last week! I've sort of had a little baby fever lately… puppy and human haha so I came across a shelter online that saved a liter of boxer puppies. We jumped at the chance! I grew up with a couple boxers and they are such great dogs. Jared is a die hard 49er fan and I love me some football so we decided to name him Niner. He is now 11 weeks old and we love him already! Here is a video of his first attempt at the stairs… SO FUNNY. 

He LOVES to sleep. But only when we are holding him or next to him… He is just like a baby it is hilarious. 

 We attempted to crate train him for when we are working but the night time didn't go so well… His 2nd night home he slept in our bed with us! He is such a snuggler and we couldn't resist… weak I know. Our bed is going to be very crowded once he starts getting bigger! Uh oh.

He also LOVES friends just like us. haha 

More pictures soon! 

- Kassy

Change!

Jared and I moved last week! A house opened up on base for us and we jumped at the chance. Everything happened within a week and things were crazy. Moving is never fun but we were so excited! Things are finally getting organized again and we are planning a housewarming party very soon. Here is a picture of our new house!

It is 3 bedrooms which seems a little too big for us right now, but we love it. I love being so close to where Jared works. He gets to come home for lunch and it's so easy for me to bring him anything if he needs it. Its only a couple miles away from where I am substitute teaching as well. I will post more pictures as soon as we are all settled. This was our first decoration that we put up. 

I can't believe it is already November… time has been flying by. Thanksgiving is coming fast and we are staying here in Missouri. It will be very different not being in California with our families, but I am excited to cook dinner and to make our own memories. And that means Christmas is that much sooner! I have so much to blog about, more soon I promise! We have some exciting news I will be posting next week! Feel free to guess. :)

Getting Crafty!

I've been slowly decorating our new place and have been wanting to try some crafts! My mom and sisters are so creative and I have always tried to keep up. But since my mom is not here to do the crafting for me,  I decided to start simple. Here is the most recent. This one costs about $5 to make! All you need is chalkboard paint (walmart), a platter (dollar store), and an easel (walmart).  
Really easy, cheap, and cute!

Now i'm kind of addcited to chalk board paint.. I find myself scanning the room for stuff I can turn into a chalkboard. haha. I found these 3 jars at a local thrift shop. The lids were a little beat up so of course the solution is chalkboard paint! Now I  can label them too! 

The Best Proposal Video EVER

Everyone please watch this... It is a pretty awesome video! Get out some kleenex! Let me know what you think!

P.S. The Nsync part is the BEST

Our Latest Obsessions

1. The new Drake CD of course! 

We bought tickets to his concert in June and the big night was supposed to be October 6th. Well, the day before we found out that Drake postponed his tour.... so now we have to wait until December 7th. We were pretty bummed but now we get to be excited about it for even longer!  

2. PHO

Our friends introduced us to this small Vietnamese restaurant in Kansas City and we love it! We both tried Pho for the first time and just can't get enough! Too bad it's not closer to us. 

3. BOBA

Jared & I love peach smoothies and Jared tried Boba for the first time! It tastes like nothing really... but for some reason I love the idea of a chewy surprise while drinking a smoothie. Who knew?

4. PEOPLE WATCHING

This has probably become our favorite thing to do since we moved to Missouri. (probably because there isn't much else to do haha) But seriously. It is especially fun to go out to the night clubs and get our people watch on. HILARIOUS. There is never a dull moment and I don't think it will ever get old. So I would like to personally thank all of the crazy people out there who make fools of themselves and keep us entertained. Keep it up! 

Crock Pot: Sausage & Cheese Tortellini

The crockpot has become my best friend since I started substitute teaching. I love cooking, but it is so nice to have some good recipes that I can throw in the crock pot on a busy day! This recipe is probably our favorite crock pot meal. It is SO easy.

Here are all of the ingredients. Mild sausage is good, but we started using spicy and love it!

Ingredients: 

1 bag frozen cheese tortellini
2 cans Italian diced tomatoes
1 block cream cheese
1 carton chicken broth
1 small bag fresh spinach

Mushrooms (optional) I love them, but Jared does not haha
salt and garlic to taste ( I just added a tad)

Put all ingredients in crockpot (cut cream cheese up in cubes) and cook on low 5-6 hours. That's it! 

It is delicious! Let me know what you guys think!