Fall memories...

I just love fall... and fall is wonderful in Arizona... but fall is absolutely great in Utah. So I have been remembering that a year ago this week we were in Utah enjoying some crisp fall weather and beautiful colors and festive decorations. Here are a couple of pics from last October since it was BB... before blogging for me. These were taken at one of my favoritest places... Gardner Village. Sigh... this year I have to be content with Arizona fall... sigh again...

It's that time of the year....

It's fall time.... and you know what that means.... Yep.... CARMEL APPLES! I made some today and we gobbled them up! Really easy to make.... just follow the directions on the Kraft carmel bag, then roll in you favorite stuff (we like chopped nuts) and then to be fancy drizzle on some melted chocolate. Way yum!

Craft Night!

Friday night was another great crafting night with all the girlies! We made holiday blocks with scrapbook paper fronts. This was a very fun easy fast craft. Everyone was creative... we made Boo, Eek, Gobble, Thankful, Thanks... I know I'm gonna make some more. A great BIG thanks to Mike for his great woodworking skills and being on call for our special orders! And thanks to everyone that brought yummy food and snacks... girls can't craft without food... that's just a fact!!

Another step closer

Brandon took a big step closer to his mission Wednesday night and went to the temple. He looked sooo nice dressed in white ( I really want to say cute, but I'm holding back!) Mike was his escort and family and friends joined him. It was a very sweet experience and everything went smoothly.

We lingered for a while at the temple to enjoy the moment, so it was very late when we went to dinner. Well... late for me and Mike... but we made it! The whole evening was great! And.... as I have been known to say on many occassions.... Life is good!

Welcome world

Well.... OK.... I'm a little (LOT) nervous... but I am finally getting brave, coming out of my comfort zone and allowing the WORLD to see my BLOG. So ....Welcome everyone. I hope you enjoy. Now that I'm comfortable blogging and I think I've worked out the bugs ... I hope to BLOG (I use the word BLOG a LOT... I just love it!) more often and offer some good/entertaining/crazy/newsworthy/interesting/fun/thought provoking or just maybe plain ol regular....... STUFF! So, feel free to leave a comment, but be kind.... cuz ya never know when I will just crawl right back into my hiding spot!

Oh do you know the muffin man...

...or muffin lady?.... Mike just LOVES muffins and I have been on a quest for a LONG time to find some very BEST muffin recipes. Chocolate is one of our (Mike's) favorite ingredients... so this recipe is his very MOST favorite muffin recipe and he would probably eat them every day. It takes a little time and several ingredients, but is well worth it!

Double Chocolate Muffins

These are Brownie-like muffins
Ingredients:
3 ounces unsweetened chocolate
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup real butter, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (12-ounce) bag semisweet chocolate chips
Additional semisweet chocolate chips, for topping muffins (optional)

Instructions:Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line 18 standard muffin cups with muffin or cupcake liners. In a microwave-safe bowl, melt chocolate in the microwave on medium-high heat for 25 second intervals, stirring in between, until smooth. Set aside. In a large bowl of an electric mixer, cream sugar and butter. Beat in eggs, then add sour cream and milk. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Pour flour mixture into butter mixture and stir together by hand. Stir in melted chocolate, then chocolate chips. Fill each muffin cup about three-quarters of the way full with batter, and if desired sprinkle some chocolate chips over top of batter. Bake for about 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer muffins to wire rack to cool completely. Muffins are best eaten fresh, but they freeze well too.

Turn up your volume!!!!

Notice the music?!?...I was thinking... I know I know... that's dangerous... But I was thinking... this BLOG needs some music... LOTS of other blogs have nice music .... so I did it... I figured out how to add music to my BLOG... for your listening pleasure, of course! Just wanting to keep my BLOG up to date and trendy. But no wimpy, sappy songs for this BLOG.. (well the Joanna song kind of is, but hey .. how many people have their name made into a song!) Hope you enjoy some fun perky music and I hope to add more sometime... So what's next for this BLOG?!?....... ........ Hmmmmmmm....... I have absolutely no idea... we'll just have to wait and see!