Happy Halloween!

In case you don't remember, we take pumpkin carving pretty serious around here. This year we actually had a stoop to put pumpkins on so we decided to fill it out. The other side didn't turn out as well in pictures but Casey carved another pumpkin on the other side and I painted a white pumpkin with our house # (not very well, but it got painted). I might try to take a picture tomorrow during the day if I remember. I'm sure you can probably tell who did the face and who did the transformers pumpkin, but just in case you can't, I did the face. We're pretty excited about our first year in our house at Halloween and getting to hand out candy. We would get a handful of trick or treaters at the apartment but nothing overly exciting. Our neighbors have already warned us to come prepared with lots of candy. We live in a pretty family friendly cul de sac and there are a ton of kids in the surrounding neighborhoods, so I'm pretty excited.




I wanted to add these two pictures that I took with my phone. They're shots I snapped on my lunch break behind our house (that's our driveway in the picture). We have a gorgeous shelf of mountains behind our home that provide a great view from our deck. I was so excited to see the colors change and you can kind of see it in these pictures.

I can't wait until they're covered in snow, but I won't get ahead of myself. Everyone have a safe and Happy Halloween!

Dining Room

I've hesitated posting my dining room as finished b/c I have two sets of blinds on backorder for one set of the windows. I know, I know.. I have issues.

Anyway, we didn't have to do much to this room at all. It got the outlet overhaul and we didn't mind the light fixture so it was just a matter of paint, window treatments, and furniture.

Here's a picture from the listing



Here's afterwards

Bamboo Blinds - JCP

Sheers - Bed Bath and Beyond

Black wooden curtain rod - Lowes

Dining room furniture - Havertys

Runner - Etsy

Paint - SW Humble Gold

It was really important when we were looking at houses to have a dining room. We've lived in apartments for a long time that have always had an open concept and not really a designated place for a table. Having a space like this is one thing that actually makes me feel like I have a home, if that makes sense. It's good for entertaining or when we have family over and we actually have a space to lay stuff out now if it's needed.

I'm getting close to calling my closet finished as well but we still have to patch and paint the ceiling so that will be coming up soon!

Hello Kitty.

Hello Kitty.



We had no intentions of keeping you.


But then you found a friend.


And now you're almost inseparable.

Even though you fight sometimes.

You're a part of our family.

Meet Pineapple/Sookie. My sister found her outside of her hom and she was *tiny* (She was 1 lb and 5 ounces at the vet last Wednesday). She was going to take her to the SPCA, but I told her to give me a week and I would keep her and try to find her a home and then she could take her to the SPCA. That week has passed and she's still here and we think she's here to stay. Tuck is entertained by her and she's already figured out how to outsmart him at the ripe age of 7 weeks. We weren't really looking for a cat and still had our hands full with Tuck but I think you can kind of tell when something has found you.

My niece named her Pineapple (although I think she calls everything a 'pooabble') but we never call her that. It's almost always Kitty, but we're trying Sookie on for size and that seems to fit her more. Tuck scratches the door to her bathroom (where she stays at night and during the day) every day when we get home to see her and he plays well with her but his 'playing' sometimes can be a little rough, but she seems to hold her own. She can certainly serve it as well and it's funny to see her hop sideways down the stairs and do crazy martial arts moves in front of him and then take off with a ball in her mouth. There will be a day where she's his size and he will get what's coming to him. Hah. I forgot how funny cats were...

Simple Sesame Noodles

P-dub came through with another win. We really like any kind of pasta with sauce and we love anything asian so I knew we would like these. You could easily add shrimp or chicken in for some protein!

I also apologize for the horrible lighting. Casey and I eat pretty late and my lighting is starting to suffer with the change of season. I'm really starting to long for a DSLR and a lightbox but we've got other financial focuses right now, sooo maybe one day.

Simple Sesame Noodles

(Source: Pioneer Woman)

12 ounces thin noodles, cooked and drained (angel hair, thin spaghetti, or Asian style)
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 to 3 tablespoons pure sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon hot chile oil (more to taste)
4 to 5 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons hot water
3 to 4 green onions, sliced thin

Whisk all ingredients (except noodles and green onions) together in a bowl. Taste and adjust ingredients as needed. Pour sauce over warm noodles and toss to coat. Sprinkle with green onions and toss. Serve in a bowl with chopsticks. Yummy!

Chicken Gyros

This recipes has been floating around in my Googlereader on a ton of blogs so I figured it was worth checking out and we both really enjoyed it. I really debate on whether to post recipes that I kind of like so I always stick to recipes that I intend to make again so I'm not a liar when I tell you guys I enjoy everything that I post :) This recipe is actually healthy too so it's a win/win and I ended up using the leftover chicken the next day on pitas with salsa and sour cream and it worked pretty good with both but the tzatziki sauce definitely gives it a little something different!


Chicken Gyros
(Source: Ella Says Opa!)
Servings: 4

1.25 lbs. chicken pieces (I used breasts)
4 cloves garlic, smashed
juice of 1 lemon
2 tsp. red wine vinegar
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 heaping Tbsp. plain yogurt
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper
1/2 batch of tzatziki
sliced tomatoes
sliced onions
4 (pocketless) pitas

Whisk together the garlic, lemon juice, vinegar, oil, yogurt, and oregano in a bowl. Add the chicken and rub the marinade in. Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

Preheat the broiler (we used the grill). Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper on both sides, and then broil until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side, depending what size/type chicken you are using. Allow the chicken to rest for a few minutes before slicing into strips.

Meanwhile, heat your pitas. We just heated up a skillet on medium-high and heated the pitas on both sides to soften them up a little bit. Top the pita with the chicken, tzatziki, tomatoes, onions. Roll up and enjoy.

Tzatziki - I copied these instructions straight from Ella Says Opa since she seems to know the ways of tzatziki :) 1/2 of this recipe is pretty sufficient and I think we only did 1/4 and it was good for us.

1 32oz. container of plain yogurt (I used Greek yogurt which you don't have to strain)
1 hothouse cucumber or 2 regular cucumbers, seeded
3-5 cloves garlic–depending how garlicky you like it, crushed
1-2 tsp white wine vinegar
salt and a little pepper
squeeze of fresh lemon juice (optional)
drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

Strain yogurt using a cheesecloth over a bowl (if you don’t have that, a strainer lined with a coffee filter will work) for several hours or overnight to get out as much moisture as possible.

Peel and seed the cucumber. Shred the cucumbers and then squeeze the life out of them to get rid of as much excess moisture as possible. I use a towel to do this, and you will get a lot of liquid so don’t skip this step! Yes, there is a lot of straining and squeezing–and it’s all important! You don’t want a runny tzatziki

Mix together the strained yogurt, shredded cucumbers, garlic, vinegar and lemon juice (if desired). Salt to taste. It’s best to refrigerate for 30 minutes or more before serving, so flavors can meld.

Drizzle a little olive oil over the top.

The stinkbug. Hideous little wench isn't it? They're hard and crunchy and huge and apparently they don't know how to fly b/c they always erratically dive into me causing me to freak out.

Stinkbug, I've tried to kill you many ways but you pushed me over the edge when I saw you on my curtain which caused me to chuck my dog's treats (my dog's expensive, organic, delicate, blueberry treats) at you and the entire bag crumbled, yet you stayed alive you little tank.

These little suckers have been invading the outside of our house and now they've taken to coming inside for a little bit. I swear I just thought I got rid of spiders and then I discover these.

New nemesis...

...meet old nemesis

This bothered me enough to call the Orkin man last month. Our house is not conducive to being bug free. We have an attic, we have a basement that's attached to a garage, we don't have a storm door to seal the front door and our house set vacant for many moons before we moved in. I used to *never* see bugs in my apartment with only one entrance and few windows. Now I feel like I've stepped into a safari (I'm probably being dramatic, but it happens).

Anyway, so I called Orkin and I really just couldn't justify the price seeing as how we aren't facing scary things like roaches or termites. Someone suggested Terminix had better prices so I had a nice conversation with the Terminix Man (TM) on my lunch break today:

Terminix man gives me the rundown on the way the business run, yeah yeah, heard this all with Orkin.

Then he breaks down the service prices, which still seem expensive but are certainly better.

TM: ...so this is the way our service operates on a quarterly basis, unless you have termites. Do you have termites?

Me: I don't think so, should I see wood falling down or something like that?

TM: ... you would probably know if you had termites. What kind of bugs are you dealing with?

Me: Well first off, spiders, but they kind of tapered off and now I'm seeing stinkbugs.

TM: Your spiders didn't taper off, they're hiding in your home probably preparing to hibernate. I'm sure the stinkbugs are also not fun, and that's certainly not a pleasant smell.

Me: For some reason mine don't smell. I think they're defective.

TM: Right, so do you think, this is a service you'll be interested in?

Me: I really don't know.. the price is still high and we don't really have detrimental bugs, just annoying ones...

TM: Do you want to know what the stinkbugs are doing in your home?

Me: No, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me.

TM: They're laying eggs, and for every one you see in your home there will a hundred more to that one bug. Thanks for calling and let me know if you change your mind, have a nice day!

Now that sir, is effective salesmanship.

That is also why I'll probably get an annual membership set up. I'm a pansy and I really don't like bugs and I don't want them in my house. I know they were here first and that's awesome for them and everything but they have trees, land, jungles, mountains, and woods to live in, do they really need to live in my home to? Don't you think that's just a little selfish and a little creepy that they're trying to invade my home?

I sat down the other night and talked to Casey about this and I told him that I feel like it was something that we should set up until we can get a storm door and possibly an energy audit to see where the cracks are in our home. He seemed to agree and said the spiders didn't really bother him. I told him it was enough to make me not want to go in the basement more or less the garage. He agreed and said he didn't like going in the garage either because he had a fear of opening the door and seeing a 10 foot spider just staring at him.

.

.

.

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I don't really know what to say about that, but hopefully Terminix covers those too.

Baking Gals

I saw that two of the lady bloggers that I follow (Beantown Baker and Heather Drive) were heading up a team for this round so I read up to see what was involved and signed up.

Baking gals was started as a way to help give soldiers overseas a little taste of home that they can share with their buddies and hopefully it lets them know that there are people over here thinking about them. I'll be baking as much as I can to fill up a large flat rate box and I'll be shipping it over to Afghanistan between Oct 1st and Oct 12th. If you're interested in joining a team or you just want information, take a look at the Baking Gals website and check it out.

I actually did a little baking today and tried out Bakerella's recipe for pumpkin pecan chocolate chunk cookies. The batter tasted amazing! I'm a firm believer in firm dough and this was definitely a softer dough so I'm going to let the batter rest overnight and try the cookies again tomorrow. My first batch was definitely cakey (which is normal when you use pumpkin in a cookie recipe) but they were still too crumbly for my liking so I'm hoping if I firm them up and let them bake a little longer that it'll iron my problems out. I also made a batch of crockpot chili today too. I just threw Fall into our faces today in the form of chili and pumpkin. The weather was perfect and we were able to get some yardwork done that we've been putting off because of rain.

We didn't do a whole lot on Friday or Saturday. The weather was kind of blah so we used Saturday to do some shopping and I *finally* found a pair of red flats. You would think that it would be a simple request but I could never find exactly what I was looking for. They have a cute point to the toe and I know you can't tell from the picture but the red is kind of splotchy which gives them a different look. I'm totally a ballet flats person. I can swoon over heels all day long but if we're honest I don't really wear them that often. I only wear them when I go out which is a small portion of mylife. The time I spend going out to dinner, working, or running errands on the weekend far outweighs the time that I would actually wear pumps, so flats it is! Hope everyone had a great weekend!