Vieve's Place...Enjoy Your Visit
Happy Halloween everyone! You guys got to see our costumes yesterday, and today, I went to the office for a Halloween lunch, and got my picture with all the gals there, their costumes were so cute!
And then, tonight, I put Cookie in her costume, and she looked awesome.
A tiny hula dancer! She was so mad to be in it, but I don’t even care, she was so cute. Hope you guys had a safe and awesome night!
Tonight was our ward Halloween party, complete with a chili cook-off. Husband entered in a chili, but we had a small issue trying to get it to be tasty, so we didn’t win, alas. But the two of us won best costume, I was Batman, and he was my Robin.
We got adorable small trophies and everything
It was a fabulous evening, and my first ward Halloween party ever. After much chili, and many cookies, we called it a night!
Ok we’re doing a crazy thing this week and doing the weekly Darth a day early (because I have something going on tomorrow that I’ll want to blog about) so without further ado…
Darth snuggled with their puppy this week, which I found adorable.
Obvs he’s a tiny JCrew model
Plus his adorable tiny Halloween costume, he’s a small monster, and I’m dying of cuteness.
This past week, I made some jam for the first time. My friend came over and asked if I wanted to help her, and of course I did, even though it would be my first time. We did a good job! I, along with her small daughter, chopped up the strawberries, and then we all worked together to do all the other parts. Luckily, it wasn’t too hard, just very precise, and our jam turned out so crazy delicious! I’ve basically just been eating jam every day now.
Finally, after many much weeks, I have finished my second English paper. It isn’t due until next week, but after a lot of writing, and editing, and asking people smarter/better at writing papers than I for much help, I finally have a finished version that’s all ready to turn in. I hope I get a good grade on this, because in my head, it’s much better than my last paper, and I didn’t do too shabbily on that one. Of course, I wish my teacher would read it that night and grade it, so that the next time I went to class I could know, but I’m sure it’ll take a few weeks. Dang.
I want to have a giant game night. Like, people come over, and we all play like, an epic game of Scattergories, or Monopoly, or any kind of board game. I always talk about planning one with people, but then we never end up doing it. I need to start getting firmer with my planning, and actually pin down a date and get people involved. It’ll be fantastic, I can feel it already.
Ok, I made the most amazing dessert last night. I’ll give you the website straight off where I got it:
http://jaseyscrazydaisy.com/2012/02/snickers-brownies/
But that’s just because in case you have questions, you can go there for clarification. The first website I got the recipe from, like, skimped on details, so luckily she posted to this site so I could use it instead, so I was glad not to have to rely on the first one anymore. Here we go:
Brownie Layer
1 box of brownie mix (I suppose you could also homemake one, but man, go the easy route, guys
1/4 cup hot fudge topping, unheated, straight from the jar
Nougat Layer:
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup evaporated milk
2 (7 oz.) jars marshmallow creme
1/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/2 cups salted peanuts, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon vanilla
Caramel Layer
1 (17 oz.) jar of caramel, preferably Mrs. Richardson's Butterscotch Caramel
Candy Bar Topping
1 1/4 cups chocolate chips
1/4 cup peanut butter
How to:
Prepare brownie batter according to package directions for a 9x13-inch pan, adding 1/4 cup hot fudge ice cream topping, unheated and straight from the jar to the batter. Cool the brownies.
Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add sugar and milk, stirring until dissolved. Bring to a boil. Add in the marshmallow crème, peanut butter, and vanilla, stirring until smooth. Fold in peanuts. Pour evenly over cooled brownies. Use a spatula to help spread the mixture. Cool, by sticking the brownies in the fridge for like, half an hour. Scoop caramel topping into a heavy bottomed saucepan and heat over low until caramel is soft and easy to stir. I’m going to be honest – my caramel was already pretty soft, so this step seemed like a waste, but do it anyway, just in case. Pour the caramel over the nougat layer. Make sure to pour it evenly across the nougat. Let cool. Again, I put this in the fridge for like, 20 minutes. Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter together in a saucepan over low heat, stirring occasionally, until smooth. Pour over the caramel layer, and let cool, again. And yes, again, I put it in the fridge.
Now, the chocolate melts pretty quickly when it’s not left in the fridge, so keep it there until you’re ready to eat it, and then bring it out, let it sit a few minutes to soften just a touch, and then cut your piece( s ) and then put back in.
Guys, this was awesome. It tastes just like a Snickers and it was fantastic. Make them, post haste.
This morning, we had our ward triathlon, put on by the youth. It was a 3 mile run, a 6.5 mile bike ride, and a 200 yard swim. I was to tackle the run, Husband the bike ride, and a youth in our ward, the swimming. (he volunteered to us for it, he really wanted to swim but didn’t have a team) You could do it by yourself or a team, and we chose team of course. We got a group pic before we all started, but I didn’t get that pic, sadly. The running part was first, and I finished the 3 miles in 25:56, not bad when you factor in the giant hill I had to do as well. Then Husband did his as I tagged him on my way across the finish, and then he tagged in our youth, who completed his swim in 2 minutes, holy cow! Pays to have him on the school swim team! We ended up taking 4th place, and that’s fine with me – especially when you factor in that the winning team had the #5 swimmer in the state, the #2 runner at their high school, and then the kid in our ward did their bike ride, which wasn’t too hard. (ok that sounds mean, but I know what I mean). But it was a great morning, and a lot of fun to do this with our neighborhood people. And maybe next year, we’ll do it again!
The other night, PJ was at my house, and she was sewing some slippers that we had found on the internet. After she completed the part that goes over the toes, we were like, hey that looks like a small hat! And then we put it on Cookie, just to make sure.
Yup, totally fit like a tiny hat. She was mad when we did this, but deep down, I bet she loves it.
The weekly photos are fantastic, as always.
They were trying to get him to take a photo, but he didn’t want to look away from the screen. That’s fair, Harry Potter is a great show to watch.
The thing I love about this picture are his lips. It looks like he’s saying “ooooh girl” and I laugh every time I see it!
Ok, great news guys! There’s a new Marcel the Shell video!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYZLy5uC5uc
It’s so fabulous, like always. There are so many quotable lines already. Enjoy!
(In case you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s my link to video 2. And in that link, there’s a link to video 1. Linkception!)
Almost every weekend, it seems, it’s Harry Potter weekend on ABCFamily. Of course, every time it is, I will watch these. As much as I can. I always manage to watch the entirety of the last one – movie 7 part 2. And I will bawl so much during it. I can’t even help it, I am so sad during this movie! The people who die, the love everyone has for each other, I can’t take it, there are too many feelings for me to deal with in this movie. But it always makes me want to watch the series from the beginning, that’s something I have time for in my life. But I want to, and someday, soon, maybe on a break, I will do this!
Here’s something that drives me crazy: The local high school is so loud. Whenever there’s a sporting event, or a dance, or anything, I hear it perfectly. I can tell you how their teams are doing, and everything. Last night, I don’t know what was going on there, but they were blasting music. Luckily, it was a song that I liked, so as I was doing my homework, I listened to the song and hummed along. It’s usually a fast, techno song, but last night, it was a slow, ballady-song, and that was nice. I wish they would be quieter, though, because the events are always going until after 10:00, and by that time, I’m like, no, shut it down.
We have a neighborhood Boo’d thing going around right now. I’m sure you’ve all seen this – a treat is delivered along with a sheet of paper that directs you to make copies of the sign, and take treats to 2 more people. I’m probably in the minority here, but I hate doing that! I’m all for giving treats to people, but I am the worst at doing doorbell-ditching stuff. I’d much rather just deliver to their faces, and give them what they want. Plus, we were accidentally Boo’d twice! We had gotten it, then before I had a chance to put the sign up, we got Boo’d again! GAH! So we’ll be doing that in the next day – hopefully we can get away with being secretive!
Today was the SoJo Half Marathon, and for the first time in a couple of years, I ran it alone. Usually PJ is my running friend, but she’s having some injuries happen, so she’s not running at all for the foreseeable future. I was really worried for this race, I didn’t really train for it at all! I hadn’t run over 5 miles for the last 2 months, so I was really concerned I would have issues. I got there a little early, and was super chilly while waiting. Then the race started, and off I went!
I had a goal of finishing before 2 hours and 10 minutes, so I ran in front of the pace person holding that sign. I just knew, no matter where I finished, if I finished in front of them, I would make my goal. I didn’t do too badly during the race. I had a bit of a stitch once in a while, but other than that, I was totally fine. It wasn’t until I hit mile 11 that I hit the wall. I felt like I couldn’t keep going, but also, I knew that logically, it wasn’t too long for me to run. I slowed my pace waaay down, and then finished the race in 2:03:00. Not bad! Ahead of my goal! It felt like the last mile was the longest mile I’ve ever ran in my whole life. It really was so long, I don’t know why, but it felt never-ending. Luckily, I finished, but then I felt like dying.
And I got a sweet medal.
I was so jazzed to be done! And now I only have 1 more race this year, the Thanksgiving race. Woo!
I realized this week that I need some folders for school, to keep my papers. So I did what any sensible person would do, I searched for cute folders. When that was a bust (apparently they stop making the cute ones when it’s not back-to-school time) I bought plain ones and put stickers on there.
I think they ended up being really cute! I’m a little proud of them.
It was Canadian Thanksgiving on Monday, but sadly, we couldn’t celebrate this fine holiday until today. Husband and I actually hosted it at our house, our first time hosting a Thanksgiving celebration, no matter the country. We spent all day cooking, and figured out that we had used every single dish in our house. Honestly, by the end of everything, we had to run the dishwasher 4 times to wash everything! I made homemade stuffing (my dads recipe) for the first time, and it turned out awesome! I was so proud of myself. We had all of Husband’s family over, and the delight was E-Money, looking super adorable for the occasion
I made a tasty dessert, a layered pumpkin pie in a jar, and I added just the right amount of whipped cream to mine.
That was good, and if you’d like to make, it, I’m doing this lazy and just going to post the blog here where I found it. It was a fun night, and I always love to eat Thanksgiving food until I’ve eaten so much that I hate myself. Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!
Ok we’re doing the Weekly Darth a day early this week, because I already know what I’ll be writing about tomorrow, so I’ve just changed it a little bit, and that’s ok with me. So, to get us started:
They were watching Harry Potter, and this is when Lord Voldemort came on screen.
His sassy face.
This is his dating profile face, in case he needs one. I just look at it at laugh!
We’ve been making our dinners at home more lately (Have I mentioned that? I probably have, but eh, deal with it) and today, we decided to try our hands at making some homemade Taco Bell. It wasn’t too hard, thank goodness. Here’s what you need:
1 lb ground beef (go ahead and make it with a taco seasoning packet)
LARGE flour tortillas ( 6 )
Small corn tortillas ( 6 )
Lettuce
Nacho cheese (I bought the Tostito’s kind in the glass jar)
Sour Cream
Diced tomatoesSo, make your meat, and throw the corn tortillas into the oven at 400 degrees for like, 5 minutes or until it’s crispy. Then to assemble: warm up the flour tortilla (about 15 seconds in a microwave is all) and then lay it down. Spoon on some nacho cheese, the beef, the corn tortilla, a dollop of sour cream on top of that, some tomatoes and then the lettuce. Wrap the tortilla around the crispy shell, by folding up the bottom to the center, and continue around in a circle until it’s all wrapped. Then place the wrap, seam-side down into the pan. Cook for about 3 minutes, then turn it over, and cook for another 3 minutes. Eat up!
Here’s what it looks like:
Yes, I have a tiny hole where I couldn’t get it to be wrapped completely, but that’s ok. But this tasted AWESOME! It was so tasty, I really enjoyed it, I would recommend this to us all.
Good news, my friends. After my woes of my cell phone camera not working last week, the next day, it started working! So really, I only had about 2 days of it not working, and now we’re back in business. I still am getting my new phone (since I’m switching to a new carrier and all) so it’s not perfect with this, but at least this one is fixed, before I trade it in. I was realizing this week, I’ve had my phone for 2 years now! That’s not that long to have a phone, considering, but it is a good long while, still.
I got some scores back on things at school, recently. I got my first big English paper back, one that I wrote on why you don’t need romance in a marriage, and I got a 91! That’s not too bad for my first try. And then, I took a math test on Friday, and we got our scores back today, also, and I got a 96. I’m disappointed, because walking out my classroom, I was like, I aced that. And one of the mistakes is something I can’t figure out, and the other mistake I made is just a rookie mistake – I didn’t finish adding together my multiplication, dang it. But I’m still proud of my 96 – it’s better than the media test score, and that’s all right with me.
Here’s something weird that’s happened this year: I am really caught up on my DVR. Literally. The thing that helps out is that we both are working quite a bit less than we used to, and I can do my homework in front of the TV while Husband can do his work while watching, so it hasn’t come to the point this year that we’re like, 3 weeks behind on any show, and it is fantastic! I don’t have to tell people not to talk about a show in front of me, because I’m so far behind, and while I don’t anticipate this going on forever, it has been really nice while its going on!
So tonight, I’m sitting on the couch, watching an episode of Once Upon a Time, pantsless. That last part is because I had taken off my skirt, but didn’t want to put on anything else, yet, so I was chilling in my underroos. So then, all of a sudden, the doorbell rings. I’m like, eeeehhhh so I make Husband get the door while I throw on a pair of sweats. As I pulled them on, and came back out, a few kids came in the house. Then, a giant noise comes from the back door. As I look, a stream of children comes running in the house, and it scared the crap out of me!
Turns out, we had left the back door unlocked, so when the kids came over after their fireside tonight, some wanted to see if they could sneak in and scare us, which they did! Now I know to keep my back door locked. So we are sitting around, visiting, and eating snacks, and Adam’s phone gets a text from one the kids’ fathers, asking that if his son was there, could we kindly kick him out? Instead of replying like a normal person, we had replied that he had taken us hostage, and demanded 1 million dollars for our release, with this photo:
The dad writes back “Maybe a million doll-hairs” and we laughed and sent the kid home. One of the other kids’ moms came over in this taping hubbub (Really, I think our house is like, party central, they always come here, and their parents know to contact us to get them) and she wasn’t pleased, so we should probably watch our step around her. But all in all, it was a good evening, and gave us a good lesson: don’t trust the neighborhood kids.
Baby Darth took some great pics this week. First of all, his mom got some new glasses, and I asked her to put them on him.
He looks amazing. And he took a selfie.
Good job, baby. And last but not least, he’s looking long and lean.
Basically, almost every picture taken of him looks like he’s shocked and surprised. What is he seeing right now? We don’t know!
Tonight for Stamp and Chat, we made some really awesomely adorable Halloween cards.
Aren’t they just so cute? I think I’ll send out Halloween cards to everyone I know this year!
The camera on my iPhone has broken. Of course, this is the only camera I use, so I’ve been missing a lot of moments lately, to capture them forever. I don’t even know what happened, because Saturday it was working just fine, and then Sunday, it was blurry. And when I tried to change the camera view, it would make a weird whirring noise, so I have given up on trying to get it to work. Luckily, I’ll be changing my phone soon, and hopefully the new one won’t have any issues.
I had to go to the dentist today for what I hope is my last visit for this particular issue. Its all supposed to be done, but there’s still a smidgen of swelling, and a bit of pain, but I have to wait 6 more weeks for it to be “done healing” to make sure it’s all finished. I hope that it’s done, because I have had just enough teeth problems to last me a lifetime.
The big final in my English class is that we have to write a “major paper” that’s about 10-12 pages long. I have only so far picked a topic, and to be honest, I don’t even like the topic I’ve chosen, but I’ve hit a wall in terms of thinking. There’s not really any topic I can think of that I can write of for that long. And I know that I’m supposed to do research and come up with new information to put in there, but really, I can’t decide anything. And I really need to get the ideas flowing, because I only have 2 months to write this – and with the research, and how bloody long it takes to write a paper, really, I need to get going. If anyone has any ideas…toss them my way!
Today, I was in a hurry to get out of the bathroom. I don’t know why, I just was like, ooh I gotta get going. So I opened the bathroom cabinet, looked in there, and then realized I didn’t get what I needed. So I bent forward to look in there at the same time I opened the cabinet, so naturally, I smashed my face with it.
There, above the eyebrow, is a bump. It’s a bruise, now, a few hours later, so really, that was just an unlucky turn of life. Be careful, everyone, when opening cabinets. Who knows what could happen!
Today, I was heading into Michaels to get a bag, and I saw this painted on the trash can:
Don’t Stop Loving. Good advice, trash can, some that I’ll take.
This week, Darth was as cute as ever. For the baby shower, Husband and I bought baby a fedora, because, cute. He tried it on this week.
It doesn’t quite fit, yet, but hopefully soon.
He also looked quite snazzy in shark pajamas.
Tonight, after picking Cookie up from a haircut (Look how dashing)
I gave her a treat, a bone. She put it in her mouth and then proceeded to stare at me for like, 15 minutes.
She didn’t attempt to choose it, or do anything with it, she just held it. Finally, I tried to take it from her.
She didn’t let me take it, but then she went into a different room and didn’t come out, so I knew she wasn’t going to come near me, since I’m trying to take people’s bones and all. What a weirdo dog.
