Butterfly Baby Shower

A couple of weeks ago I attended a baby shower for my friend who is having a baby girl in December.  The theme wasn't the typical pink, girly, frilly-theme by any means.  It was a butterfly theme with purple accents and it was adorable!  

Check out the baby and blanket cupcakes and the butterfly cookies:

Beautiful table setting:

The hostess and myself

Beautiful butterflies that were made from feathers with added glitter - they were very delicate but adorable!

I didn't even get a picture with the mom-to-be, but it was a fun day spent with good friends while celebrating the baby girl on her way!

Fall is in the Kitchen

I love fall for so many reasons!  One thing about this time of year that I really enjoy are the fall recipes that only seem acceptable this time of year.  This past weekend I had my kitchen smelling yummy with Pumpkin Cupcakes, Butternut Squash Soup, and Homemade Applesauce....mmmm mmmmm deliciousness!

The Pumpkin Cupcake recipe that I used came from here.  It was a super easy recipe to make and didn't take me any time at all.  AND I had all of the ingredients on hand which was a bonus!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 4 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 can (15 ounces) pumpkin puree

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line cupcake pans with paper liners; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and allspice; set aside.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together, brown sugar, granulated sugar, butter, and eggs. Add dry ingredients, and whisk until smooth. Whisk in pumpkin puree.
3. Divide batter evenly among liners, filling each about halfway. Bake until tops spring back when touched, and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes, rotating pans once if needed. Transfer to a wire rack; let cool completely.

I made a cream cheese frosting to top the cupcakes with once they were cooled and added some candy corn for some color.  I need to work on my frosting skills - they tasted better than they looked:)

FALL - My favorite season

I LOVE fall!  I love the fresh crisp air.  I love watching the leaves change color to provide a colorful landscape all around.  I love the smell of fall candles.  I love pulling out my leggings and sweaters for the first time since spring.  And I love the additional baking options there are with fall produce.

Aside from making my typical apple crisp and zucchini bread, this fall brought a whole new experiment as my sister and I have attempted the art of canning.  After a couple of sister dates and trips to the farmer's market, we have successfully mastered the art of canning.  Since neither of us have the space to have our own gardens, the farmer's market is the way to go, especially this time of year when all of the produce is at its peak.  Neither of us have ever attempted to can before, we have never watched anyone can before, and we didn't have any of the supplies we needed, but none of that stopped us from trying!  After watching a few youtube videos and borrowing some canning supplies from our aunt and grandma, we began the experiment.

Our first canning attempt was salsa.  We made 2 dozen cans (3 batches) of salsa and I'd have to say, it turned out pretty darn good!  We tweaked the recipe here and there so one of the batches is a little spicier than the others.  My husband is pretty darn excited to enjoy the salsa all winter long (or as long as it will last)!  Here is a picture of our finished product:

Our second canning attempt was dill pickles.  We made about a dozen and a half cans and this process went much quicker since there was less to chop up.  We still aren't sure about the taste, since they have to sit 10 days before trying them, but they look good so far!  Here is a picture of the finished product:

We are debating whether we are going to try canning any more salsa or pickles, or try something like applesauce.  We'll see if we are able to make the time in the next couple of weekends.

If I've learned one thing about our canning experience, it's that it's a lot more fun to attempt experiments like this with someone else.  I can't imagine trying to do all of what we did by myself...I would've spent the entire weekend in the kitchen!  I'm grateful for the sister bonding we had and the finished product that we'll get to enjoy all winter long.  

What's your favorite thing about fall?  Do you have any "must-have" canning recipes?

Montana fishing trip

In August we went on a family fishing trip with my husband's entire family.  We stayed on the Gallatin River just outside of Bozeman.  It sure was a treat to get away from the every day hustle and bustle of city life and enjoy the peace of the flowing river and fresh mountain air!  Jesse's family has a tradition of going fishing in Montana almost every year, and this was my first time experiencing it.  He warned me that they would spend the entire day on the river fishing.  I was so thankful the cabin was right on the river so I was able to join the crew for a few hours each day - I don't think I would've enjoyed it as much had I spent 8+ hours a day out there:)  Here are a few pictures from my few hours out there:

 I caught some trout!

 Jesse's brother and sister-in-law

 Jesse's parents

 Our keep one day...

I can't imagine going to the mountains without actually being in the mountains and hiking, so we did spend a little time hiking and it was beautiful!  Here are some pictures from our hike on the Lava Lake Trail.  It was a gorgeous hike and at the top we were spoiled with a beautiful lake and the Spanish Peak mountains in the distance.

The next morning  we did a much shorter hike on the Hyalite Creek Trail and saw some beautiful waterfalls.  

We enjoyed our long weekend getaway!  What a great way to refresh and rejuvenate before fall comes...

Lobster Bake

I've been so behind on posting!  I wanted to share with you a special evening that we attended almost 2 months ago in honor of some great friends who are expecting their first baby this December.  We were invited by my friend's parents to attend a Lobster Bake as they revealed the baby's gender to everyone - and it was a fabulous evening filled with great friends and amazing food.  Check it out:

The tables were set to a rustic beach theme and no detail was missed!

The guys enjoying the beautiful evening!

And preparing the lobster....

Have you ever eaten dinner out of a trash can?  This can was filled with seaweed, corn on the cob, potatoes, lobster, clams, and oysters, water (and possibly more that I missed).

Baking all of the food on the fire - it only took 30-35 minutes to cook.

The dad-to-be and grandpa-to-be....and the exceptional chefs for the evening!

The ladies!

Dinner's ready....

What a feast!!!!

My friend Shannon and me with our napkins made by the grandma-to-be

Shannon's son James at just over a month old.

What a special dinner had by all!  And we found out the baby's gender is a GIRL!!!  We are beyond thrilled for our friends as they prepare for this special new addition to their family!

Apparently garbage can dinners are a popular thing - start googling it and you'll find "recipes" that use sausage, hot dogs, chicken, etc.  I would highly recommend it for a fun twist on hosting a dinner party!

Where Has Summer Gone?

I can't believe it's already the middle of August!  Where has the summer gone?  I realized that I haven't updated anything on the blog in almost 2 months!

We've had a relaxing, yet busy summer.  I've taken a break from projects and tried to enjoy more time outside or weekends away.  I'm sure the projects will ramp up once the weather starts to cool down again and we're more prone to being cooped up inside.  In the meantime, I thought I'd share one of my summer adventures.

The second week in July I was fortunate enough to be able to lead a group of newly graduated seniors on a Young Life backpacking trip.  The area that I have been involved in leading for the last 9 years has a tradition of taking the seniors backpacking as their last hoo-rah before heading to college.  They were in need of another leader and I was fortunate enough to go.  We packed up 3 12-passenger vans with a total of 26 kids and 6 leaders and headed down I-35 for the 16 hour drive from Minnesota to Buena Vista, CO.

First off, if you haven't heard about the Young Life ministry, check it out here.  It is an amazing ministry that reaches junior high, high school, and even college kids.  The purpose of the ministry is to introduce kids to Jesus Christ and preach the gospel in a way that kids can easily understand it.  I have seen many kids' lives transformed through the ministry and have such a passion for supporting the ministry!

The company that we do our packing through is called Noah's Ark and it is a Christian outdoor adventure company.  If you're ever in the Buena Vista area, I would recommend checking out their whitewater rafting, rock climbing, or adventure park.  And if you can afford the time of a few days in the mountains, I highly recommend their backpacking trip!

We spend the first day whitewater rafting down the Arkansas River and then headed on the trail for 4 days, 3 nights of backpacking.  Here are a few pictures from our peak to the Continental Divide!

While we were out in the wilderness, we studied the book of Philippians.  I am so impressed with these high school girls' passion and excitement for digging into scripture and discussing thoughts, observations, and questions from the bible.  I have two favorite passages from Philippians that I would like to share:


"Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 4:6-7

"For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength." - Philippians 4:13

The first verse is something I think we often forget about in our busy lives.  How often do we take a moment to step back and give our worries to God instead of trying to take it on ourselves?  And the second verse is what I would call my life verse.  This verse has gotten me through the highs and lows of life and this passage has so much truth to it.  God won't give us anything that we can't handle or that He won't see us through.  This verse sure was helpful during some of the tough mountain hiking that we did too!

So that's one adventure that I went on this summer.  Stay tuned for more:)

Patio Garden

Living in a town home doesn't give us the opportunity to have a nice lucious yard that we can grow a garden in.  Anyone who knows me knows that I love flowers and fresh vegetables.  One day I dream to have a large garden filled with a variety of vegetables and flowers in pots all around the house.  For the time being, I have to settle with growing what will fit in our small patio area until we move to a house with a yard that we can do whatever we want with it.  Here is a picture of our patio (and our cat, Bandit):

As you can see, it's a small space and we can only grow a few things in it, especially given that a small portion of this patio receives any sunlight.  I had a vision of finding the perfect old shelf or cabinet at a garage sale that I could use to display some planters, but had no such luck finding anything this weekend.  I also had a vision of building crates to put the planters in.  My husband and I went to Home Depot and found some beautiful pieces of weathered wood in the 70% off section.  I thought he was going to build a crate for me with this wood, but while we were out garage saling, we found some old crates that would do the trick.  So then I had the idea to have my husband build a bench using the wood from Home Depot for the crates and planters to sit on.  And this is where out patio garden stands at this point:

There are potted herbs and vegetables in the crates that sit on the bench.  Around the corner is a barstool that I found at a garage sale for $1 with a tomato plant sitting on it (picture below).  I also planted some petunias and plan to hang them once they fill out a bit more.  I have a few more veggies and herbs that I would like to plant, so hopefully I can get to that this week.

Our patio garden is small, but will hopefully provide us some veggies and herbs later in the summer as well as the enjoyment of watching flowers bloom all summer long.

Our cat was very intrigued with the addition to our patio.