Falling Into Fall...

For the past several weeks, I've been trying to get Sam to get out in the front yard and help me rake up the plethera of leaves that have been accumulating into 3 foot drifts in various sections of our yard.  We only actually have ONE tree in our front yard (compared with the 4 in the back...) but we are at the end of a hill with a lovely fence (insert slightly sarcastic tone) bordering our front yard, so I'm pretty sure our yard catches about 95% of the leaves that fall from ALL of the trees on our entire street. Sam kept saying he wanted to wait until "the leaves are all done falling" but I just couldn't stand not seeing my flowers, shrubs, yard anymore, so Sunday afternoon I got out there with the rake and he reluctantly joined me.  I forgot to take a picture of what the yard looked like before the raking commenced, but I guarantee you that you could see NOTHING but leaves on every level of our flower bed. 

Here's a picture of the MOUNTAIN we raked up just in the front of the front yard (we haven't even touched the side of the house or the backyard yet).  Please note the look of sheer elation on Sam's face.

Right after I took the picture above, my man-child husband's attitude shifted 180 degrees as he realized that he had an incredibly huge pile of leaves to use as a stunt prop.  And this is what ensued...

The Undisturbed Pile (and the aforementioned "lovely fence")

Sam's Dive #1: The Blur (I took the picture too late...)

Sam's Dive #2: The Burrough

Sam's Dive #3: The Pointed-Toes Olympian Dive

Sam's Dive #4: The Belly Buster (action shots on the iPhone aren't great...)

Sam lounging in his leaf heaven...

Zoey being really confused about what is going on in her front yard...

At the end of the day, we did manage to bag up over FIFTEEN bags of leaves before it got dark, leaving the front yard in a much more appealing state than before.  And I've decided that although we don't have kids yet, sometimes being married to Sam is like living with a big kid.  And I love it.  He is the best at making not-so-fun tasks a lot more fun than they ever should have been! :)

It's a Chili Night!

Okay, I have to admit I'm not really a huge fan of cold weather.  I'm definitely more of a summer girl (which I credit to the fact that I was born in July, am in love with summer vacation, and am obsessed with the beach), so when the weather gets cold I'm usually not very thrilled about it.  Today was no exception, although I decided to make the most of a cold and dreary day by making a warm bowlful of yumminess for dinner. 

And considering there's not a lot of excitement to update on right now, I thought I'd share the recipe with you!  It's called White Chicken Chili and I got the recipe from one of my favorite Kansans in the world about 5 years ago when I was still in college.  (Oh wow, that just reminded me that I haven't been in college in FIVE years!)   My favorite part about this meal (besides the fact that it tastes oh so good) is that it is SUPER easy to make.  I mean seriously, who doesn't love a meal that only requires boiling some chicken breasts, throwing in a bunch of canned goods, and warming it all up to perfection.  YUM.

Here's what you need to make this quick, easy, and super delicious chili on a cold night like tonight:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts--boiled & shredded

2 lb. Velveeta (I use 2% because it's less fat than the regular Velveeta...God bless processed cheese)

2 cans pinto beans--drained

2 cans Ro-Tel

2 cans corn--drained

1 can chicken broth

Tortilla chips (for dippin')

Step 1: Boil the chicken until cooked through and shred with a fork.

Step 2: Combine chicken, Velveeta, and ALL cans into a big old pot over medium-high heat (stir frequently because that Velveeta likes to stick if you don't...)

Step 3: Heat until warm and bubbly and voila...

DELICIOUSNESS IN A BOWL!!!  I love this chili with tortilla chips...which obviously makes it even healthier than it already is.  But on a night like tonight, who couldn't use a few extra calories??!  :)  Enjoy!

Trick or Treat

So I don't really have anything great to write about tonight, but I realized I never posted my pictures from Halloween, so I thought I'd take a quick second to do that...

Obviously Sam and I dressed up as Mario & Princess Peach.  Thank you Amber, for the beautiful pink bridesmaid dress that I actualy got to wear again!  Thank you Steph, for the long satin gloves that you actually wore to your high school prom.  And a special thank you to the incredibly old pair of overalls that were hiding in a closet at my mom's house, without which Sam's transformation into Mario would not have been complete.  One highlight of the night included me running around the room dropping the gold "tokens" that Sam had in his pocket while he followed me around, picking them up and jumping in the air like Mario while making Nintendo sounds.  We are super cool.

As you can see, we were in the company of some great celebrities, including Kate Gosselin, Max and Carol from Where the Wild Things Are, the H1N1 Virus in human form, a creepy old priest and a little "boy", a Cardinals baseball player, and Conrad Prugh, as himself. 

Here's a pic of the girls...I felt the need to carry the star with me all night, otherwise it just looked like I was playing dress up.  Props to Rachel for the best homemade costume and props to Amy for pulling off the "little boy" look and still looking super cute.  I tried to pull off the "boy" look last year and this is how it turned out...

So last year Sam and I dressed up as each other.  And I'm a little disappointed with myself that I actually uploaded this picture onto my blog.  Oh well, I'm going to hit "publish post" anyway. I definitely think this year's costume was a "one up" on last year's costume.  Get it??  "One Up"...like Mario Brothers?  WOW.  Okay, I'm done.  Happy Halloween...a week ago!

LYLAS...

So a few days ago I went by my Mom’s house to pick up a couple things and stumbled across all my high school yearbooks stacked up in my old bedroom. Obviously my mom is more than ready for me to get all my crap out of her house, especially considering I haven’t lived there at all for about 6 years, so I gladly took those off her hands. I got home and started thumbing through the yearbook from my senior year of high school, looking at pictures of people I don’t even remember being in school with, counting how many pages I was on, recounting old memories to Sam (who was oh-so-interested), and just reliving the glory days in general.

But then I started reading the backhanded compliments that people (okay, guys) wrote in the front and back on the beloved “Autograph” pages. By the time I was done looking through the yearbook, I was cracking up/slightly offended by some of the things people wrote. At the time it didn’t seem like any big deal, but looking back, some of the things these guys wrote were just downright rude. Here are a few examples, abbreviated by “blah, blah, blah’s” for everyone’s sake…

Yearbook Signature #1: “Hey Gorgeous, What happened to you over the last 2 years because now you’re a hottie…”

Okay, let’s just stop right there. “What happened to you…because NOW you’re a hottie”??! Obviously he’s not only implying that I was not a hottie before, but also that I was apparently repulsive for the entirety of my life leading up to my junior and senior year. The fact that he may have been right is neither here nor there, but what really matters is that he actually wrote that on the front page of my yearbook. RUDE.

Yearbook Signature #2: “Crislyn, Hey! It is I, the true essence of man. I must say, you have turned into quite the hottie this last year. Go figure. We have shared many memories, blah blah blah…”

Wait, wait, wait. Back that up. GO FIGURE?!?!?! And apparently since he views himself as the “true essence of man”, he’s practically implying that all members of the male gender were astonished with the fact that I could actually end up being an attractive human being. Narcissistic. And RUDER.

Yearbook Signature #3 (and my personal favorite, considering it’s written by someone I swear I don’t even know): “Crislyn, I’m glad I got to know you a little bit this year…blah blah blah…I don’t know what your future plans are…blah blah blah…I hope you have a great life and excel in everything you do. P.S. I think your friend Marie is HOTT but I never really got to know her very well so I don’t know about that.”

Translation: Hey Crislyn, I don’t really have a flipping clue who you are either, but I’m taking up ½ a page in your yearbook to write out empty compliments and say nice things to you, with an ulterior motive of trying to get you to hook me up with your best friend, Marie. RUDEST.

Now don’t get me wrong, Marie is my BFF and she has ALWAYS been absolutely beautiful. As a result, I grew up living out various versions of Scenario #3, which was not even a big deal. But the fact that some little chicken actually waited until we were about to graduate high school before attempting a last-ditch “hook me up with your best friend” yearbook stint is just pure entertainment. Poor boy. He’s probably playing Dungeons & Dragons somewhere by himself, trying to figure out a way to work up the nerve to finally ask a girl out. But then again, I guess I’ll never know, since I honestly don’t even know WHO he is.

I can’t believe it’s been almost 10 years since I graduated from high school. Now I’m a little concerned about going back to the 10 year reunion next summer. I don't know if I can take all the judgement!  Good thing I’m already married to a handsome, sweet, hard-working man. And so is Marie. 

LYLAS...(Love Ya Like A Sister...duh!)