Save 40 Cents!

Yesterday while Chris was cramming for his last final I decided to get all of his coupons organized. If you know Chris you know that he LOVES coupons. He buys the paper weekly and keeps all the coupons. He had some dated back to when we were first married. So I decided to make him a coupon organizer. I thought it was a pretty clever idea. He loved it! I color coordinated it and decorated it with coupons we would never use. Hopefully he will be able to keep them a little bit more orderly now.




Side View

Double Peppermint Bark

Here is the recipe for the always delicious peppermint bark. I made this last week and everyone loved it, and wanted the recipe so here it is. The recipe is also on the back of the Peppermint Extract box as well. It is very simple.

1 package (12oz) white baking chips

1 tsp. Pure Peppermint Extract

8-10 drops Red or Green Food Color

1/2 Cup Peppermint candies or candy canes.

(I just used the new Andes Peppermint white chocolate chips, and didn't need to add candy canes or food coloring.)

Microwave chips in a large bowl on HIGH for 1 1/2 to 2 min or until almost melted. Add Extract; stir until chips are completely melted and mixture is smooth.

Spread on foil-lined baking sheet to 1/4 inch in thickness. Add food color, drop by drop and then swirl with a spoon throughout bark. Sprinkle crushed candy canes, pressing lightly into bark with spatula.

Refrigerate 10 min or until set. Break into irregular pieces to serve. Store in covered container at cool room temperature.

Makes about 32 pieces.


(In the picture below I used a bag of the regular Andes mint chocolate chips and half a bag of semi sweet chocolate chips. I also substituted the crushed candy canes for chopped peanuts. It has a great minty taste, and is very yummy.)

I have been TAGGED!

The rules are:
1) Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
2) Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
3) Tag 7 people at the end of your post and include links to their blogs.
4) Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

I was tagged by Laura! :)

1: I am paranoid about germs. I carry around a purse size bottle of hand sanitizer and use it quite frequently throughout the day. I wash my hands all the time, and I even make my husband sterilize everything along with me.

2: I have done some modeling. In Washington DC I had the opportunity to be the cover girl for their Metro (subway) newspaper. It was a lot harder then I thought it would be.

3: I have an obsession with Barbies and The Wizard of Oz. I have boxes and boxes of collectibles in our basement. I have the entire collection of Barbie movies, and Life Size Barbie is coming home with me on the airplane from Idaho. :)

4: I hate driving, it gives me anxiety. I didn't get my license until my junior year of high school, and I didn't have a car for two years while in DC. I was petrified of driving on the freeways out there, and Chris was scared to have me drive as well. I jokily call Chris and I "Driving Miss Daisy".

5: I love theatre and was a true thespian all through High School. I guess you could call me a drama freak. I was the lead in many plays, and also the villain in a bunch as well.

6: I played the drums in Junior High.

7: I had a nose job last May.

I NOW TAG: Nathan, Kipley, and Lauren

Ho Ho Ho

Santa Claus came early this year for Chris and I. We decided instead of getting a bunch of individual gifts we would get a Leadsinger Karaoke machine instead. There are over 2,000 songs on this thing. I had a blast testing out some of the songs. We are very excited to take it to family and break it in, and then again for New Years Eve.

Today I bought Chris' final gifts, he is so difficult to shop for. We decided to give ourselves a budget this year, that way we wouldn't end up broke for the New Year. So far I have stayed in the budget, I am very proud of myself.

Only 12 days until we leave for Idaho. I can hardly stand the wait. I wish we were leaving tomorrow. :)

Chris has been studying like mad this past weekend and is currently taking his first ever law school final even as we speak. I know that all of his hard work and studying will pay off. He is the hardest worker I know. He never wastes study time, and has taken law school very seriously. I have been so blessed to have such an amazing husband. I wish everyone taking finals the very best.

I volunteered to bake a ham for the ward Christmas party. It turned out perfect!



Our gift from Santa!

Husbands....Gotta love em

My friend Amanda sent this to me and I thought It was hilarious. Thought i'd share.

It's the holiday season....oh and finals too!

Its the most wonderful and stressful time of the year. Chris has been studying non-stop for his upcoming finals. I am very grateful that Chris and I have the opportunity to go to Idaho after he is done. We will be there for a week, and I really think it will be great to just relax and have a fun time with my family. I have been keeping myself pretty busy lately by cooking and baking. I have found that it really relaxes me and excites me. I love trying new recipes and seeing how Chris likes them. This last week I made stuffed peppers. My mom used to make them when I was younger and I just loved them, so I thought I would share them with you.




1 pound of Hamburger
1 cup chopped onion
1 clove garlic minced
1 to 2 teaspoons chili powder
1 tea. pepper

-Brown & Drain-

Add 2 cans tomato soup & 1/2 pound of cheddar cheese/ 1 1/2 cup cooked rice. Put mixture in green peppers and bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Enjoy!


Chris and I thought we would fight the storm last night and go out and take some pictures of the Capital Christmas Tree. It was freezing out there but we got some pretty good pictures. Last Saturday we also put our Christmas tree up. We had such a great time. I just love the holidays!

PS: I know there are mispellings in the slide show. For some reason Slide.com was acting really weird when I was doing the captions. :)

Pumpkin Pie, Pumpkin Pie

As most of you know Chris and I had the great opportunity to go to Utah for Thanksgiving. The day before we left Laura cut and highlighted my hair, and let me tell you it turned out fabulous! We had such a great time in Utah. I got to see my dad and little sister and brother. They are growing up so dang fast. Merrick is almost as tall as I am! We also got to meet Chris' future sister-in-law Julie. We were very excited.

The first night Chris' parents got us a lovely hotel room, we had a great time sleeping in such a comfortable bed. The next day we went to Chris' cousins wedding, where I met my many many wonderful relatives.

Chris had his very first cavity filled by his dad while we were there. Let me tell you, Chris was sweating bullets. His back was drenched when he was done. ;)

We had a blast playing games every night, doing some karaoke, and of course shopping! We decided to go out at midnight on Thanksgiving and try and steal some good deals. It was insane! Curt (Chris') brother decided to borrow Chris' feet jammies and wear them out on the town. You should have seen the reactions of the crazy shoppers. All in all I ended up with a wicked sweet Sony camera! Chris is all about the deals and we were not about to pass that one up.


We really enjoyed the time in Utah and hope to be able to go again really soon.

Work. Gotta love it!

Let me start off expressing how grateful I am to have a job. It seemed like it took forever before I found one that didn't require working at night or flipping hamburgers at the local McDonalds. I have heard that it can take over a year to find a job out here. I was shocked at how bad the economy is here. Coming from working in DC I thought things were pretty stressful then but I had no idea the what I was in for.

I have been with Delphi for a month and this week I have never felt so overwhelmed and stressed in my life. I have been bombarded with project and project after project only to be told after finishing all of them yesterday that..."Opps I forgot to add something, can you redo this?" I kid you not I they could hire 5 more people to help me and it still wouldn't get all finished. I am the type of person that hates to leave a project undone but I was going insane. I am very grateful that Chris and I are leaving for Utah on Friday.

Chris has been super stressed this week while writing a 15 page paper. He needs this vacation. We are very excited.

J-E-L-L-O

This has been one crazy week. Sunday we went to the Jimmy Eat World concert. It was suppose to be at the Wharton Center, so we parked in the law parking garage and started walking towards the venue. We weren't even out of the garage yet when some boys told us that it was moved to the auditorium. That was a bit annoying, so we had to park like a mile away and walk there in the cold. Then we get there and, I brought my camera to have proof of course that we went. Much to our dismay cameras were not aloud in and would be confiscated. So we hid it in the bushes by the side exit door. Luckily it was still there afterwards.

The concert itself was not my favorite. It seemed like they played a bunch of new songs all in a row and throw in an oldie every once in a while. It was really warm in the auditorium and to us it didn't seem like the crowd was too into it. Overall I'd give the concert a fair rating. John and Amberly would probably say otherwise ;)

Last night I went to the cooking group and had a great time. I demonstrated a Jell-O dessert and, luckily I made one before I went so everyone one could try it. Amberly made a really yummy tortilla soup and Ashley Woolf made some creamed corned and these VERY good breakfast dessert pancakes. That was definitely my kind of night. I love food and I love new recipes.






Here is the recipe for those who didn't get to attend......



Auntie’s Jell-O


1 bag…..Frozen 2 Berry Blend Mix


2 ½ C…..Crushed Graham Crackers or Pretzels


1 C…..Melted Butter


¼ C…..Brown Sugar


8oz…..Cream Cheese Softened


½ C…..Powder Sugar


1 8oz…..Container of Cool Whip


1 6oz…..Raspberry Jell-O



Crush graham crackers into crumbs. Combine with brown sugar and butter. Pack into desired Pyrex. Bake @ 350 for ten minutes. Cool crust completely.


Combine cream cheese and powdered sugar into a mixing bowl. Beat until fluffy. Add whipped cream.


Make Jell-O then add frozen berry mix, let sit for 2-3 min until Jell-O looks gelled.


Pour whipped topping over cooled crust (make sure you cover all edges) then pour Jell-O over the whipped topping.


Chill 2 hours

Uncle John's Cider Mill

Today we went to Uncle John's Cider Mill. It's located about 30-40 min away from us. It was their closing day, and so they were giving out free samples and rides. We went from store to store trying all the samples. They had really good donuts, fudge, bread, sauces, and of course cider. The Terrys, Finleys, Majors and Poussons went as well. It was a very fun time. Thanks Dan and Janee for inviting us!

Happy Happy Halloween

I was very excited for Halloween this year. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and I figured that since we are living in a house this year, we would get tons of trick or treaters........Yeah that wasn't the case at all. I spent Halloween by myself before picking up Chris from class. I made myself a little pizza and watched "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", anxiously waiting for the doorbell to ring. I got a grand total of 7 trick or treaters! I was very disappointed. Luckily Faith came over later to keep me company.

Chris and I dressed up as Kristine and The Phantom. Sadly we didn't get a picture together.




The Pizza I made:


All of the leftover candy we have:


I went to Halloween USA the day after Halloween and got this freaking sweet Darth Vader costume for 50% off. If anyone knows Chris they know he is obsessed with Star Wars.

Purchasing Administrative Assistant

YAHOO!!! I started a new job this week. I am working for a company called Delphi Glass. They are a huge company not only in Michigan but in other states as well. I am working for a buyer in the purchasing department. My offical title is "Purchasing Administrative Assistant". This is such a relief to me, all the months of searching are finally over.

This week I have been learning what goes on, and what I will be working on. This week I entered in a lot of needed data into the system, and am working on a huge spread. Everyone has be very nice and I am excited to see what this job entiles.

Delphi has offered for me to take all sorts of different classes, so I can learn the products and what they do. This next month I am taking beginning stained glass, clay/molding, beginning bead making, and a few others. I am so very excited. I had no idea that people actually made stained glass a hobby of theirs. I can't wait to get started on some of my own projects. It looks like such fun.

Check out their website!!

www.delphiglass.com

Love-Love

Tennis

Yesterday Chris participated in Michigan States intramural tennis tournament. Let's just say that he was a wee bit rusty. The guy he was playing against was clearly not as good as Chris, but Chris was having an off day. He couldn't seem to get his net shots in, or his over heads. He double faulted quite a few times, and ended up losing 6-8. He was pretty frustrated but, what do you expect when you haven't played for 3 months?

Today we both participated in the doubles tournament. We won our first match 6-3, and made it into the championship game. We played against these two interesting men. Yes, I was the only girl who ended up signing up for the tennis tournament so I had to play against guys. They couldn't return Chris' serve or shots. However, they found a lot of pleasure in picking on me. In the course of the match they hit every ball to me, and mocked me when I would make a mistake. We ended up losing 3-6 and 4-6. Chris made it very clear that he was upset at their behavior. The school gave us each our very our "runner up" trophy! Hey, I think silver is more attractive then gold.....you be the judge.



Neighbors

When we moved into our house our landlord told us that there was a cat that wandered around, and went from house to house. They told us that they think it’s the neighbor at the end of the streets cat. So we have befriended this cat, letting it in our house and feeding it. Well yesterday we came home from the store and our duplex neighbor was like “Don’t leave my cat in your house when you leave.” Well we didn’t know it was their cat. When they invited us over for a bbq we asked if it was their cat and they said no. So now they are saying that it’s theirs, and that they don’t want it in our house when we leave. We were a little bit irked by that.

Rain Rain Go Away

I just got back from Kauai, and let me tell you it is BEAUTIFUL! Michelle and I had such a great time. We hiked a lot; skinny dipped, drove around the entire island, and laughed.

Back to reality now... I had an interview yesterday for a store called "Delphi Glass". It is a store that sells colored glass for artists and hobbyist, who do stained glass work. I never even knew that people do that. I had so much fun walking through and looking at everything. They are looking for someone to enter data, and do their filing. Sounds like the perfect job for me. Not only do they pay well, I will be busy for the majority of the day. :D I find out in a few weeks if I got the job or not.

Chris is doing well. He is trying to find the best way to manage his time and studies. He just wrote a ten page paper, and he did exceptionally well on it. I would say he is one of the hardest workers out of the bunch. Chris has also been studying from home.....which is a blessing and a curse. I have a hard time not asking him things and talking to him....I'm getting better though.

We have really enjoyed our ward out here. We have met some really great people who are in the same boat we are. It seems like the ladies here really bond when their husbands are away. A few ladies host a get together once a week, and date nights. They are so much fun. I received my first calling in the ward..."Assistant Secretary to the Relief Society bulletin newsletter". I am not sure what that all entitles but thrilled to find out.

Chris and I are doing a tennis tournament this weekend, and are excited to see how we do. I have been playing really well lately....just hope I don't get stage fright.

Until next time,

Chris and Rylie